Boys basketball preview: ‘Competitive’ 5A looks to dethrone Gorman

There hasn’t been much separation between the top Class 5A boys basketball teams over the last few seasons.

Even though 5A has shrunk from 12 teams to nine teams this season, the competition hasn’t diminished.

The new high school boys basketball season is underway. Many teams begin their seasons this week with local competition, while others will participate in early season tournaments and showcase events.

Bishop Gorman is the two-time defending 5A state champion but returns just a few key members from last year’s title-winning team. The Gaels will have plenty of competition trying to dethrone them.

Coronado has nearly an entirely new roster but might have the most talent on paper. Then there’s a group of teams that will jockey for playoff position and try to play spoiler, led by last year’s state runner-up Mojave, Liberty, Desert Pines and 5A newcomer Democracy Prep.

“It’s really competitive,” Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “There’s good teams. There’s good players. We have to be ready to play every night, no matter what league opponent we’re playing.”

Gaels eye 3-peat

Gorman brings back juniors Tyler Johnson and Kameron Cooper. Senior Dino Roberts is another returner Rice said will play a key role this season. Johnson, a guard, was the 5A defensive player of the year last season and Cooper is a three-star forward and has notable college offers from UNLV, TCU and Xavier.

The Gaels will not have the luxury of two-time first-team All-Southern Nevada basketball selection Jett Washington, who is committed to play college football at Oregon and will enroll early at the university. To help fill Washington’s void is senior Tyler Bright, who played at Liberty his first two seasons and spent last season in Florida.

“(Bright’s) skills for a big guy, and his passing and his creativity are really a good thing,” Rice said. “He has a special ability to distribute the ball even as a big man.”

Rice added he is optimistic about a “very talented” group of sophomores joining the Gaels’ varsity roster this season that helped last year’s junior varsity team go undefeated against Nevada opponents.

“Even though they didn’t play varsity last year, they practiced with us a lot, and they went on some trips with us, so they got to see what it’s all about,” Rice said. “… It’s just a matter of finding a mix of things and seeing who can help us be the best we can be.”

Preparing to ‘win a state championship’

Coronado’s roster is headlined by four-star forward Munir Greig, who transferred into the program. The Cougars also added Missouri State commit Amare Oba and will lean on four-year varsity guard Jonny Collins.

“It’s figuring out how they play with each other,” Coronado coach Jeff Kaufman said. “They’re all really good athletes, individually talented. … they just got to play together and they got to trust each other. That’s why we get out and we play a crazy tough (nonleague) schedule and hopefully that prepares us to win a state championship.”

Coronado lost to Gorman in the 2024 5A title game, and last year, as the No. 1 seed, the Cougars were upset in the state quarterfinals by Silverado.

“It’s a mature group,” Kaufman said. “We have four seniors that are very mature. Three of them are new and they want to win. They’re very serious in practice. … We have a really good mix.”

Mojave reached the 5A title game last year but will have to replace graduated senior guards CJ Shaw, who is playing at UC Santa Barbara, and Zacarrion Jackson. Rattlers coach KeJuan Clark said his team’s depth will help fill those voids.

“We’re going to be much deeper than last year,” Clark said. “It’s hard to replace Zacarrion Jackson and CJ Shaw, but it’s with the depth that we have here, we’ll have something different every day.”

Mojave has four returners, which include Curtis Coleman, who has notable Division I offers from New Mexico, New Mexico State and San Jose State. The Rattlers won back-to-back 4A titles in 2022 and 2023.

“They got to witness what it takes, what it feels, how it feels to get there and how it feels to lose,” Clark said of the experience his team and four returners got making a run last year. “It’s a great learning experience for them. They know what it takes and how hard it is to win a 5A championship.”

5A is ‘going to be fun’

Liberty has a new coach in Keith Ulrich and the Patriots will contend with seniors Dante Steward and Tyus Thomas, the younger brother of DJ Thomas.

Desert Pines was young last year and coach Capri Uzan enters his first full season leading his alma mater. The Jaguars have notable returners such as Tyler Merto, Aaron McMorran and Michael Taylor.

“Liberty is going to play very hard with a great staff and great players,” Clark said. “It’s the same with Desert Pines. A great young group of guys. They’re going to play hard and they’re very hungry to win games. … It’s going to be fun.”

Democracy Prep won the 2A title in 2023 and the 3A title in 2024, and the Blue Knights petitioned to move into 5A this season. Tai Coleman and Dashaun Harris are two of Democracy Preps’ top returners. The Blue Knights added several new players, such as Zyon Harris.

“There’s going to be a bunch of upsets this year going back and forth,” Kaufman said. “Democracy Prep is going to surprise some people. The parity is better. There might not be a bunch of superstars, but the parity is there.”

This season is also the first year of a full implementation of a 35-second shot clock for all NIAA members in all games. It was previously used on a trial basis in some games the previous two seasons.

Wide open 4A

Realignment kept 5A a Southern-only classification with nine teams.

Foothill, Las Vegas High and Silverado all moved down to 4A from 5A, and all three will be contenders in the new classification.

Clark reached the 4A state tournament last year, and the Chargers will be a serious threat to get back, led by Akron commit Devan Christion. Losee, Rancho and Legacy are other teams that made runs in the 4A playoffs last year that should be competitive again this year.

There are 33 teams in the 4A Southern Region, split into four leagues. Sixteen teams make the Southern Region playoffs, with the last two teams advancing to play Northern teams in the state tournament in Reno.

Mater East, last year’s 3A state champion, moved up to 4A. Sierra Vista, the two-time defending 4A state champion, moved up to 5A.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.