I watched many games this summer and fall and tracked all the transfers who may make an impact on the season.
The 6A Conference is very strong at the top with 3-5 teams that can make legit title runs and it is very deep for some possible spoilers on the season.
There are 38 schools in 6A and 24 teams get into the playoffs. Here are my top 10 preseason team rankings for the 2019-2020 season plus 6 other sleeper teams.
The 6A Preseason Top 10
#1 Skyline-Coach James Capriotti also has an older and talented team led by stud seniors PG Dayton Harris and PF Tanner Poeschl. These two will be a dangerous inside/out threat. Their other senior starter will do his own damage with athletic forward Tyree Tyler. Then they have two top-tier shooters in junior Patrick Herrera and soph Dominic Capriotti. They have a good 6th man with defensive soph guard Jamison Crispin. I think this team is unique defensively with just enough scoring. They will start off as my #1 seed in an open 6A.
#2 Cesar Chavez-Coach Gary Lee has a talented and older team which is a recipe for success led by junior PG's Ty Ty Washington Jr and Ricardo Sarmiento plus star freshman wing Tru Washington. All the rest of their players are battle tested seniors with forwards up front in Nyjeir Andrews and Greg Evans plus guards Tyraill Carrethers, Latrell Robinson and Latrey Robinson. The possible favorite from many websites, with one of the best players in the state, will have all eyes on them all year.
#3 Perry--Coach Sammy Duane Jr has some of the top bigs in 6A with a good group of players around them. The bigs are super soph Dylan Anderson and junior post Duke Brennan. Other forwards who will contribute will be seniors Evan Skeoch, Nate Wold and freshman Kevin Patton Jr. Their guards will be a deep group of juniors with Christian Tucker, Austin Hutchings, Demarco Wiley, Jalen Harris plus one of the top freshman in Cody Williams.
#4 Desert Vista-Coach Gino Crump has a lot of players who can go. You can ague they have the deepest group of players. The question will be if they can all gel as a championship team. They will be led by big men in Senior Osasere Ighodaro and junior John Solomon. They have a DEEP group of guards in Junior PG's Marcus Wady and Malik Mack and soph's Andrew King, Dasean Lecque and Isaiah Velez. They have young forwards who will contribute during the year with Sophs Will Coates, Hayden Engle and Tayan Thompson.
#5 Brophy Prep--Coach Matt Hooten has some size up front to do some damage led by Seniors Arnold Dates, Basil Ribakare and Joe Feeney. They have a nice slew of guards with Juniors Quentin Cubulka, Desi Burrage and Kayden Davis plus talented Sophs Patrick Chew, JP Musselman and Miles Nash. If Hooten figures out a good rotation with all the talent, they may be a final-4 contender.
#6 Chandler--Coach Jonathan Rother has one of the top starting 5's in 6A led by junior wing Isaiah Broady, big man Nicholas Riley and PG Carson Kelly. Also junior forward Darian Masi and soph PG Mekhi Mason. One issue is, Broady and Masi will have to sit out 9 games and the other starters will need to hold down the fort until they are eligible. They will be a tough out in the second half of the season. Two others that should chip in will be senior forward Xavier Colbert and junior forward Elijah Johnson.
#7 Hamilton--Coach Doug Harris has many guards to utilize and most are seniors led by Jamar Brown, Omar Knight, Christian Valle and Justin Fisher. Then three talented juniors in PG Adrian Galindo plus forwards Andrew Hinkle and Jacob Enriquez. Look out for soph wing forward Aaron Foote. They don't have the traditional big but space the floor and move well without the ball.
#8 Mountain Pointe--Coach Kaimarr Price takes over his first year and has put his own spin on things. They have a lot of talented guards leading the way led by Senior Miles Sulka, junior Jason Kimbrough Jr and incoming stud freshman Mark Brown. They also have senior PG TJ Tigler and soph G Anthony Jamarillo. Up front they will be heavily relied on juniors post Zereoue Williams, forward Q’Bon Sullivan plus soph newcomer Micah Pierce.
#9 Basha--Coach Mike Grothaus has a nice five of his own in Chandler led by sharp shooting junior Trenton McLaughlin. Two older guards will be important will be Senior SG CJ Noder and Junior PG Thomas Hastings. Their two starting forwards who will do the most damage will be Soph big Brady Reynolds and the super talented freshman Landon Schumaker. Off the bench look for incoming freshman Ty Sandoval to spell the PG spot.
#10 Chaparral--Coach Dan Peterson has somewhat of an unproven team that had to wait their turn backing up a super talented senior roster getting them to the finals last year. They do still have senior athletic forward Jorden Josephs. Then from there, everyone is new with serious playing time. They will most likely lean on seniors PG Matthew Whisler and F Cole Buzas. They do have a good group of guards with juniors Jevon Humphrey and sharp shooter Will Betteridge plus soph PG Jalin Humphrey. Look for them to use two forwards junior Markes Siekam and soph Tyreek Dean to help out Josephs.
