Normally, I announce how many games I have watched in preseason, but that is obviously not the case. I did watch some of the teams in the Border League.

We are still hoping the season even happens. Some of the districts may not be cleared to play at all and will sadly miss the entire season. But we are positive here and we are assuming every team plays.

The 4A conference is very top heavy. There is obviously some depth but one of the top 4A teams moved up to 5A. They did fortunately add some firepower, with two of the top 3A teams moving up to 4A, to give this conference more top-notch teams.

There are 46 schools in 4A with 24 teams getting into the playoffs.

Here are my top 10 preseason team rankings for the 2020-2021 shortened seven-week season plus five other schools and one sleeper team.

#1 St. Mary's--Coach Damin Lopez has one of the more talented teams in the AIA on paper. They will be led by 6'1 senior PG Keiren Brown and juniors 6'9 C Jeremiah Cherry, 6'4 W Garrison Phelps, 6'1 SG Jacob Estrella, 6'8 PF Foune Doucoure. They also have talented youth with sophomores 6'3 PG Jason Fontenet Jr, 6'6 PF Seydou Tamboura plus 6'0 freshman PG Styles Phipps. The senior PG KP Brown will look to lead this predominately younger group.

#2 Paradise Honors--Coach Zach Hettel has another team with a lot of talent on paper. They will be led by POY candidate 6'4 senior PG Jalen Scott. Also seniors 6'0 CG Wyatt Bell, 6'1 CG CJ Lobrigo & 5'9 PG RJ Jenkins plus juniors 6'7 PF Luke Light, 6'2 SG Blessing Nwotite, 6'6 PF Jayson Hunt & 6'6 PF Jason Ernest. They also have talented sophs 5'10 CG Matthew Henry-Harrison and 6'5 PF River Bell. Scott, like KP Brown, has a talented team to go deep in the playoffs.

#3 Peoria--Coach Patrick Battillo went to the 4A Chip last year and will look to try and get back there. They will be led by 5'9 senior PG Corey Perry, juniors 6'3 SG Shamar Moore, 6'5 PF Jake Price & 6'2 W Chanti Bloomer. They also have talented underclassman with sophs 6'1 SG Andrew Camacho, 5'9 PG Demarion Anderson, Calvin Windley and freshman PG Tranell Bridges. They have multiple scorers that can share the load each night.

#4 Desert Edge--Coach Scott Lovely has arguably the most experienced team in 4A. They are led by seniors 6'4 SF Shay Cain, 6'5 W Jake Clapper, 6'2 W Amarei Hunter, 5'10 PG Adrian Banuelos & 6'6 PF Damaryea Cox. They also have three good sophs with 5'11 PG Cuthbert Tambatamba, 6'2 W Domick Tarrant and 6'2 SF Joven Allen and 5'11 junior CG Amahni Hunter-Williams. Coach Lovely will look to get the Scorpions deep into the playoffs with his older starting five.

#5 Mesquite--Coach Shawn Lynch is led by POY candidate 6'1 junior PG Nathan Calmese. He will be one of the states leaders in scoring. Alongside Calmese will be 6'0 senior PG Eric Lira, juniors 5'10 SG Nick Rogers, 5'11 SF Elijah Foster, Jacob Roberts, Max Miller, 6'5 PF Drew Owens, Tre Cushenberry and sophomores 5'7 PG Cohen J Gonzales and 5'10 SG Maurice Lakes.

#6 Shadow Mountain--Coach Curtis Millage has a talented group with a nice mixture of youth and older players. They will be led by seniors 6'4 SF Elijah Cole, 6'5 PF Kyle Johnson, 6'3 W Ryan Moore & 5'9 PG Daevion Smith. Also good juniors with 6'1 CG Cashuel Scott, 6'0 PG Kenny Chamberlain and 6'0 G Julius Rhodes plus stud 6'1 soph SG Khalon Johnson. The Matadors won it all two years ago with many of these players as freshman or sophomores. It is now their time to make a run.

