The Nearly Thanksgiving SWVA Top 20

[HowTheWestWasWon2017 24]

1. Radford

2. George Wythe

3. Graham

4. Richlands

5. Union

6. Gate City

7. Eastside

8. Galax

9. Chilhowie

10. Abingdon

11. Fort Chiswell

12. J.I. Burton

13. Lebanon

14. John Battle

15. Castlewood

16. Honaker

17. Ridgeview

18. Virginia High

19. Marion

20. Lee High

 

I am going to keep up with basketball in this area this year. From all that I have read how close would this poll be to how people feel about which teams have the top programs in SWVA as of now? It's hard to take the Bobcats out if the top spot.

[sixcat 2,919]

Galax will not be very good. I wouldnt put them on a top 20 list with the above mentioned teams. A lot of talent in the 6-8 grade range though.

 

Grayson County will be much improved with a new (old/former) coach and a 6'-5" transfer from Stokes County, NC. Grayson will be relatively young but very talented.

 

Carroll has a new coaching staff and lost a lot to graduation. Hard to know what to expect.

 

Still speculation at this point but that is my thoughts.

[GMan 3,569]

Graham too high at #3...

[RiverRat24 274]

Kinda hard for me to even take a guess without seeing one or two games. Id say your Top 6 teams could be flipped flopped around and youd definitely have the Top 4 teams out of that group. But I really don't know anything about Radford or GW this year.

[goofoti32 30]

1. Radford

2. Gate City

3. GW

4. Richlands

5. Graham

6. Lebanon

7. Eastside

8. Union

9. Chilhowie

10. Honaker

11. Abingdon

12. Burton

13. Castlewood

14. Va High

15.Hurley

16. Fort Chiswell

17. Lee

18. Marion

19. Grayson

20. Wise Central

[Dick_Vitale 342]

Top 20 is tough and entirely too many things go into that kind of ranking. Plus if youre not in the top 10 you are really just guessing anyway. 

 

My Top 10:

 

1.Radford-Easy pick for the most part. Too many athletes on that team!

 

2.Gate City-McClung, Ervin, freshmen kid will be a fun group to watch. Maybe not as deep as a traditional GC team but they should make a run to Richmond

 

3.George Wythe-Arguably has one of the best players in SWVA on their team (the guard). Unsure what they lost last year but should be high in the standings.

 

4.Richlands-Losing Fuller and Lowe hurts. Senior heavy team that is poised to win finally. Horn and Brown should contribute a lot for them. Could be a fun team to watch play offense. 

 

5.Graham- Lost 2 solid players but reload with young talent. It will be a different team this year but not a bad team. They will sputter early but by season's end could be playing with the big boys. I look for them to knock Richlands off once. 

 

6.Union-Lost a lot due to graduation but they have a solid shooter in Slagle and athlete in Mitchell. They will be in any ball game they play due to this. 

 

7.Abingdon (if their athletes play)- Weird team... The talent is there but Abingdon does not seem to be bought into the basketball atmosphere. They are always playing 3rd fiddle to football/baseball. 

 

8.Eastside-Casano is a senior right? if so good place for a 1A team. Damron does a great job there. 

 

9.Fort Chiswell-If memory serves me right their coach was tossed in the last game of the year at Honaker. FUN. I feel like they return a lot from last year. They won't beat GW but they will give it a good effort. 

 

10.Chilhowie-I was at a loss of who to put here. Snodgrass does a pretty good job here. This spot is a toss up. 

[Retch 0]

I think Honaker will be in the top 10, if not the top five.

[Dick_Vitale 342]

I think Honaker will be in the top 10, if not the top five.

of the Crooked Road Conference?

[goofoti32 30]

Top 20 is tough and entirely too many things go into that kind of ranking. Plus if youre not in the top 10 you are really just guessing anyway. 

 

My Top 10:

 

1.Radford-Easy pick for the most part. Too many athletes on that team!

 

2.Gate City-McClung, Ervin, freshmen kid will be a fun group to watch. Maybe not as deep as a traditional GC team but they should make a run to Richmond

 

3.George Wythe-Arguably has one of the best players in SWVA on their team (the guard). Unsure what they lost last year but should be high in the standings.

 

4.Richlands-Losing Fuller and Lowe hurts. Senior heavy team that is poised to win finally. Horn and Brown should contribute a lot for them. Could be a fun team to watch play offense. 

 

5.Graham- Lost 2 solid players but reload with young talent. It will be a different team this year but not a bad team. They will sputter early but by season's end could be playing with the big boys. I look for them to knock Richlands off once. 

 

6.Union-Lost a lot due to graduation but they have a solid shooter in Slagle and athlete in Mitchell. They will be in any ball game they play due to this. 

 

7.Abingdon (if their athletes play)- Weird team... The talent is there but Abingdon does not seem to be bought into the basketball atmosphere. They are always playing 3rd fiddle to football/baseball. 

