How will Lee’s Summit North bounce back from a .500 season in 2024? 

QUENTIN HUHMAN 2025 6’5” gives them a really solid wing shooter and lots of experience competing on the floor. He’s solid. TRE PAULDING 2026 6’5” provides a potential ‘star in the making’ in the paint, rebounding-scoring-defending. He needs to get into the weight room and muscle up against great varsity competition. ANTONIO BURNETT 2028 6’4” could figure a way onto the floor in a keen competition for playing time. This is a pretty talented squad coming back. Now they just need to figure out how to get north of .500 for the season. It can be done. 

Can Blue Valley contend for supremacy in the Eastern Kansas League? 

The star of the show “SHOULD BE-COULD BE”  PARKER SEITHEL 2026 6’9” who is a really good shooter with good bounce, HE needs the weight room as well. ENOCH RODRUIGUEZ 2026 6’4” gives them another talented junior who can handle the ball and score it some, making him a really solid combo guard threat with length. I thought their freshman team from this past season was among the best in the metro KC area. That group is led by JOEY LONERGAN 2027 6’1” who is a really salty point guard with toughness and poise. The boys from Stilwell have a chance to contend.  

Will a 3-headed monster at Mill Valley get them back to Wichita in 6A? 

There were times on this weekend where JAKHAI CARTER 2026 6’0” was the best guard on the floor, regardless who the Jaguars were playing. He had like 8 treys made on Friday night. So he scores it well, and he was the distributor this past season. REECE RIEDEL 2026 6’4” is left handed and a really good shooter in the mid-range with great work ethic. He could blow up in the EKL. CARTER KAIFES 2025 6’7” shoots it very well and is starting to do more of the ‘little’ things on the court. I commended him. This team can be dangerous next March in Wichita with this nucleus. 

Is this Oak Park’s season to move past the state semis? 

Yes, maybe, we’ll see. It all depends on which  CORBIN ALLEN 2025 6’5” I’m getting on any given night. He can be sensational at every aspect of the game at times. He can defer and just blend in at times. I love him! I just need more consistency. This is a senior-laden team deluxe. ADAM TANNER 2025 5’9”, JOSH KORI 2026 6’4”, AEDIN FIELDS 2025 6’0”, ZEEK BROWN 2025 6’3”, and CALEB ESTES 2025 6’2 have a boatload of varsity experience. To compete in those semis, the Northmen need ‘all hands on deck’ at every game competing consistently hard. No time to be complacent. 

Can Olathe South take over as the best bet in USD 231 to win the city? 

JU JU MARKS 2025 6’6” 290 comes in to open holes for the O-line on his way to Kansas football! He really isn’t in shape to help the basketball team, at least at this point and time. NIC ANDERSON 2025 6’4” will be a strong candidate for All-State awards as the best player in the area. Loyola of Chicago head coach Drew Valentine was center-stage Friday night to watch him compete. I love DREY STEINBACHER 2025 6’3” as a hidden gem and sleeper for South. Likewise for NATE ROBBEN 2027 6’7” who is really raw and has so much to learn but has so much potential. Size matters. 

Can a new but familiar face help get Piper over the hump in 5A Emporia? 

The Pirates were PHENOMENAL for the weekend, a perfect 4-0. They REALLY guard the basketball. And their new center, COOPER CRAWFORD 2026 6’7”, transferred in from Lansing and has the potential to be a difference-maker in the paint provided he stays the course and matures into his role. This backcourt P J MOORE 2025 5’11” and DERRICK JACKSON 2026 6’2” could well be the best in the state in 5A. I don’t speak enough on P J. He was dominant at times. My oh my, oh so athletic. Can they guard in Emporia in March like they did in KC in June? We’re gonna find out. 

Will Park Hill compete for league supremacyin the Northland? 

The Hill was good last weekend at Staley at the 810 Varsity Summer Slam, they were good again this weekend at HomeField. Having a solid coach’s son like CAMERON JONES 2025 6’4” in the backcourt leading the way and making big shots in critical situations helps immensely. Two really talented juniors ISAIAH CASTON 2026 6’0” and DONNOVAN FONVILLE 2026 6’4” know how to play and compete. And I really like MAX TISDALE 2027 6’1” PG giving them additional depth and hustle in the backcourt. Nobody has more depth at the Guard spot on KC MO side. Can they defend the paint and rebound?  

How does Shawnee Mission South win the Sunflower League in 2025? 

South is good enough to NOT ONLY win the Sunflower, they are state championship material with length, athlete, and EXCELLENT shooting skills (though there is that Cougar team out at 67th and Pflumm). And each class is well represented. JADON SAUTTER 2025 6’6” is long-bouncy and shoots it well deep. A coach’s son with good inside-outside scoring skills. Likewise, DRAKE DEBAUN 2026 6’5” is an ‘inside-outside’ player with a good body for the game, athletic, with good skills. He shoots it well. Then CONOR KERRIGAN 2027 6’5” is one of my favorite sophs in KS. Yes they can win.  

OVERTIME.  EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it… 

I wrote on Highland Park LAST WEEK, but I couldn’t help but notice that JARET HENSLEY 2025 6’5” played last week for Shawnee Heights, played IN KC on this particular weekend for the Fighting Scots, The assistant coach says that the paperwork is in the works for Jaret to play at the Park in 2024-2025. Hensley makes them the ‘odds on favorite’ to win Class 5A if he’s eligible and transfers. MIKEY WILLIAMS and JACOREY ROBINSON along the Heights star gives them the ultimate ‘3-headed monster’ on California Street on the East side of Topeka.