4th Annual CSAL 8th Grade Basketball Presason Rankings

Jamborees start tomorrow, so it is a great time to post the 4th annual CSAL Preseason Rankings. This appears to be another great year for CSAL Basketball. As the resident CSAL basketball expert, I welcome all questions regarding the rankings. Now lets look at the rankings:

1. St. George – This time is stacked to the point of getting comparisons the great late 90’s St. George teams. Their legendary coach is back for another year. At St. George, players aren’t asked to play man to man, they want to play man to man. The rankings are pretty much St. George, and then everyone else. St. George is an early runaway favorite for cutting down the nets in CHS’s gym come March.

2. St. Jude – After St. Jude’s future CSAL Hall of Fame and multiple elite 8 championship coach left St. Jude, it was unsure if his predecessors would be able to keep the momentum going. So far the results have been good. After an appearance deep in the elite 8 last year, the team appears to be one of the favorites going into this season. The George/Jude rivalry has been a big one throughout the years, and the gyms will be packed the times they clash this season.

3. Sacred Heart – Sacred Heart looks to put one of their most intense fast paced teams on the court. They are committed to the press and their relentless defense. It’s been a while since they won the big one, but the Tigers seem to think this may be the year. They look to live and die by the 3 on offense. They have to hope their defense can create enough turnovers to get them easy baskets. They are the odds on favorite for the lower division.

4. Redemptorist – Redemptorist is year in and year out one of the most athletic teams in CSAL. They tend to play a full court man defense and run a free flowing dribble drive attack offense. The wolves typically beat up on the weak teams, but their high energy attack doesn’t always work to well against the high ranking teams in the league.

5. Our Lady of Mercy – Mercy has been very up and down the past few years. This seems to be one of their more solid teams. They are not predicted to win the elite 8, but should be a lock to make the field. The poor lighting and rowdy crowd in the church pews makes their home court a very tough place to play.

6. St. Thomas More – This once great csal program is just not what it used to be. A dwindling parish population as well as coaching changes are the main contributors to the decline. It is rumored that their flex offense which peaked while current LSU star Zach Kinsley was there, was studied by the likes of the state champion Woodlawn teams as well as Bruce Pearl at Tennessee. This St. Thomas More team is more of a mystery. The jury is still out on them.

7. Catholic High – CHS’s coach is staying put despite rumors of him taking another high profile CHS gig. The bears have made the elite 8 again last year making it 4 out of the past 5 years. They are led by their do-it-all Heidu Turkoglu type point forward. The supporting cast may not be that of other teams, but their diversity of defenses and motion offense look to keep them in many games this year. They have a chance to win the lower division.

8. St. Aloysius – Aloysius’s basketball program has come a long way. The main reason is the combining into one eighth grade team instead of their former policy of no cutting and two teams. Aloysius features a spread offense which relies on penetration to create open shots from the outside as well as layups. Defensively they like to play man to man defense and gamble for many turnovers.