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Predictions

Mitty wins NorCal Open and unfortunately gets whacked by whatever pack of superstars comes up to Golden 1.

That's all I got.
 
btw, has anyone here seen videos of top soph Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian? She just might be the "next big thing".
 
Have a look: Kaleena's soph debut (fall league, I guess)

She's #11 in white uni's. My guess is the other team is perennial power Windward.

I think my favorite bit is when the coach pulled her aside early in the game and said something like, "Let's get going, you haven't even scored a point this quarter."

She immediately calls for the ball, makes a move on her opponent and gets to the rack, is fouled, makes the FT's.
 
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Smith is the real deal, so is Mitty.

Without Quieroz, Newman drops back to a large pack trailing Mitty. SRV, O'Dowd (most likely). Carondelet, Salesian (maybe) in NCS; Folsom and SMS are the names I know from SJS. Los Gatos might be good, and some WCAL teams will be strong as well.
 
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Smith is the real deal, so is Mitty.

Without Quieroz, Newman drops back to a large pack trailing Mitty. SRV, O'Dowd (most likely). Carondelet, Salesian (maybe) in NCS; Folsom and SMS are the names I know from SJS. Los Gatos might be good, and some WCAL teams will be strong as well.
I hear McClatchy from the SJS might be even better this year and surprise. Folsom senior guard Breyana Kimmons (Team Kidd) transferred to McClatchy this fall and is fully eligible to play the entire season. She played two seasons at Folsom (jr. & soph years) and is an unselfish, fast, quick, dynamo who can dribble, shoot, and assist.
 
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McClatchy is a good call. Should be stronger than usual, and usually, they're really good.
 
Big question in preseason is what the depth looks like this year after Mitty. Would be more interesting if Quieroz stayed at CN and Cosgriff stayed at O'Dowd.

SJS is pretty wide open with Folsom, St. Mary's and McClatchy likely leading the pack. For NCS, I think Carondelet is improved and SRV has showed staying power no matter who they lose. And O'Dowd still has a good core of talent.
 
St Mary's is definitely down a notch. Maybe two. Koko Rogers is hurt, and without her (and with big losses to graduation), they lack star power. I would be surprised to see them in NorCal Open.
 
Open will be
Acalanes ( NCS winner)
Folsom ( SJS #2)
McClatchy (SJS Winner)
Mitty ( CCS Winner)
Pinewood (CCS #2)
O Dowd or CLET (NCS #2)

In the mix Oakland Tech has a few great players ( two high level D1 players) , Riordan should be on the verge this year and Clovis West will go Open if they get moved North . Piedmont will also surpise people this year despite losing their roster. Don't know what Cardinal Newman looks like without the big but they will obviously still be in the mix. Saint Mary's will scrap but won't hang with the elites this year. No one is close to Mitty again this year in Norcal and they won't play any competitve games against a team from Norcal in my opinion.
 
Open will be
Acalanes ( NCS winner)
Folsom ( SJS #2)
McClatchy (SJS Winner)
Mitty ( CCS Winner)
Pinewood (CCS #2)
O Dowd or CLET (NCS #2)

In the mix Oakland Tech has a few great players ( two high level D1 players) , Riordan should be on the verge this year and Clovis West will go Open if they get moved North . Piedmont will also surpise people this year despite losing their roster. Don't know what Cardinal Newman looks like without the big but they will obviously still be in the mix. Saint Mary's will scrap but won't hang with the elites this year. No one is close to Mitty again this year in Norcal and they won't play any competitve games against a team from Norcal in my opinion.
You really don’t think SRV will be in the mix? Time will tell…
 
I think LBJ6 is close to spot on. I'd add Clovis West and SRV for an eight team field.

Better things are generally in store for CCS this year. There's Mitty, of course. Pinewood returns four strong starters from a squad that was the #1 seed in Norcal D1. Riordan was already on the rise and added a trio of tall talented transfers. And watch out for Priory with four returning starters plus twin posts who could not play last year.
 
Smith is the real deal, so is Mitty.

Without Quieroz, Newman drops back to a large pack trailing Mitty. SRV, O'Dowd (most likely). Carondelet, Salesian (maybe) in NCS; Folsom and SMS are the names I know from SJS. Los Gatos might be good, and some WCAL teams will be strong as well.
Why hasn't C-Let been in the "top teams" conversation in Norcal? I thought that was Kelly's goal when he took over. Every year I hear about Mitty, BOD, SMS. I don't hear them dominate the conversation like they did when Margaret was there. Just curious to hear your thoughts even more so since there's the Cal Stars connection.

thanks!
 
I hesitate to get drawn into this conversation, but I will say this: To compete in the EYBL, any club must draw talent from a wide area, much wider than Carondelet's potential attendance area, or the East Bay, or the Bay Area, or Northern California. So the connection between club success at the national EYBL level and high school success in a limited area aren't necessarily correlated.
 
I hesitate to get drawn into this conversation, but I will say this: To compete in the EYBL, any club must draw talent from a wide area, much wider than Carondelet's potential attendance area, or the East Bay, or the Bay Area, or Northern California. So the connection between club success at the national EYBL level and high school success in a limited area aren't necessarily correlated.
Those points are valid. I, personally thought that when he took over (and think you alluded to it as well) it was going to be the second coming of Tom G, winning multiple state and national championships. He seemed to have "more success" at Miramonte than he's had (although he's done a good job) at Carondelet. I agree, club success and HS success are not exclusive...unless you are in a BIG, densely populated area.

The one I'm thinking of is Etiwanda...isn't he a HS and club coach at a more popular travel ball club? Much appreciate your dialogue...
 
I don't follow the club circuit really, so I don't know where Stan Delus coaches. I know that he's gotten transfers and move-ins at Etiwanda, and that's pretty much the way you have to go to be a nationally ranked team. That said, I know little or nothing about the exact situation at Etiwanda.

But the bottom line is local talent. For any school to be at the national level, there must be a pool of P4 talent that can be tapped, plus at least one elite player. Transfers from distant areas and move-ins can fill out a couple missing pieces, like free agents in the NBA or NFL, but the bulk of the talent must be (somewhat) local.

The Bay Area has been in a down cycle, talent-wise, in recent years, compared to other areas of the country, but that's the nature of the beast. After doing the national rankings for so long, I saw how the powers shifted from area to area, state to state, irrespective of coaching or tradition, and regional dominance was almost completely dependent on the random appearance of a lot of girls who were very, very good players.
 
CN is not as good as they have been previously. Other than Schat they're going to rely on youngsters. I would expect some growing pains early on. They will still roll thru league though as there is no one in Sonoma county to challenge them. Borderline NCS Open team this season.

Along with Folsom I would expect both McClatchy and Oakridge to be pretty good. Of course never count out SMS although they will not be as formidable as previous years. Not sure who the top dog in SJS will be this season.

Of course Mitty is the cream of the crop and will be playing in the State Open final this year again...

Also saw PW play and they look like they are back after a short hiatus from the top nor cal teams.

In other words the usual suspects lol
 
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Smith is the real deal, so is Mitty.

Without Quieroz, Newman drops back to a large pack trailing Mitty. SRV, O'Dowd (most likely). Carondelet, Salesian (maybe) in NCS; Folsom and SMS are the names I know from SJS. Los Gatos might be good, and some WCAL teams will be strong as well.

I saw that Taissa from CN committed to UNC, but she still has one more season left to play? Wouldn't that make CN a contender, still?
 
Taissa Quieroz will not be playing for Cardinal Newman this season. She must have transferred but I have not heard the story. Sorry.
 
The guess is, counting Brazil, she's already had four years of high school. But that's just a guess.
 
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