With private schools starting official practice today and public schools beginning tryouts later this week, we’re entering the official start of the preseason. With that, I wanted to find a way to bring the triangle area basketball community together and create something unique to the scene, thus spawning the first ever Wake Hoops Coaches Poll. Taking the concept from the AP college football and basketball polls, I tallied votes from 19 coaches, all from different schools across the triangle, to create the “Sweet 16” of triangle area schools. You can find the full poll at the link below. In this article, I’ll talk about some of my takeaways and thoughts regarding the results.
Wake Hoops Preseason Coaches Poll
Green Level and Clayton are Runaway Favorites
Of the 19 first place votes cast, 14 of them went to either Green Level (8) or Clayton (6). Green Level only had one vote cast for them that was outside the top five, while Clayton had just four. Green Level will be led by the 2025 duo of Isaac Ericksen and Izzy Eatman, both of whom have been highly productive for years now and should finish their careers as the only two 1,000 point scorers in Gator history. Around them, Trevor Manhertz, Garrett Midkiff, and Owen Taylor will all have to handle increased responsibilities in order for this team to hit their ceiling. They’re full of experience and most of their rotation has been running Coach Green’s Princeton system to perfection for multiple years up to this point. The preseason hype is warranted and the expectations surrounding the program have been earned. In contrast, Clayton is coming into the year as an extremely high upside wildcard and no one truly knows what to expect from them. To start, they have a new coach in Kenny Collins who should bring an intriguing Xs and Os sense and a refreshed culture to the program. They also have two high-profile transfers in Aiden Smalls and Darrion Ellis, both of whom are talented two-sport athletes. On top of it all, they return their two-headed monster of Andrew Grimes and Justice Mitchell, both entering their senior seasons. Overall, they’re as talented as almost anyone in the state and the only true question mark lies in how well they’ll gel together and buy into Coach Collins’ vision.
Millbrook and Panther Creek Hold Strong Reputations
Entering what is the most uncertain year for both programs in the last few years, both Millbrook and Panther Creek not only begin the season ranked, they’re both within the top 10, with Millbrook coming in ranked 8th and Panther Creek ranked 10th. Millbrook graduated a historic 2024 class that included Butler commit and the Wildcat’s all-time leading scorer, Colt Langdon. They’ll rely on Myers Park transfer Ashton King and a slew of unproven pieces to produce for them this season. Panther Creek also graduated a historic 2024 class, headlined by multi-time all-district selection Chris Uwayo. The Catamounts will be led this year by a handful of unproven upperclassmen while freshman duo Andre Richardson and Camden Hill are expected to play and contribute early. Both programs are going through arguably their most roster turnover in recent memory but that clearly hasn’t deterred their peers from betting on them.
First Year Coaches Garnering Attention
The only two schools outside of Clayton in the top 16 with new coaches are conference rivals Cardinal Gibbons and Broughton, who hired Michael Brooker and Scott Wood respectively this offseason. Gibbons will be led by Princeton commit Cash McSweeney and they’ll surround him with a slew of high level decision makers and shooters. Their 2027 class of Griffin Cockerham, Ty Lange, Walker Montague, Ben Whitney, and Whit Gaddy will be highly important to their success in Coach Brooker’s first year. For Broughton, Coach Wood inherits a roster headlined by national 2027 prospect Jordan Page, 2025 Christian Outlaw, and 2026 Hudson Fitzgerald, all three of whom are returning starters from the Caps 11-win campaign last season. Both rosters are talent-laden and have high upside, but how quickly their new coaches hit the ground running will be a deciding factor not just in these rankings but also in CAP-6 results.
Ranked Teams with High Upside
While all 16 (plus a handful of unranked teams) have legitimate reason for optimism going into the year, I believe that both Knightdale and Jordan have all the pieces in place to finish higher than their preseason rankings. Knightdale is coming off an incredible year one under Coach Watson where they went 19-9 and almost upset the eventual East regional champion New Hanover in the second round of the playoffs. They return their 2025 duo of Isaiah Green and Brandon Adams and have a healthy amount of experienced role players ready to step up. Both Green and Adams should see significant upticks in production and recruitment this winter. For Jordan, they lost a few important pieces to transfers but brought back 2026 prospect Rivers Knight, who returned to Durham after one year at Combine Academy. The foursome of DJ Ross, Rivers Knight, Julian Lowe, and Bryce Hill will provide a lot of production and matchup problems for opponents and should see the Falcons as the early favorites to win the DAC-6.
Outside Looking In
With only 16 teams being ranked, it’s only natural for a handful of highly talented programs to be left out. There were 20 schools to receive votes and another 31 who didn’t receive any. My favorites amongst the schools who received votes are Southern Wake, Heritage, Southeast Raleigh, Wakefield, Trinity Academy, and Cary Academy. Southern Wake is coming off a 23-10 season and a deep playoff run. With a talented transfer in Ira Wilson and another year to set their culture of toughness, I believe they can make legitimate noise in the 1A scene. Heritage is coming off a 14-12 season and returns most of their impact players. Heading into coach Pyper’s second season, they’ll be even more proficient within their conceptual offense and have multiple breakout candidates, Ryder Strand being the primary one. Southeast Raleigh brings a tough upperclassman group and blends them together with a talented freshman trio. Expect both 2025 Christian Ananaba and 2028 Aaron Parker to earn postseason awards. Wakefield also blends experience with youth as 2025s Dylan Goodknecht and Bishop Dudley should be highly productive alongside 2027s Avery Hicks and Ethan Wisler and 2028 Peyton Fogle. Trinity Academy has a mob of talent, especially in the backcourt and could be the biggest rankings riser from preseason to postseason. Kam Prince, Zion Wells, DJ West, Wesley Hilldale, Cam Bynum, and Parker Bye are all college basketball prospects and a couple of them will follow Prince to the D1 level. Lastly, Cary Academy should spark quite a buzz around their program thanks to first year coach Matt Cioce. Led by the trio of 2026 Aidan Rousseau, 2026 McCoy Williams, and 2028 Julian Tweedy, the Chargers should see legitimate success this winter.
Other Sleepers
Cary is a strong contender to finish inside or near the top 16, despite only earning five points in the preseason poll. They return essentially everyone and have a ton of experience throughout their roster, Stone Holcombe and Brandon Nixon will both be highly productive this season for them. Both Rolesville and Wake Forest will be fun teams this year, despite receiving zero votes, as they’re full of young talent and heading in the right direction. Rolesville’s 2027 trio of AJ Roberts, Brody Watkins, and Caiden Jenkins will provide must-see moments while Wake Forest’s 2027 trio of Palmer Chase, Juel Tillery, and Caleb Lashley will do the same. Lastly, Leesville Road is always a very fun team to watch thanks to the way they scout, execute, and adjust as a coaching staff. This year’s Pride team is deep with guard play, experience, and high IQ players. Despite earning just two points in the preseason poll, expect for them to win games they’re not supposed to and make noise in the CAP-6.