Sure, St. Mary's and Resurrection are still expected to be at the top of the standings, but both will be fielding very different rosters than we've seen in senior circles over the past couple of years.
The Eagles, for starters, are expected to run away from the D8 league thanks in part to returnee (G/F) Telloy Simon, and a stacked incoming junior crop (last year's AAAA CWOSSA champions) including SG Nathan Riley, SF Jamari Stephenson, F Bronson Bothelo, and PG Jermaine Lyle. All four were starters on last year's junior championship squad and should transition quite effectively to the senior level.
Transfer Tyrick Thompson (Alex's younger brother) will further bolster the lineup, which could have been even better had Adam Voll and Mike Blumel (transfers to SJK) stuck around.
Resurrection, meanwhile, was slated to return 6'8" F Cory Kenning and 6'0" PG Adam Schneider, however, both Kenning and Schneider have moved to Florida for the season.
As such, the entire Phoenix starting 5 will be "new look" and even their coach too (Matt Kras returns at that capacity).
6'5"+ F Jacob Gilbert (4th Year) will be the Phoenix's top returnee, although he did suffer a hairline fracture in his wrist against Woodland and will be out for an undetermined period of time.
Thomas Hunter (PG / 3rd Year), Tyler Bartley (SF / 5th Year), Onique Findlay (F / 4th Year) and football lineman Andrew Pickett (C / 3rd Year) round out Rez's starting five.
St. Benedict is again projected as a "top 4 team", though they lost a tremendous amount of talent (Santo Dak, Kueth Geng & Josh Edwards) to graduation. Those three players are actually all playing OCAA basketball together now at Canadore College.
G/F Tyler Moulton, a starter on last year's squad, is the top returnee.
The fourth and final playoff position appears to be up for grabs.
Monsignor Doyle got off to a great start on Monday by picking up a key home win over Rockway. Returning starter (G) Tyler Saris is expected to carry the bulk of the scoring offense while junior grad Jamal Bell had an impressive performance in his opening D8 senior game, going for double figures.
As for the Flames, I think they'll be improved over a year ago after being infused with a couple new faces, including Michael Born --- a D8 all-star from last junior season.
The St. David Celtics are about a year away from really climbing up the D8 ladder but should still manage to be competitive for a playoff spot (and possible CWOSSA berth) this season. Returning starters Jake Winter and Matt Scanlon will carry the load, while a couple of key junior prospects should bolster the lineup.
Woodland makes a return to the D8 senior league this season, and will try to snag the "A" CWOSSA berth away from the Rockway Flames. Ryan Dickeson led the way against Rez in their opener, while Nathan Timmerman will be relied upon despite being a grade 11 rookie.
Wednesday Picks (YTD 3-0)
SBCSS over SDCSS
MDCSS over WCHS
SMHS over RMC
Junior
The junior D8 league could arguably be one of the deepest in CWOSSA this season --- and it is certainly up for grabs based upon early returns.
The St. David Celtics, with 11 returnees (including guards James McBride and George Dumitru) entered as the preseason favourites although they did suffer a 44-42 loss to the St. Mary's Eagles in their opener after Adham Eleeda notched a buzzer beater to cap his 20 point effort.
The Eagles were projected to be slightly down (at least compared to the dominating team from last year) but looks like they'll again be right in the mix for a D8 title and CWOSSA berth. Henoak Abara is another newcomer who should help the Eagles out.
The St. Benedict Saints and Resurrection Phoenix are laden with grade 9 talent, so it will be interesting to see how those teams develop over the coming season.
The Phoenix start four grade 9 freshmen in their starting five, while the Saints will play their first league game today but I expect something similar from them.
All in all, it should be a very competitive D8 season. I wouldn't be surprised to see 3, possibly even 4 of these teams ranked at some point during the year.
