Boys’ basketball 2024-25: A look at the area conferences

The 2024-25 boys’ basketball season begins Monday. Here is a quick look at the area conferences and a prediction for each winner.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE MISSISSIPPI DIVISION - Much the stronger of the two divisions in the MVC. Dubuque Senior has four of its top five scorers back. Iowa City West has a good lineup led by Butler signee Jack McCaffery. Linn-Mar has a D-I college signee (Davis Kern), a D-II signee (Payson Nietert) and an impact transfer in Trey Wright. Cedar Rapids Kennedy hasn’t lost a regular-season game in over two years. Pick: Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE VALLEY - Cedar Falls appears to be the heavy favorite here. The Tigers return the top two scorers from last season’s state tournament team in William Gerdes and Anthony Galvin. Dubuque Wahlert has three of its top four scorers returning. Cedar Rapids Prairie has an interesting group in head coach Todd Kuntz’s second season. Pick: Cedar Falls.

NORTHEAST IOWA - The truncated five-team league has a favorite in Decorah, which lost a ton of firepower from last season’s state tournament team but still has considerable talent, especially junior center Cael LaFrentz and senior guard Zach Driscoll. Pick: Decorah.

RIVER VALLEY NORTH - There were 19 players in the division that averaged double-figure scoring last season and 11 of them return. Bellevue has three, Cascade, Monticello and Anamosa two each. Northeast Goose Lake and Camanche has one apiece. Appears the division could go multiple ways. Pick: Cascade.

RIVER VALLEY SOUTH - Mid-Prairie has three double-figure scorers back in Ace Peck, Brady Weber and Bryce Henry. Wilton had two freshmen lead the way for them last season and is always good. But Tate Wallace is a beast on the interior and there are other pieces around as well for Regina. So ... Pick: Iowa City Regina.

SOUTH IOWA CEDAR EAST - Keota dominated this division last season but graduated virtually everyone that played. Caleb Haack of Iowa Valley is the best player in the division but his team struggled last season. Sigourney has everyone back from last season. Tri-County has a combined program this season with HLV. Pick: Sigourney.

SOUTH IOWA CEDAR WEST - Lynnville-Sully won the division last season and went to the state tournament, but suffered multiple key graduation losses. North Mahaska finished second and returns its top two scorers. Montezuma returns an all-state player in Brady Boulton and other important guys. Pick: Montezuma.

TRI-RIVERS EAST - Lisbon returns a pair of double-figure scorers in Grayson Wollum and Daylin Schaefer. Clinton Prince of Peace should be solid. But Bellevue Marquette has three starters back from a team that was edged by North Linn in last season’s Class 1A state championship game, including top player Spencer Roeder. Pick: Bellevue Marquette.

TRI-RIVERS WEST - It’s North Linn’s world, and everyone else lives in it. The Lynx are defending 1A state champs and return all-tournament captain Mason Bechen. NL is small, however (only three players 6-foot or tall, with the tallest being 6-2). Longtime assistant Travis Griffith takes over as head coach. Alburnett always is good and should be again. Springville was a .500 team last season and brings back its top five scorers. Pick: North Linn.

UPPER IOWA - Seven of the top 10 scorers from last season return. Two of them belong to defending league champ Lansing Kee (Jordan Cota and Dalton Mudderman). Cael Reichter averaged a double-double last season and automatically makes North Fayette Valley a contender. MFL/Mar-Mac has great tradition and returns top scorer Parker Kuehl. South Winneshiek has some “dudes” as well. Pick: Lansing Kee.

WAMAC EAST - Solon won the division last season but suffered heavy graduation losses. Marion was second and also lost some top guys, though guard Austin Goodrich is the division’s leading returning scorer. Mount Vernon brings back two double-figures scorers in Josef Briesemeister and Kellen Haverback. It’ll likely be one of those three. Pick: Marion.

WAMAC WEST - Clear Creek Amana was last season’s division winner and appears to be the favorite again. The Clippers return five starters, highlighted by senior guard Andrew Rotzoll (16.5 points per game). Center Brody Clubb (son of head coach Brandon) was first-team all-Wamac as a sophomore but missed a lot of last season with injury. Williamsburg made it to the state tournament last season but graduated all-everything Derek Weisskopf. Grinnell should be solid. Benton Community has a new head coach in Scott Kiburis, who had lots of success at Gladbrook-Reinbeck. Pick: Clear Creek Amana.

OTHERS - North Tama was just on the low side of .500 last season and brings back two of its three leading scorers from last season, as it competes in the Iowa Star Conference. Same can be said for LaPorte City Union, with Caden Sorensen (15.4 ppg) one of the SICL East’s better players. Hillcrest Academy returns its entire roster from last season, led by guard Seth Ours (16.1 ppg). The Ravens should be one of the top teams in the SEISC North).

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