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 6A Conference has the deepest pool of talent along with 5A.

There are 41 schools in 6A 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 Mountain Pointe-Coach Kaimarr Price has a talented and deep roster. Many teams around town lost key players, but the Pride actually gained a significant piece with Tru Washington. The soph is a game changer on both sides of the ball. They already had talent with seniors 6'1 PG Jason Kimbrough Jr and 6'8 post Zereoue Williams. They also have 5'11 super soph PG Mark Brown Jr and junior 6'2 W Tomi Stevens. Those five are tough but their team strength is their depth. They bring in a slew of talent off the bench with 6'7 senior PF Latrell Barker, 5'10 senior PG Donaven Ocasio, 6'8 senior C Casey Combs, 5'11 junior CG Anthony Jaramillo, 6'2 junior W Tanner Pate and sophs 5'11 SG Aiden Price and 5'10 PG Jayven Price. Those 12 will wear down most teams. They were in the 6A Finals last year and lost to DV but look to win it this year.

#2 Sunnyslope-Coach Ray Portela has one of the best starting fives in state. They did lose some depth to transfers like most but it is hard to match their size and skill. They are moving up from 5A and lost in the semi-finals last year to eventual state champs Ironwood in a top heavy 5A last year. They will be led by 6'10 senior big man Carson Basham, 5'9 junior PG Oakland Fort, 6'8 junior PF Elijah Saunders, 6'7 senior PF Grady Lewis and 5'11 senior PG Malcolm Olexa. These five form a tough out. Of the five, Oakland Fort may be the most important player. He is the catalyst of their offense and can score it as well. Off the bench they bring in 6'5 junior twins Quinn and Liam Thompson.

#3 Brophy Prep-Coach Matt Hooten has a good core of talent and honestly not too far behind the top two. They have a balanced attack with 6'0 senior CG Desi Burrage, juniors 6'3 CG Patrick Chew, 6'6 PF JP Muselmann, 6'0 PG Miles Nash and stud soph 6'6 W Arman Madi forming a top-notch starting-5. Plus they also have depth. Off the bench they can bring in 6'0 senior SG Roosevelt Bryant, 5'11 senior CG Quentin Cibulka, junior 6'2 G Max Ware, 5'11 junior G Ben Mills, 5'11 junior G Jacob Dolasinski, 5'9 soph PG Leonard Romayor & 6'1 freshman CG Braeden Speed. They will be tough for the next few years with a nice core of talent.

#4 Valley Vista-Coach Ben Isai has one of my sleeper teams of 6A. Not many know about their talent but they have a budding star, adequate size and depth. They will be led by seniors 6'5 SF Elijah Thomas, 6'5 PF Demari Hackett, 6'3 PF David Aysho & 6'1 PG Dwight McKnight. Also 6'3 juniors W Dwayne Porter and 5'11 PG Matin Strong Jr plus stud sophs 6'1 CG Aadem Isai, 6'0 SG Clayton Werner, 6'2 SG Tarik Spencer and 5'11 W Terrell Doxie. This team can play with anyone.

#5 Perry-Coach Sammy Duane Jr has a talented group. They beat Brophy in the Sweet-16 and almost knocked off Skyline in the Elite-8 last year. They will look to get into the Final-4 this year. They will be led by 6'3 senior CG Christian Tucker, 7'0 junior PF/C Dylan Anderson, 6'6 soph W Cody Williams, 6'3 junior SF Kyle Waters and 6'3 junior SG Michael Morse. They also have two senior guards that will contribute a lot in 6'2 Demarco Wiley and 6'2 Jalen Harris. Some more possible depth includes 6'3 soph F Ben Egbo, 5'10 junior PG Eli Burland and 5'9 junior PG Bennett Silsby.

