An early hoops forecast High school boys basketball:
Usual suspects remain at the top of the poll.
Let’s assume that life returns to normal by November and the 2020-21 high school basketball season starts without a hitch.
How might it look?
Well, we here at Bay Area Preps HQ chimed in with a way-too-early Top 10 and — because we’re all at home — we wasted no time submitting our picks.
Fifteen teams received votes and, near the top, we were unable to break a tie for third between De La Salle and Archbishop Mitty.
Each received two thirdand two fourth-place votes.
Dublin, which finished second in the final poll this season after starting 18th in the preseason, received five voting points.
But that wasn’t enough to crack the Top 10.
Here are the results, which probably will change by the time the season preview rolls around:
NO. 1 BISHOP O’DOWDOAKLAND
Voting points 40
2020 season-ending ranking 1
Why No. 1? Bay Area Preps HQ player of the year Marsalis Roberson returns for his senior season, along with 6-foot-9 first-team selection Jalen Lewis, who will be a sophomore. Point guard Taj Phillips also will be back. The Dragons lose Cal-bound Monty Bowser, a first-team all-Bay Area Preps HQ pick, and defensive stalwart Ryzon Norris. Big losses, yes. But this team should be good -- very good. NO. 2 CAMPOLINDO-MORAGA Voting points 36
2020 season-ending ranking 5
Why No. 2? Aidan Mahaney will be back for his junior season —the first without older brother Carter — and the first-team all-Bay Area Preps HQ pick will be joined by a cast that includes second-team all-Bay Area Preps HQ selection Emmanuel Callas, as well as Logan Robeson, brothers Chase and Cade Bennett and Matt Radell. If the Cougars are to win a third consecutive NorCal regional championship, it just might have to come in the Open Division.
NO. 3 (TIE) ARCHBISHOP
MITTY
Voting points 30
2020 season-ending ranking 3
Why No. 3? The reigning Central Coast Section Open Division champion will bring back first-team all-Bay Area Preps HQ selection Michael Mitchell, along with 6-7 Nigel Burris, 6-9 Arrish Bhandal and 6-3 guard Aidan Burke. Losses to graduation include Marcus Greene, the Ryan brothers — Mason and Jacob — and Owen Browne, all of whom were starters.
NO. 3 (TIE) DE LA SALLE-CONCORD
Voting points 30
2020 season-ending ranking 8
Why No. 3? The Spartans have plenty coming back from a team that won the North Coast Section Division I championship and reached the NorCal Division I final.
Second-team all-Bay Area Preps HQ pick Miles Daniels returns, along with two all-East Bay Athletic League second-team selections, Noah Clifford and Chris Bunch, as well as Jeremiah Dargan. De La Salle should be in the thick of NCS and NorCal title chases.
NO. 5 SALESIAN-RICHMOND
Voting points 15*
2020 season-ending ranking 7
Why No. 5? The perennial powerhouse will have to replace standouts such as second-team all-Bay Area Preps HQ pick Te’Jon Sawyer and Shane Bell. But the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division champion will have a nucleus next season that includes guard Austin Johnson and 6-9 Demarshay Johnson Jr.
NO. 6 ST. JOSEPH NOTRE DAME-ALAMEDA
Voting points 15*
2020 season-ending ranking 25
Why No. 6? The Pilots will move to the stronger West Alameda County Conference next season, which means league games against the likes of Bishop O’Dowd, San Leandro and Piedmont. Jaylen Thompson, one of the state’s topranked players from the Class of 2022, returns to lead the way.
NO. 7 BELLARMINE
Voting points 11
2020 season-ending ranking 4
Why No. 7? The Bells will have to replace floor leader Quinn Denker and 6-6 forward Ian Elam — both allBay Area Preps HQ selections — but have a strong group coming back. Returners include 6-9 Ryan Kiachian, 6-4 Josh Wolf-Bloom and guard Cole Despie. Bellarmine has played in five consecutive CCS Open Division championship games.
NO. 8 DOUGHERTY VALLEYSAN RAMON
Voting points 9*
2020 season-ending ranking 10
Why No. 8? The Wildcats did not win another game after all-Bay Area Preps HQ first-teamer Robby Beasley went down with a knee injury. That’s the bad news. The good news is the team brings back Beasley’s brother, Ryan, a freshman this past season who showed off his skills in a double-overtime loss to Dublin in the East Bay Athletic League final. Aidan Sevilla also will be back. Sevilla was the team’s secondleading scorer, behind the older Beasley, at 14.4 points per game in 25 games.
NO. 9 ST. PATRICK-ST. VINCENT-VALLEJO
Voting points 9*
2020 season-ending ranking 12
Why No. 9? The Bruins won the NCS Division III championship this past season and reached the NorCal Division II regional final. They bring back leading scorer Jaden Alexander, who averaged 19.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
NO. 10 MOREAU CATHOLIC-HAYWARD
Voting points 7
2020 season-ending ranking Not ranked.
Why No. 10? The Mariners retooled this season after winning the NCS Division II championship and advancing to the semifinals of the NorCal Division I regional in 2019. They still won a share of the Mission Valley Athletic League title and bring back just about everyone from that team, including 6-7 DJ Johnson and guard Trey Knight.
Also received voting points: Dublin 5, MenloAtherton 5, St. Francis 4, Archbishop Riordan 3, Newark Memorial 1.
*Tiebreaker determined by each team’s highest and lowest vote total.