Craig Wind has written for Rivals.com along with his own recruiting service . Wind weighs in on 810 Varsity events and Kansas City metro area players through the year.

1:00 pm Belton MO vs. St. James Academy KS

I really like Kordell Williams 2025 5’11” from Belton, he is quick and shoots it well with range. Averaging 18 ppg and shooting 41% from the field with 5.6 rpg. Cooper Shrum 2026 6’6” fills it up at 10 ppg. Getting ready to play baseball at Tennessee as a sophomore. Love him. Malik Minton 2027 5’10” and Calvin Lacey 2025 6’2” produce as well for the Pirates. This is a young and talented team with a solid backcourt rotation.

St. James is in a rebuilding mode. Head coach Stan Dohm had a really nice stretch of 5A state tourneys in Emporia for the past few years. Now he’s young albeit talented in his own right in the backcourt with Emmitt Peters 2026 6’3” averaging 12 ppg, Jacob Fratzel 5’10” 2025 and Francis Monghire 2026 5’10” both shoot it well and are the new foundation for future Thunder teams.

4:00 pm St. Michael’s Archangel MO vs. Basehor-Linwood KS

St. Michael used to be a powerhouse and it wasn’t all that long ago. I think they are still well coached with some good players . Just not the same Guardians, no Deuce Roberts or Anthony Holden-types. Josh Wheeler 2026 6’0” and Nick DeVoss 2025 6’5” are averaging in double digits or very close to it. Pretty skilled here and very young. They will be fun to watch.

The Bobcats won the 2009 and 2012 4A state tournaments under head coach Mike McBride, 5A has been a taller task for Basehor -Linwood. Their junior post player Peyton Brown 2025 6’7” is tough and fundamental with good scoring skills inside and outside. He’ll play at the next level. Mile Hinkle 2024 6’4” is the main senior leader in the rotation. This is a junior laden team and always tough and gritty. They will guard you well, McBride would have it no other way. This will be a ‘rock’ fight!

5:30 pm Lee’s Summit MO vs. Louisburg KS

Drew Lock High always has good teams with winning records and good players. And 2024 is no exception for Coach Little. Their premier shooter on the floor is Gaitlin Brody 2025 6’1” and his long-range sniper skills are well documented. Mr. Inside is Landon Van Pelt 2026 6’8” and built like a future NFL tight end (though I’m not too sure he even plays football). The point guard will probably be Mehki McNeil 2026 5’9” who is quick and physical on the ball. Louisburg head coach Ben Doll has championship experience as an assistant both at Lansing and at Blue Valley North on the Kansas side. He has two junior post players in Conlee Hovey 2025 6’5” and Gavin Lohse 2025 6’5”, both football players, good athletes, roll players in the offense. His leading scorer is Nathan Parker 2024 5’7” point guard averaging 13 ppg. An 810 event will be a nice challenge for the Wildcats that Coach Doll and his program embraces.

8:30 pm Lee’s Summit West MO vs. Oak Park MO

Not sure if the 7-man rotation of Cameron Barnes-Chaz Watson-Bryce Mitchell-D J Child-Logan Bishop-Josh Salinas-Kameron Johns isn’t THE BEST 7-man in the state of Missouri - athletically and physically. Now sometimes poise and skill and floor presence matter and get in their way collectively. They were challenged in January at Blue Valley North. Now here comes the Northmen from Oak Park in February!

So if West has the best 7-man rotation, then Oak Park probably has the best starting lineup in Missouri. Corbin Allen-Caleb Estes-Zeek Brown-Josh Kori-Adam Tanner can play. Skilled and athletic and they play hard with poise. My vote for the 6th man of the year award in Missouri at this point and time is Aeden Fields 2025 6’0” with a really solid body for the game and a sharp-shoooter coming off the bench. That’s a hard thing for any young kid to accomplish. Hats off to AF!