#6 Chaparral-Coach Dan Peterson has an older and deep team. I am not sure any team in 6A has more depth with size like the Firebirds. They will be led by seniors 6'1 SG Jevon Humphrey, 6'6 PF Markes Siekam 6'8 C Matthew Buechner, 5'11 PG William Betteridge, 6'0 SG Daniel Malumba, 6'2 W Sebastian Van Laarhoven & juniors 5'11 PG Jalin Humphrey, 6'7 Michael Saba, 6'5 PF Anthony Lucas, 6'5 Keelan O'Doherty, 5'10 PG Joey Greer, 6'3 SF Michael Rafko plus 6'3 soph SF Paul Oscislawski. Coach Peterson can play many different ways with big lineups to fast, quick and skilled guard ones. They will be very competitive the next two years.

#7 South Mountain-Coach Jay Soria has some talented guards along with size and strong forwards with girth. They will be led by senior 6'0 G Zay Freeney, 5'9 junior PG LJ Ginnis plus 6'4 junior F Tyreek Dean, 6'6 senior PF Josiah Sanders, 6'7 junior PF Damarion Pouncil and 6'3 freshman SF Cori James. Those six form their main core but look for 6'3 soph F Masaiah Binford, 6'3 freshman SF Aerimiah Binford and 5'9 senior PG Marquis Goodridge to get some burn. Two top-tier defenders make this team hard to play against.

#8 Chandler-Coach Jonathan Rother lost potentially 3 starters to transfers but still have some top seniors to lead the way. He will rely heavily on seniors 5'8 PG Carson Kelly, 6'8 post Nick Riley & 6'4 F Elijah Johnson. Juniors that will also contribute will be guards 5'11 G Jamison Crispin and 5'11 PG Eydurus Muse. Plus 6'5 PF soph Tyson Wheeler and stud freshman 6'4 SF Ezias Steffan and 5'11 G Christian Garven. Look for Kelly and Riley to have some monster games.

#9 Highland-Coach Todd Fazio has a good group of older guards to lean on this season. He will be led by 6'1 senior PG Derick Kaps, 6'2 junior SG AJ Riggs, 6'0 soph PG Isaac Kaps, 6'0 junior PG Matix Arnett and junior 6'2 SG Mason Knollmiller. He also has forwards 6'1 senior Jake Sticher and 6'2 soph Noah Peterson to help inside with the post defense. After a breakout year last season, the Hawks are looking for another run.

#10 Desert Ridge-Coach Greg Ream has arguably the top shooting team in the conference. They will be led by seniors 5'10 PG Joe Kelsey, 6'4 F Kaden Kennedy, 5'9 SG Matt Haltorp, 5'10 SG Gavin Bray & 6'2 SF Jared Nichols. Off the bench they will bring in 6'1 soph CG Devin Miller. They move the ball for open shooters and this team is under the radar.

Hamilton--Seniors 6'9 C Dane Erikstrup, 6'3 F Andrew Hinkle & 5'11 PG Adrian Galndo plus juniors 6'6 F Aaron Foote & 6'0 PG Jalen Lee.

Mesa--Seniors 6'7 PF Tanner Crawford, 5'11 PG Steven Cervantes Jr and 5'11 PG Jimari Grayson.

Desert Vista-- Juniors 6'8 PF Terrance Dixon, 6'2 CG Daylyn Martin, 6'2 SG Andrew King & 6'5 PF Tayan Thompson.

Basha--Seniors 6-5 W Trenton McLaughlin, 5'11 PG Thomas Hastings & 6'6 junior PF Brady Reynolds.

Pinnacle-- Senior 6'4 F Elias White, 5'10 junior PG Joey Grady, 5'10 soph SG Bryce Ford & 6'6 PF Soph Duece Robinson.

Sleeper team:

Sandra Day O'Connor--Seniors 6'5 SF Garrett Anderson, 6'6 PF Uyi-osa Irowa & 6'6 junior F Luke Kearney.