The 6A Sleeper Teams
Pinnacle--Seniors C Tosh Baker, CG Macus Libman and wing Spencer Allen.
Corona Del Sol--Seniors CG Eric Blackwell and SG Anthony Irvin.
Mesa MTV--Sr guards Cash Clark, Kolby Doka and Blake Wolfe plus Sr bigs Nick Valencia and Karson Sherwood.
Valley Vista--Seniors PF Curtis Nichols and PG Ka’Leb Connors. Juniors PF Demari Hackett and PG Dwight McKnight. Plus freshman guard Aadem Isai.
Liberty--Soph PF Foune Doucoure and Freshman PF Seydou Tamboure plus Senior wing Jacob Patterson and Junior guard Miles Guliford.
Desert Ridge--Seniors Caleb Alonso, Brennan Armijo and Ryan El Awar plus Juniors Joe Kelsey and Kaden Kennedy
6A Player of the Year Candidates
6'10 So PF Dylan Anderson--Perry
6'2 Sr PG Dayton Harris--Skyline
6'9 Sr PF Osasere Ighodaro--Desert Vista
6'3 Sr SG Anthony Irvin--Corona del Sol
6'7 Sr PF Juhlawnei Stone--Dobson
6'4 Jr PG Ty Ty Washington--Cesar Chavez
6A Breakout Player of the Year Candidates
6'6 Sr SF Caleb Alonso--Desert Ridge
6'9 Jr C Duke Brennan--Perry
6'6 Jr SF Isaiah Broady--Chandler
6'6 Jr PF Demari Hackett--Valley Vista
6'1 Jr SG Michael Harris--Westview
5'11 Jr PG Thomas Hastings--Basha
6'0 Jr PG Derick Kaps--Highland
6'1 Jr CG Kaden Luna--Tucson
6'8 C Jr Nicholas Riley--Chandler
6'8 Jr PF John Solomon--Desert Vista
6'3 Sr SG MIles Sulka--Mountain Pointe
6A Defensive Player of the Year Candidates
6'0 Sr CG Eric Blackwell--Corona del Sol
6'7 So PF Foune Doucoure--Liberty
6'2 Sr PG Dayton Harris--Skyline
6'0 Sr PG Nahshon Harper--La Joya
6'9 Sr PF Osasere Ighodaro--Desert Vista
6'5 Sr F Jorden Josephs--Chaparral
6'0 Jr PG Malik Mack--Desert Vista
6'6 Sr PF Tanner Poeschl--Skyline
5'10 Jr PG Ricardo Sarmiento--Cesar Chavez
6'7 Sr PF Juhlawnei Stone--Dobson
6'4 Jr PG Ty Ty Washington Jr--Cesar Chavez
6A Underclassman of the Year Candidates
6'10 So PF Dylan Anderson--Perry
5'10 Fr PG Mark Brown--Mountain Pointe
6'3 So SG Dominic Capriotti--Skyline
6'3 So SG Patrick Chew--Brophy Prep
6'7 So PF Foune Doucoure--Liberty
6'0 Fr CG Aadem Isai--Valley Vista
6'2 So SG Andrew King--Desert Vista
6'2 So PG Mekhi Mason--Chandler
6'6 Fr PF Landon Schumaker--Basha
6'3 Fr W Tru Washington--Cesar Chavez
6A Region Predictions
Region-1 (Metro)
1. Cesar Chavez
2. Tucson
3. Maryvale
4. North
5. Alhambra
6. Trevor Browne
Region-2 (Desert Valley)
1. Chaparral
2. Pinnacle
3. Liberty
4. Mountain Ridge
5. Sandra Day O'Connor
6. Boulder Creek
Region-3 (Southwest)
1. Valley Vista
2. La Joya
3. Westview
4. Tolleson
5. Copper Canyon
6. Shadow Ridge
Region-4 (East Valley)
1. Skyline
2. Mesa Mountain View
3. Dobson
4. Mesa
5. Red Mountain
6. Westwood
Region-5 (Southern)
1. Cibola
2. Kofa
3. San Luis
Region-6 (Premier)
1. Perry
2. Brophy Prep
3. Chandler
4. Hamilton
5. Basha
Region-7 (Central)
1. Desert Vista
2. Mountain Pointe
3. Desert Ridge
4. Corona del Sol
5. Highland
6. Queen Creek
My 24 Projected Playoff Teams
1. Skyline
2. Cesar Chavez
3. Perry
4. Desert Vista
5. Brophy Prep
6. Chandler
7. Hamilton
8. Mountain Pointe
9. Basha
10. Chaparral
11. Desert Ridge
12. Pinnacle
13. Corona del Sol
14. Mesa Mountain View
15. Valley Vista
16. Liberty
Eight Teams Who Might Make Conference Play-in Games
17. Highland
18. Dobson
19. La Joya
20. Mesa
21. Queen Creek
22. Tucson
23. Westview
24. Red Mountain
Four 6A Teams That Could Be Spoilers
1. Mountain Ridge
2. Sandra Day O'Connor
3. Westwood
4. Tolleson