#7 Pueblo Magnet--Coach Harry Whitaker Jr has a talented trio of some of the better Tucson players. They have 5'10 soph PG Armari Carraway, 5'11 junior CG Marcus Coleman & 6'9 senior C Zachariah Morgan. They also have depth with seniors 5'9 PG Edgardo Arias, 6'1 F Jacob Vega, 5'10 PG Andrei Madero plus 6'2 junior W William Santos, 5'11 junior G Victor Rodriguez and 5'5 freshman PG Isaiah Hill. Most people don't know how good this group is or who most of the players are, but it will be a dangerous team in the playoffs.

#8 Estrella Foothills--Coach Rich Gutwein has some talent to utilize led by super soph 6'11 C Noah Amenhauser. They also have seniors 6'3 SG Wesley Gutwein, 6'3 F Quinlan Popham plus juniors 6'7 PF Jacob Harding, 5'5 PG Seve Moreno. 6'7 PF Max McKelvey, 6'3 SG Andre Bourgeix, 6'3 CG Johny Olmsted, 6'2 SG Cooper Harris. They have guards, great size and a real PG to run the team.

#9 Salpointe Catholic--Coach Jim Reynolds won the state Chip last year and will look to get back. They will be led by seniors 6'1 SG Brady Ramon, 6'3 SF Tommy Irish, 6'9 C Myles Hersha. Also juniors 5'8 PG Julian Riesgo, 6'4 PF Dillan Baker & 6'1 SG Brett Rosenblatt plus 6'1 soph Canyon Torres. Even though this team is mostly all brand new, the Lancers have that winning DNA and have hungry seniors ready to make a leap.

#10 Dysart--Coach Keegan Cook will lead a balanced team of older players surrounded around POY candidate 6'5 senior PF Daryian Matthews. Others who will contribute will be seniors 6'4 SF Raul Montoya, 5'9 PG Santos Sanchez, 5'9 SG Colten Jett & 6'0 junior SG Eli Fleming. Montoya is coming back from a torn ACL, so it will be very important for him to retain his form. Mathews is a beast on the glass and will look to lead the state once again.

Deer Valley--Senior 6'0 SG Jackson Leyba & juniors 5'10 PG Greg Giles, SF 6'3 Semajay Jones, 6'5 PF Phillip Carr & 6'2 G Drew McKnight,

Notre Dame Prep--Seniors 6'1 PG Tyler Kolar, 5'11 SG Andrew Fitzgerald, 6'0 junior PG Brandon Nacario & 6'2 freshman SG Anthony Batson Jr.

American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek--Juniors 6'6 F Brooks Jones, 6'6 C Ashton Earl, 5'10 PG AJ Moss.

Thunderbird--Seniors 6'1 CG Jahon Lethridge, 6'7 junior PF/C Tommie Wauro, 6'2 senior W Dominic Hill & 6'8 junior C Elias Conditt.

Coconino--Seniors 5'10 PG Preston Olney, 5'9 SG Jacob Begay, 6'2 W Avram Tijerin.

Sleeper team:

Bradshaw Mountain--Seniors 6'7 PF Nate Summit, 6'1 SG Carter John & 6'4 soph SF Ben Wilder.

6'1 Sr PG Keiren Brown--St. Mary's

6'4 Sr SF Shay Cain--Desert Edge

6'1 Jr PG Nathan Calmese--Mesquite

6'1 So SG Andrew Camacho--Peoria

6'1 Sr CG Jahon Lethridge--Thunderbird

6'5 Sr PF Daryian Matthews--Dysart

6'9 Sr C Zachariah Morgan---Pueblo Magnet

5'10 Sr PG Preston Olney--Coconino

6'4 Sr W Jason Parent--Prescott

6'4 Sr PG Jalen Scott--Paradise Honors

6'2 Sr W Amarei Hunter--Desert Edge

6'6 Jr F Brook Jones--American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek

