Conference Overview S34?

Season Preview:

North:

Cincinnati hitmen: The Hitmen are the reigning champs of conf. 16 and have been a long time powerhouse. Following a one win NTT appearance, Cincinnati returns four of its starters and looks to repeat as conf. champs. The one graduating senior, Khalil Outlaw, will be sorely missed. He was the mainstay and powerhouse at center for the hitmen and consistently did all the things you would ask from a center. His presence as an all-around player will have to be replaced in part by returning starting PF Eric O’Connell. This Freshman proved to be an effective post presence, but will need to up his game to replace some of Outlaws production. The team’s heart and soul will be in its two returning senior guards, who will need to provide a consistent dose of scoring to make up for Outlaws’ loss and to compliment JR SF Gary Ware.

Sioux City simpletons: A consistently decent team will be in need of a PG after this year as it loses their mainstay SR Bruce Milazzo. The team returns three starters, but to remain competitive this team will need to find a ball-handler and scorer who can fill some of the production that Milazzo leaves behind. SF Claude Muse will look to build on a solid sophomore season and up his scoring from 13ppg. The two post spots will likely be manned by 6-11 JR Sergio Askew and 7-0 SR Maurice Brewster.

Dayton Fightin Ags: For the first time in likely over a decade of seasons Dayton will be coming off a non-losing season and hopefully building up to even bigger and better things. The Ags lose no seniors of significance and return four starters. The backcourt will be the strength of this team, as it will return two seniors who can light it up. Todd Kyser and Ernest Murray both shoot over 50% on their careers and look to continue to produce on the offensive side, while hopefully providing some disruption on defense with their athleticism. The frontcourt will be lead by Sophomore Cody Dollard, who showed flashes of his capability in his FR campaign. This team will be Dayton’s best up to date and will look to be even more competitive.

Peoria War Eagles: Consistently bad recruiting coupled with a 5-17 season so far don’t bode well for Peoria in the coming years. The loss of two senior starters will hurt, but next year will likely have 3 Senior starters looking to salvage some kind of success next year.

South

St Louis Masqueraders: The perennial C16 South champions are looking to upgrade their status to C16 champions with the graduation of Cincinnati's Khalil Outlaw. Six of the team's top 7 players return, all of whom are capable of earning a starting job (though the lineup will very likely stay as-is). All-League 2nd-teamer Lawrence Kroeker leads the team, setting the tone on offense with his 22ppg and 2.7apg, while also leading the defense with 1.6spg. Inexperience will still be a concern with no seniors in the starting lineup, but there is sufficient raw talent to expect a top-40 finish. Small Forward Curtis Green is emerging as an "all-over-the-court" player.

Youngstown Steelers: A painfully weak schedule and a pair of surprising victories (#77 Rockford, #106 Dayon) inflated Youngstown's record this season, as a lineup with a 6'4" PF (Andrew Gordon) doesn't typically belong in the middle rankings of any league. Don't get me wrong - they're not completely incompetent. They're going to return three starters who shoot over 50% FGs and aren't shy to shoot the long ball. A human coach would have done wonders, as I expect junior Ryan Koch would have done better at SG with senior Tim Aguirre starting. Koch will be back, however, and should cause matchup problems on offense and defense. He simply doesn't have the talent surrounding him to get into the PTT again.

Milwaukee Athletics: Milwaukee is in trouble this off-season. An already-weak rebounding situation will get worse when center Calvin Bell graduates, and there's nobody over 6'7" to take his spot. Senior-to-be Kip Pratt will likely take his spot, but his talents lie in other areas like his 1.4spg. A graduation in the backcourt may give sophomore Bernard Stokes a chance to start; as the team's only 50% shooter, he has earned it. But Milwaukee will need a star recruit (or three) to break their RTT habit.

Pontiac M-City Bears: Pontiac fell off the deep end this season, after having graduated their top scorer and a defensive-minded PG. With no "personality" left on the team, the CPU-coached Bears relied on the skills of their 6'7" frontcourt. Freshman Bruce Barrett showed a great flair for defense with his 28 blocks, and if sophomore Francis Jacobs gets promoted off the bench, the frontcourt could be an appealing "go-to" for next season's coach. Jacobs' per-minute averages would rival any big man in the conference not named "Outlaw". Still, despite the possible decent frontcourt, this team isn't going anywhere - the guards are completely useless, and I doubt the CPU recruiter is going to fill that need.