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Well, a new season means a new sport to follow.
A new sport to follow means a new Power 5 to create weekly.
Today, we unveil our season-opening basketball Power 5 in boys’ basketball. Note, we’re ranking these teams based on 2023-2024 performance, returnees on those teams, summer performance, and what we’ve seen in jamborees.
Let’s roll.
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BOYS’ BASKETBALL POWER 5 RANKINGS:
1. Vandebilt – There’s a lot of really good local boys’ basketball teams, but Vandebilt has to take the top spot into the season. The Terriers were lights out good last season, but they also return the lion’s share of their roster with some of the most talented players in our area and also the state returning. It would be a shock if the Terriers are not a 20+ win team this season.
2. H.L. Bourgeois – The Braves had an awesome season last winter, making it to the second round of the Division I State Playoffs. Like Vandebilt, the Braves do return a lot of key pieces off that team, but the loss of Chris Coleman is why the Braves sit in the No. 2 spot to start the year. They will be fine. But they have to replace their most explosive scorer and ball handler. That might take a little time.
3. Ellender – The Patriots struggled early last season, but found their stride in the back-end of the season, working hard and earning a spot in the Division II Non-Select State Playoffs. The Patriots return their entire roster and add some talented pieces to it. Coach Cornell Scott said multiple times last season that teams needed to beat Ellender last season. It’ll be tough to beat them in the future.
4. Terrebonne – The Tigers get their football players back a little sooner than they expected and they’re going to be a tough team to contend with locally. Coach Brown’s Tigers do not have tremendous size, but they are going to have so many interchangeable parts. They will be able to pick up the tempo, hit opponents in waves and be awfully strong.
5. CCA – You won’t see them for a while because they will not be starting until December because of the successes of their football team, but CCA figures to be loaded in 2024-2025. The Lions had a successful season last year, but now they add the Carter’s and others to a core that was already solid. These final couple of spots will be contested heavily early in the season because let me tell you: South Lafourche will be good, as will E.D. White, Houma Christian, Central Lafourche and others.
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