Boys Basketball Division 4 Preseason Top 10

The Orioles won 22 games a season ago and drop down from Division 3 to Division 4 in 2026-27. Not often does a Division 4 team have a front court that stands 6-9 and 6-7 but that is the case with North Dakota State commit Charlie Hoel and Josiah Demske. The full starting rotation is back around them for head coach Dakota Nichols with Brenner Myers, Brayten Mallo, and Troy Haas forming one of the better starting fives at the lower divisions. Stanley-Boyd will get tested each and every night in the Cloverbelt-West but also has non-con matchups with Prescott and West Salem, to name a couple.

It’s not often you’re the number two team in a Division’s preseason ranking, and you’re behind a conference foe. That’s how good the Cloverbelt-West will be this year. Coming off a regional championship one-point loss, Rick Storlie has a group back with three starters including Upper Iowa recruit Miles Schmidgall (6-7), stellar point guard Jackson Tangley, and great glue guy Josh Wright. The Crickets lower levels went a combined 45-3, which means the depth within the varsity team will be great. Fall Creek will have non-con games with Clear Lake, Altoona, Tomah, and Colfax on top of the grueling league play.

The Redbirds consistently field a basketball team that plays a physical brand of basketball that wears opponents down. Now under first year head coach Will Schwartz, many players will once again be coming off a hugely successful football season. Zeke Zuberbuhler and Ryder Fitzsimons are both very talented wings as is Dante Glendenning. The SWAL always prepares teams for postseason play, but the Redbirds will also have non-league games with Dodgeville, Cambridge, Lodi, Platteville, New Glarus, and Aquinas to challenge themselves even more.

Cambridge got hot last season and took that momentum all the way to a silver ball finish in Division 4. Head coach Alex Ranney showed that he’s an up and coming coach in the state with the execution and discipline his squad played with in March. All but two starters return for the Blue Jays, as Ian Nells, Cash Cunningham, and Evan Harbort all started a season ago while J’Kari Crawford and Oscar Brown were important pieces off the bench. Four games against Marshall and New Glarus are no joke in league play, so having Lake Mills, The Prairie School, Darlington, and Oregon also scheduled is a tough task ahead.

The Prairie School is two years removed from a state tournament berth in 2024-25. A lot of those players that were major pieces were underclassmen for that group and are now seniors. Jason Atanasoff returns four starters in Chandler Perry, Dalton Ahlensdorf, Ryan Vanoss, and Emmett Wassil. All four have three to four years of varsity experience coming into 2026-27. The Hawks compete in the incredibly difficult Metro Classic conference which is a gauntlet each night. In non-cons, Coach Atanasoff’s group will square off with Saint Mary Catholic, Cambridge, Union Grove, and Marathon to name a few.

The Capitol-South is going to be very competitive at the top this season. The Cardinals figure to be in the mix for that crown with Cambridge and New Glarus and a deep playoff run come March. Jaylen Miggins is one of the best players in Division 4 and adding Madison Memorial transfer Lavonte Johnson gives Marshall one of the more electric guard tandems in Division 4. Reid Christenson Vacha and Logan Ney also return as starters for Marshall who will play non-con games with Lake Mills, Abundant Life, and Fall River.

The Lions are going to face some adversity this season as big man Jake Broeske graduated from a season ago and senior guard Charlie Cole will miss a portion of the season to injury. Keegan Kell and Blake Steger are back to anchor the team for head coach Nick Kohler who has a lot of depth and players from an 18-3 JV squad to fill out the rotation. The favorite in the Flyway, Lomira also has non-conference tilts with Lake Mills, Port Washington, Xavier, and Winneconne, to name a few.

One of the top players in Division 4 is back to lead the Tigers in Trace Damrow. He’ll have two other teammates that averaged double digit points a season ago in Harry Schroeder and McCoy Milbrath back to form a strong nucleus on the perimeter. Wade Georgeff is ten wins shy of 200 in his career and has a strong group back that will get tested in the Big East-North.

The Lancers have a really strong guard duo in Christopher Kenesie and Reymundo Garibay that put continuous pressure on opposing defenses and play with a high IQ. Kyle Clark also will have Charlie Guttormsen who started a season ago. The Lancers may not have an eye-popping, unblemished record come March as they compete in a very tough Metro Classic conference, but rest assured that will prepare them for the playoff season. Franklin, Kenosha Bradford, and Altoona are just a trio of difficult games on the non-con slate for St. Joes.

The Storm return two starters from a team that lost its first and only game of the season in the sectional semifinal a season ago. Diesel Bosdeck and Dane Harrell were huge pieces as sophomores for head coach Matt Bosdeck, as were Mason Kovacs and Baylor Elliott off the bench. Kewaunee scheduled non-con games with Bonduel and Brillion to challenge themselves outside of the Packerland.

Colton Wilson serves a contributor and member of Bound Wisconsin. Wilson has worked in high school sports for 10 years, covering the state of Wisconsin in various sports. He has had roles in content creation, boys basketball coverage, director of events, and data management. Wilson is a graduate of Richland Center High School where he will currently serves as the Varsity Reserve boys basketball coach, entering his eleventh year coaching at the high school level. Wilson also has officiated basketball and organized youth tournaments for multiple years. You can follow him on Twitter at @ColtonWilson23 or reach him at [email protected].