7'0 Jr C/PF Dylan Anderson--Perry

6'10 Sr C Carson Basham--Sunnyslope

5'11 Sr PG Steven Cervantes Jr--Mesa

5'9 Jr PG Oakland Fort--Sunnyslope

6'0 Sr PG Zay Freeney--South Mountain

6'1 Sr PG Derick Kaps--Highland

5'8 Sr PG Carson Kelly--Chandler

6'1 Sr PG Jason Kimbrough Jr--Mountain Pointe

6'5 Sr W Trenton McLaughlin--Basha

6'8 Sr C Nicholas Riley--Chandler

6'5 Sr SF Elijah Thomas--Valley Vista

5'11 Jr PG Raydon Thorson--Queen Creek

6'4 So SG Tru Washington--Mountain Pointe

6'7 Sr PF Latrell Barker--Mountain Pointe

6'7 Sr PF Jaxton Bobik--Queen Creek

6'8 Sr C Matthew Buechner--Chaparral

6'3 Jr CG Patrick Chew--Brophy Prep

6'7 Sr PF Tanner Crawford--Mesa

6'8 Jr PF Terrance Dixon--Desert Vista

6'9 Sr C Dane Erikstrup--Hamilton

5'9 Sr SG Matt Haltorp--Desert Ridge

5'11 Sr PG Thomas Hastings--Basha

6'6 Jr F Luke Kearney--Sandra Day O'Connor

6'0 Jr CG Brandon Lee--Corona del Sol

6'1 Sr PG Dwight McKnight--Valley Vista

6'7 Sr PF Eric Ramirez--Cibola

5'9 Sr PG Bryce Baptiste--Westwood

5'11 Sr PG Adrian Galindo--Hamilton

5'9 Jr PG LJ Ginnis--South Mountain

6'6 Sr PF Uyi-osa Irowa--Sandra Day O'Connor

6'1 Sr PG Derick Kaps--Highland

6'1 Sr PG Jason Kimbrough Jr--Mountain Pointe

6'7 Jr PF Damarion Pouncil--South Mountain

6'8 Sr C Nicholas Riley--Chandler

6'5 Sr SF Elijah Thomas--Valley Vista

6'8 Sr PF Zereoue Williams--Mountain Pointe

5'11 So PG Mark Brown Jr--Mountain Pointe

5'10 So SG Bryce Ford--Pinnacle

5'8 So PG Vari Hogan--Tolleson

6'1 So CG Aadem Isai--Valley Vista

6'3 Fr SF Cori James--South Mountain

6'0 So PG Isaac Kaps--Highland

6'6 So W Arman Madi--Brophy Prep

6'4 So SF Brandon Trilli-Desert Vista

6'4 So SG Tru Washington--Mountain Pointe

5'7 So PG Anthony-Lamar Wilcox--Maricopa

6'6 So W Cody Williams--Perry

Region-1 (Desert Valley)

1. Chaparral

2. Sandra Day O'Connor

3. Pinnacle

4. Liberty

5. Mountain Ridge

6. Boulder Creek

Region-2 (East Valley)

1. Mesa

2. Mesa Mountain View

3. Dobson

4. Westwood

5. Red Mountain

6. Skyline

Region-3 (Premier)

1. Brophy Prep

2. Perry

3. Chandler

4. Hamilton

5. Basha

Region-4 (Central)

1. Mountain Pointe

2. Highland

3. Desert Ridge

4. Desert Vista

5. Queen Creek

6. Corona del Sol

Region-5 (Metro)

1. South Mountain

2. Cesar Chavez

3. Trevor Browne

4. Maryvale

5. North

6. Alhambra

Region-6 (Southwest)

1. Sunnyslope

2. Valley Vista

3. Shadow Ridge

4. Tolleson

5. Westview

5. Copper Canyon

Region-7 (Desert Southwest)

1. Tucson

2. Cibola

3. Rincon

4. Maricopa

5. Kofa

6. San Luis

1. Mountain Pointe

2. Sunnyslope

3. Brophy Prep

4. Valley Vista

5. Perry

6. Chaparral

7. South Mountain

8. Chandler

9. Highland

10. Desert Ridge

11. Hamilton

12. Mesa

13. Desert Vista

14. Basha

15. Sandra Day O'Connor

16. Pinnacle

17. Queen Creek

18. Liberty

19. Corona del Sol

20. Cesar Chavez

21. Mesa Mountain View

22. Tucson

23. Cibola

24. Shadow Ridge

1. Mountain Ridge

2. Dobson

3. Westwood

4. Tolleson

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