6'7 Jr PF Luke Light--Paradise Honors

6'8 Jr PF Chris Long--Vista Grande

6'0 Jr CG Extavius Mason--Greenway

6'4 Sr SF Raul Montoya--Dysart

6'3 Jr SG Shamar Moore--Peoria

6'3 Jr CG Johny Olmsted--Estrella Foothills

6'0 Sr PG Kevin Potter--Sahuaro

6'1 Sr SG Brady Ramon--Salpointe Catholic

6'0 Jr CG Jayson Redhouse---Buckeye

6'7 Sr PF Nate Summit--Bradshaw Mountain

6'4 Sr F Devionn'tae Williams--Moon Valley

6'11 So C Noah Amenhauser--Estrella Foothills

6'4 Sr SF Shay Cain--Desert Edge

6'1 So SG Andrew Camacho--Peoria

6'9 Jr C Jeremiah Cherry--St Mary's

6'4 Sr SF Elijah Cole--Shadow Mountain

6'5 Sr PF Daryian Matthews--Dysart

6'9 Sr C Zachariah Morgan---Pueblo Magnet

6'2 Jr SG Blessing Nwotite--Paradise Honors

6'4 Jr W Garrison Phelps--St Mary's

6'4 Sr PG Jalen Scott--Paradise Honors

6'11 So C Noah Amenhauser--Estrella Foothills

5'9 So PG Demarion Anderson--Peoria

6'2 Fr SG Anthony Batson Jr--Notre Dame Prep

5'10 So PG Armari Carraway--Pueblo Magnet

6'1 So SG Andrew Camacho--Peoria

5'10 So PG Masai Dean Jr.--Cholla

6'3 So PG Jason Fontenet Jr--St Mary's

6'8 Fr C Brady Henige--Cactus

6'1 So SG Khalon Johnson--Shadow Mountain .

5'9 So PG Jerry Leyva Jr--Buckeye

6'0 So PG Vincent Tedeschi--Moon Valley

6'4 So SF Ben Wilder--Bradshaw Mountain

Region-1 (Desert Sky)

1. Mesquite

2. American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek

3. Saguaro

4. Marcos de Niza

5. Seton Catholic

Region-2 (West Valley)

1. Peoria

2. Desert Edge

3. Deer Valley

4. Notre Dame Prep

5. Cactus

6. Goldwater

Region-3 (Southwest)

1. Paradise Honors

2. Estrella Foothills

3. Dysart

4. Buckeye

5. Yuma

6. Youngker

Region-4 (Skyline)

1. St. Mary's

2. Shadow Mountain

3. Thunderbird

4. Greenway

5. Moon Valley

6. Tempe

Region-5 (Grand Canyon)

1. Coconino

2. Bradshaw Mountain

3. Prescott

4. Flagstaff

5. Lee Williams

6. Mingus

7. Mohave

Region-6 (Black Canyon)

1. Coronado

2. Cortez

3. Poston Butte

4. Vista Grande

5. Combs

6. Apache Junction

Region-7 (Gila)

1. Rio Rico

2. Amphi

3. Douglass

4. Sahuarita

5. Walden Grove

Region-8 (Kino)

1. Pueblo Magnet

2. Salpointe Catholic

3. Cholla

4. Sahuaro

5. CDO

1. St. Mary's

2. Paradise Honors

3. Peoria

4. Desert Edge

5. Mesquite

6. Shadow Mountain

7. Pueblo Magnet

8. Estrella Foothills

9. Salpointe Catholic

10. Dysart

11. Deer Valley

12. Notre Dame Prep

13. American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek

14. Thunderbird

15. Coconino

16. Bradshaw Mountain

17. Cactus

18. Cholla

19. Prescott

20. Saguaro

21. Coronado

22. Rio Rico

23. Greenway

24. Buckeye

1. Moon Valley

2. Sahuaro

3. Cortez

4. Poston Butte

5. Vista Grande