LG5 St. Louis Masqueraders
Team Link[1]
Coached by: CoachJKB
Last 5 Seasons: 111-9
Best Season: 24-0 (S37)
Program Record: 702-285
Current overall recruiting class ranking: 4
Conference: L5_C16
Coach JB joined St Louis in season 8, and quickly found his footing with a team that had talent but no proper leadership the season before. Led by senior C Scott Walden, the Masqueraders powered their way to a 17-7 record in a very competitive conference and league.
The team played well even after Walden's departure, thanks to successful recruiting efforts. In his first season, JB landed a true 7-footer at center, Trevor Haskins (FGGGFF), and the 2nd recruiting season yielded two great perimeter talents - 6'8" Joe Roberts (EGFFPG) and 6'3" Charles Haskins (EEEFFF). Joe quickly established himself as a league-wide presence, earning kudos from every reporting source around the league.
But St Louis wasn't done establishing its presence in the league. The very next season, another top recruiting class joined the squad, with three great F/Cs joining the perimeter stars. SF Bradley Rae (6'8" GFEGGG), PF Tommy Hopkins (6'9" GGFGFG), and C Clinton Stellar (6'9" GFGEGF) rounded out an incredibly talented starting lineup that instantly took over Conference 16 and made two Final Four runs during their college careers.
Also providing motivation to St Louis was a challenging in-conference rivalry with the perennial Top25 Milwaukee Golden Beers (coached by Hcych), whose star SG Roger Sampson never quite got over the hump against Joe Roberts.
As the rivalries faded, however, so did the team. While St Louis won many more C16 championships over the following seasons, they didn't regain league-wide stature until the team acquired the next in their long line of great PGs - Bart Mulhall (6'5" EGGFFG). "King Bart" had an instant impact at St Louis, earning League POY honors while taking a mild-mannered 13-11 squad to the Final Four on the power of his own incredible efforts (25ppg on 60.2% FGs), losing to eventual champs Amarillo. Three seasons later, with some help from underclassmen (Irvin Billings - 6'3" EEFGFG, Al Trail - 6'11" GFGEGF), Bart crowned his award-laden career with an NTT championship - St Louis' first!
After another brief drop-off, St Louis returned to the national stage with the signing of back-to-back ranked classes. Season 34 was the rookie season for PG Lawrence Kroeker (6'2" EGGGFE) and SG Emmett Poplar (6'5" EGGFFG), and Season 35 saw the debuts of SF/PF Curtis Green (6'10" GGFFFG) and PF/C Chad Stewart (6'10" GFFEFG). By the time the dust settled for this fantastic foursome, they had won two NTT titles and a league-record(?) 67 consecutive victories.
Following that incredible run, St Louis signed yet another stellar gaurd - Marquis Hopson (6'6" EGGGFG). Marquis had perhaps the best statistical career of any Masqueraders, 2nd in scoring and 1st in steals while shooting 57.1% from the field. His unique claim-to-fame is earning three First-Team All-League awards at three different positions (PG, SG, SF). He couldn't, however, live up to the NTT-title expectations left behind by his predecessors.
The Season 42 Masqueraders carry a unique burden; the team has won 6 straight Regular Season and Tournament championships in C16, but doesn't have a leader to follow to victory. For the first time in a long time, St Louis will depend on every player staying within their role and playing up to their expected level - rather than previous seasons, when they simply set they studs loose and let them win ballgames.
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