 

8.Eastside-Casano is a senior right? if so good place for a 1A team. Damron does a great job there. 

 

9.Fort Chiswell-If memory serves me right their coach was tossed in the last game of the year at Honaker. FUN. I feel like they return a lot from last year. They won't beat GW but they will give it a good effort. 

 

10.Chilhowie-I was at a loss of who to put here. Snodgrass does a pretty good job here. This spot is a toss up. 

 

Cusano graduated

[Blue1915 10]

Dick Vitale Casano graduated but I still think Eastside will be very tough but I believe people are counting Cwood out this year to win the district with JIB and Eastside at the top and they will be but I think its a three way race with Cwood possibly stealing this thing.

[MANNYBATES6996 0]

of the Crooked Road Conference.

Honaker returns 4 starters and have a 6'6 transfer that will fill the 5th spot. Wouldn't be surprised if they make a run to win the region for the second time in 3 years!

[Dick_Vitale 342]

of the Crooked Road Conference.

Honaker returns 4 starters and have a 6'6 transfer that will fill the 5th spot. Wouldn't be surprised if they make a run to win the region for the second time in 3 years!

I can definitely see Honaker being int he top 10 and being very competitive in the Region 1A... but they lost Robinette which was basically their team. Anxious to see how they play without him down low. 

[Plywood_King 518]

Abingdon (if their athletes play)- Weird team... The talent is there but Abingdon does not seem to be bought into the basketball atmosphere. They are always playing 3rd fiddle to football/baseball. 

 

I just woke up from a five year coma and this comment confuses the crap out of me.

[Dick_Vitale 342]

I just woke up from a five year coma and this comment confuses the crap out of me.

Okay... I will say I misspoke. Maybe not always playing 3rd to football/basketball but with the new hire I will be interested to see how they fair this upcoming season. Still with 1000+ students there is no reason they should not dominate the competition yearly. 

 

Their baseball team has 3 Division I signees. Basketball fell off steeply once Lasley left. Maybe he saw what was coming and chose to begin his admin career with that in mind. 

[birddog 13]

Abingdon has 800+ kids. Two really good ones are going to concentrate on baseball this year.

[Dick_Vitale 342]

Abingdon has 800+ kids. Two really good ones are going to concentrate on baseball this year.

886 according to the latest VHSL enrollment numbers. 

 

All valid points... I retract my statements and Abingdon can remain average. Since they do not have a lot of kids them underachieving is okay. 

[RiverRat24 274]

GC will be tested early with Daniel Boone, Tennessee High, and Knoxville Christian....then the Arbys Classic. We will see if the preseason talk about GC matches up with what they truly have. I believe they may stumble a few times out of those first 5-6 games.

[GC_Quincy 582]

Beat a good Hampton team at their place tonight in a benefit game 89-73. GC trailed by 13 in the 1st Quarter. Hampton had to have shot 75% or better. They scored 33 in the 1st, but GC played well after that.

[RiverRat24 274]

33 pts in a qtr is lighting it up. Hate I missed the game. How did the younger guys (Noe, Compton, Sharpe) look for GC, Quincy? And did Jenkins and Collier even play? Kinda thought they would need a few days break since football season just ended. Not sure if you went or if you spoke with someone that did. Feel free give some feedback on the game if you went.

 

Edit** I seen the stats on GCs Twitter page. McClung had 35, Ervin 33, and Dean finished with 18 pts. 86 of GCs 89 pts came from 3 players. Nice win......but definitely gonna need other players to step up and contribute. Vermillion had 2 pts and Kimbler had 1. I'm guessing since I see no points for Collier or Jenkins that neither of those guys played.

[GC_Quincy 582]

Collier wasn't even there. For the amount of practice they've had as a team I thought they played very well. Hampton can shoot the rock.

[RiverRat24 274]

I didn't figure he was. He can usually tally up a point or two. McClung and Ervin stay in basketball form...just hoping the other fellas get in the groove pretty quick. Who all was in the rotation?

[GC_Quincy 582]

Everybody played last night. Missed more free throws than I would've liked but hopefully that gets improved before December 6th. Hampton finished 29-7 last year and made it to the state semi's. I have no idea what they lost from last year though.

[swva_havok_fan 1,261]

Ridgeview defeated Council 68-64 in a benefit game played Friday night..

[Dick_Vitale 342]

Ridgeview defeated Council 68-64 in a benefit game played Friday night..

Ouch

[RiverRat24 274]

Everybody played last night. Missed more free throws than I would've liked but hopefully that gets improved before December 6th. Hampton finished 29-7 last year and made it to the state semi's. I have no idea what they lost from last year though.

Don't quote me on this, but I think Hampton lost 3 seniors from that squad. I may have heard wrong though. Getting Collier back will be a huge help though whether or not he scores any points. They need his leadership on the court.