Wauwatosa West Boys Basketball Preview

Three pointers

1 Lack of Experience - Playing in the tough Black Division, this could be a long year for the Trojans, who lost a first-team (Ashley) and second-team (Krause) all-conference player and a shutdown guard (Love) to graduation. Stelse called his team the most inexperienced team in the area. Losing nine seniors and returning only one rotation player backs up that statement. That being said, this team has already shown a dedication to improving and getting better each and every day according to Stelse. They need to grow up quickly and learn what it takes to compete at the varsity level.

2 Leadership - When your returning starter and star player is a sophomore, where does Stelse turn for leadership? He has talked to Landers all summer about it and the youngster seems to be accepting the role. When things go bad, that is when the Trojans will need his leadership the most.

3 Constant Improvement - Stelse needs this team to continue to improve throughout the season. He has three freshmen and three sophomores on his roster.

Last year

Overall: 15-11

League: 11-6

Playoffs: Lost in sectional semi-finals to Whitefish Bay, 41-30

Conference: Woodland

The lowdown

There is only one returning starter on this team, but he is a good one in sophomore forward Ricky Landers, a do everything 6-foot-7 inch forward. His brothers sophomores Blake and Cole Harvey are also on the roster. Will Watkins, Stephen Brown and Andre Carroll are the three freshmen. If the name Carroll sounds familiar, Andre is the younger brother of Anthony Carroll, who played his freshman year with the Trojans before moving over to Tosa East. Andre should be a player to keep your eye on. The Trojans - on all three levels - will be wearing a black patch above their hearts in memory of the late coach Mike Landisch.

Personnel

Coach: Chad Stelse

Key returnees: Ricky Landers, Soph. (11.0 ppg); Grant Griffin, Sr. (1.5).

Key losses: Tyler Krause (12.7 ppg), Jarvis Ashley (11.6 ppg), Kieviante Love (5.0 ppg), Winston Wynn (5.9 ppg), Zach Soderburg (4.8 ppg), Jimmy Bonkowski (4.8 ppg), Joe Domina (3.8 ppg), Andre Randal-Virgil (3.8 ppg), Aaron Payne-Atkinson (2.7 ppg).

Schedule

Nov. 25 - Racine Park at Fort Healthcare Tournament; Nov. 26 - Fort Atkinson at Fort Healthcare Tournament; Dec. 2 - South Milwaukee; Dec. 3 - Nicolet; Dec. 6 - at Greenfield; Dec. 9 - Shorewood; Dec. 13 - at St. Francis; Dec. 16 - New Berlin West; Dec. 20 - at Brown Deer; Jan. 3 - at South Milwaukee; Jan. 5 - at Pewaukee; Jan. 7 - at Wauwatosa East; Jan. 10 - at St. Thomas More; Jan. 13 - at Whitnall; Jan. 27 - New Berlin Eisenhower; Jan. 31 - at Greendale; Feb. 3 - Cudahy; Feb. 4 - Kenosha Tremper; Feb. 7 - Greenfield; Feb. 10 - Whitnall; Feb. 17 - Greendale; Feb. 22 - at New Berlin Eisenhower.