Illinois HS Pre-Season Hoops Rankings (11/24)

BENTON - I know what you're thinking.... "ANOTHER rankings page?! These mean nothing!" And you'd be correct... to a certain extent. For sports connoisseurs like us though, this stuff is fun to read through. Coming from a former small-town high school athlete, there's something special about seeing your hometown on the list. Tonight is the first official night of boys high school basketball games, so without further ado, let's jump right into things with the 1A Pre-Season Top 10.

1A

1.  Lawrenceville

2.  Waltonville

3.  Woodlawn

4.  Tremont

5.  LeRoy

6.  Pecatonica

7.  Lanark (Eastland)

8.  Mt. Sterling (Brown County)

9.  Bluford (Webber)

10.  Jacksonville (Routt)

The 1A rankings may have been the most fun to put together. Lawrenceville will be a very tough out, considering they return quite a bit from a 24-8 team that was classified as 2A a year ago. Expect the Indians to win a lot of basketball games. 3 teams on this list are very familiar with each other as Waltonville, Woodlawn and Webber are all within the same county and conference. Waltonville trounced Woodlawn 63-36 a year ago, but since then, Waltonville's star guard Kyle Cooper has transferred to Woodlawn. It should be really fun to see how the Midland Trail Conference shakes out. Tremont and LeRoy both bring back a lot of talent and could find themselves at the top of this list long before March. Pecatonica and Eastland are back once again hunting hardware as they both return quite a bit of talent. Brown County returns all but 3 players from their entire roster from last year's 25-10 group. Routt Catholic is coming off of a stellar 29-5 season and will return quite a bit of the offense from a year ago.

2A

1.  Tolono (Unity)

2.  Warrensburg-Latham

3.  Rochester

4.  Peoria (Manual)

5.  Pinckneyville

6.  Downs (Tri-Valley)

7.  Chicago (Phillips)

8.  Teutopolis

9.  Byron

10.  Breese (Central)

While the 1A list may have been a lot of fun to put together, this one was not. The 2A class is loaded with so much talent this year, I had 18 teams I had to "figure it out" for to only post the Top 10. Tolono Unity and Warrensburg-Latham will be heavily favored favorites right out of the gate as they both return the main core of their offense from a season ago. Rochester may have more talent on the basketball roster than the football roster this year as unbelievable as that sounds. Long-storied Peoria Manual is back in the mix as they bring back a talented group. Pinckneyville should pose a problem, returning Top 10 player in the state Ty Laur. Tri-Valley returns a huge core and should make some noise in the postseason. Phillips will bring back another talented group after beating Benton in the State Championship two years ago. Juggernaut Teutopolis is back on this list. Not sure that they ever leave if we're being quite honest. Breese Central bring back a talented group this year that should give T-Town a run for their money. Byron brings back another athletic group that should be poised for a state run after the football team competes for a state title this weekend.

3A

1.  East St. Louis

2.  Kankakee

3.  Centralia

4.  Decatur (MacArthur)

5.  Maple Park (Kaneland)

6.  East Peoria

7.  Rockford (East)

8.  Geneva

9.  Peoria

10.  Troy (Triad)

Have you ever seen the East St. Louis Flyers play football? Well don't expect THAT kind of domination, but I promise the Flyers will put up some lopsided scores this winter on the hardwood. They will be a problem for anyone in the 3A postseason. Kankakee brings back a huge core of talent as they're not far behind ESL. Centralia will return 4 of 5 starters, including Goewey and Bratton who will be huge pieces of the Orphans' success this year. MacArthur will be another tough out in the 3A landscape as they bring back some talent from a team that finished 24-9 last season. Kaneland returns quite a bit from last year including 6'6" guard Evan Frieders who should feed the Knights' success all winter. East Peoria and Rockford East are both teams I could see climbing this list expeditiously before March. Geneva is another group that returns a lot from last year and should finish with over 20 wins. Peoria will be a tough out as always as they bring back a huge core. Triad will be a team that could give ESL & Centralia problems in the Southern side of the state come playoff time.

4A

1.  Lisle (Benet)

2.  Chicago (Marist)

3.  Chicago (DePaul Prep)

4.  Bolingbrook

5.  Gurnee (Warren)

6.  Chicago (Curie)

7.  Rock Island

8.  Chicago (Lincoln Park)

9.  Chicago (Simeon)

10.  Chicago (St. Ignatius)

What is one supposed to do the year after winning a 4A State Championship? Why win another one of course! Finishing 33-5 with a State title was a dream season for the Redwings last year and they'll look to repeat in 2026. They'll have to get through a tough Chicago Marist team if they want to do that most likely, as the Redhawks are coming off of a stellar 31-3 season. DePaul Prep is back in the mix as a 4A team this year coming off of a 33-4 season last year where they were crowned 3A State Champions. Bolingbrook and Warren both bring back extremely talented groups that should make a run at Champaign. Curie is loaded and should also make a lot of noise come March. The back end of this list is loaded as well but I don't think you're going to see those top 3 spots move much. Benet, Marist and DePaul College Prep are the 3 dogs in the lead of this pack.