Conference Predictions

I am going to do a conference prediction for every conference I pay really close attention to ( CLC, West Central North, WCS, Central Minnesota, Prairie). I am a day behind so one day I will do two, but today I am going to do the CLC. The league I played and coached in.

1. Tech- They might not go 29-3 this season, and they will miss Stinogel and Farb(emotional bench leaders are important) more than they think. They also have significantly beefed up there schedule with Hopkins, Tartan taking the place of Albany and Duluth East. Obviously I love Wolters,Hanks, etc. A fun thing about this Tech team is there isn't a kid in their rotation who didn't grow up going to my basketball camp.

2. Willmar- I think the Filipek's and Smith prove to be too much size, length, athleticism, that is a nice 3. I think guard play will be important, but they are extremely well coached, and Willmar is a tough gym to win in.

3. Apollo- Consider me sold on Bergstrasser, I think Garth needs to become not only a better shooter, but a shutdown defensive stopper as well. I think as long as the ball goes inside out, Apollo will be hard to stop, another well coached team, with a nice combination of experience and youth.

4. Little Falls- I just really like the Kornbaum's Scott, Erdich, etc. That foursome plus some of the other guards they have(little Horesji) make them a serious contender, and of course they have state tournament experience from last year. You know defensively they will be solid, and offensively they will execute well. If Dan Kornbaum continues to take the steps he can, they could easily be #2.

5. Fergus Falls- Really don't know a ton about them other than their new coach got them fired up last year, and Hansen is a nice player. I am a big believer that football success translates into basketball success, so consider me a Fergus believer.

6. Sauk Rapids- usually the conference doormat, but they have a nice group of athletes, and experienced players as well. Christensen is a tough matchup for most if not all teams in the conference, and Meyer is improving every day as a drive and kick PG who can get people a lot of easy looks with his quickness.

7. Rocori- Not usually seen this far down, but to me their seniors are sub par. I do like their junior class with Willenbring and Worms physicality. You know they will defend, and you know they will win a few they aren't supposed to.

8. Brainerd- I really think this team is the hardest to gauge, those coaches work their tails off up there, and the kids have bought into the systems they are being taught. I love Crocker, and I think Pavek will have a breakout year. It's tough to put them this low, because of the coaching and talent they have.

9. Alexandria- Witt will do an unbelievable job and breath a bunch of new energy into the program, with Conley, Illies, Warnes, and some good juniors as well, there is plenty of talent there. I am glad their old coach John Holsten has a new job, he was a great coach as well, and well respected.

10. Sartell- Pretty young team, as they have some good sophs coming up. Evan Ziegler is a 3 who plays a lot of 5 for a small Sartell team. He is one of the best athletes in the conference and he can fill it up when he get's hot. I also think they have a couple of juniors and Kyle Mareck is a great Shooter/defender.

1-10 the league is stronger than normal, the bottom 6 can flip in any way, and any of them could sneak into the top 3 without too much suprise. I think this league has 10 good coaches, and probably 25 high level college basketball players in it, with a potential for 3-4 to go division 1. This is the best outstate conference in the state, and with teams traditions like Apollo, Willmar, Rocori, and more recently Tech and LF, it should be a battle again. There are no free wins this season.

My all conference teams
1st team
C- Bergstrasser- Apollo
F- Christensen- SR
F-T Filipek -Willmar
G- A Hanks- Tech
G- Wolters- Tech

2nd team
C- Kornbaum -LF
F- Hansen- FF
F- Smith- Willmar
G- Garth- Apollo
G- Crocker- Brainers

3rd team
C-R Filipek Willmar
F- Ziegler- Sartell
F- Willenbring- Rocori
G- Meyer- SR
G- Scott- LF

4th team
C-Pavek- Brainerd
F- Warnes- Alex
F- Eurhle- Tech
G- Kornbaum - LF
G- Leyk SR

HM
Johnson, Jordan Tech
Maslonkowski, Frericks Apollo
Warnes, Meyer Rocori
Mareck Geiske Sartell
Stein SR
Weise, Gervais Brainerd
Illies Alex
Esboldt Willmar
Erdich LF