2017-18 Preseason Boys Basketball State Rankings

Class A-Private

1. St. Francis
2. Greenforest
3. Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy
4. Aquinas
5. Wesleyan
6. Lakeview Academy
7. North Cobb Christian
8. Stratford Academy
9. King’s Ridge Christian
10. Holy Innocents’
A-Private is as open as it has been in five years as Greenforest and St. Francis have traded winning state titles, St. Francis in 2014 & 2015 and Greenforest in 2013, 2016 & 2017. The upper echelon of the classification is no longer loaded with four to five D-I players on each of the top two rosters, which could lead to some surprise contenders popping up. With that being said,

opens as the No. 1 contender albeit being one of the youngest teams in the field led by sophomores Dwon Odom and Chase Ellis. Juniors CJ Riley, a knockdown three-point shooter, and Sean Paradise, the ultimate glue guy, round out Coach Drew Catlett talented bunch. 6-foot-4 senior wing Caleb Snyder is a nice shooter while freshman point guard Madison Durr is a highly touted playmaker with size. The only thing the Knights don’t have is a true impactful post presence on the low block. Defending state champion

earns the No. 2 spot but has question marks surrounding the program like never before. Two-time state championship winning coach Larry Thompson has left for Wheeler and is replaced by understudy Rory Griffin. Four D-I players graduate and battery ram 6-foot-9, 260-pound center Mo Abdulsalem has exhausted his eligibility and will be playing at the next level this year instead of graduating high school in 2018 as originally expected. So who’s left? Rumors have swirled about the latest batch of imports to join the program and last anyone has heard is that the Eagles have two new players from the Senegal. If true, they join junior wing Terrell Sanders, who returns with the most experience after averaging 2.7 points per game. Greenforest does have three other confirmed transfers in Christian Jackson (Fulton Leadership Academy), Cam Chavers (Parkview) and Kaleb Jenkins (Shiloh). It could end up being a boom or bust year for Greenforest with all of the uncertainty.

is quickly rising onto the state’s radar. In his first year as head coach, Derrick Mason turned the Chargers around from a 4-19 team sputtering to find traction into a 20-7 state playoff squad. Even with all of the success, it was a bit of a revolving door in McDonough this summer as JeKobe Coleman transferred and so did 6-foot-8 junior Malachi Rhodes, but luckily for the Chargers, Rhodes reneged on Langston Hughes and returned to ELCA. KJ Jones and Trevon Reddish have moved in. Jones comes in from Luella while Reddish moves from Carrollton and should instantly become ELCA’s best guard; an explosive junior. The Chargers have a good batch of young players that could help the program solidify itself as one of the best in the evolving landscape of Class A-Private.

finished 26-2 a year ago with their only in-state loss coming against St. Francis in the Elite Eight. The Fightin’ Irish return their entire roster minus All-State Honorable Mention point guard Jelani Shakir. All-State shooting guard Tre Gomillion will see the offense turn to him for big buckets and rebounds. 6-foot-4 guard Daniel Parrish and 6-foot-7 forward Chris Williams bring length on defense. Getting production inside and handling on-ball pressure defense will determine Aquinas’ success.

began playing their best ball coming down the stretch last year, finishing 11-3 over their final 14 games. Christian McLean led the Wolves from his shooting guard position and has played his way into the Division-I discussion. Junior Grant Summers and Whitefield Academy transfer sophomore Micah Smith will play important roles in Coach Adam Griffin’s backcourt. The team that eliminated Wesleyan in the state playoffs?

. The Lions lose a good chunk of their Final Four team but do return sharpshooting brothers and Coach Todd Cottrell’s sons, Drew and Adam. Evan Pitts is a proven commodity at forward and Jack Blackburn is one of a handful of guards who have heard their number called over the past years. The Lions will need to replace their two most explosive athletes in Tre Gober and Josh Randolph.