Boys Basketball Division 5 Preseason Top 10

Head coach Chris Wettstein returns one of the deepest groups with talent aplenty in all of Division 5, and therefore gets the nod as our preseason favorite. Senior guard Cullen Jacobus returns for the Trojans as a 1,000 point scorer and reigning Ridge & Valley Player of the Year. Zack Bender, Landen Blaha and Sawyer Stluka all are returners with multiple years of varsity experience. Younger players such as Landry Stluka (2028) and Damien McCormick (2029) bring skill and length to a deep guard rotation. The Trojans share the ball well, defend 100% of the court non-stop, and will have four to five guys on the court at all times that can score the ball. Non-conference games with River Ridge, Northwestern, and Southwestern will give help prepare Crawford for a tough sectional 3 subsectional that will be another gauntlet to get through come postseason play.

The Dons were young last year, coming off a state title in 2024 that graduated nearly the entire roster. That group went on to win 18 games, win a regional title, and return all but one contributor. Head coach Joe Konieczny leads the Dons for a 22nd straight year and returns his son, senior Mac, the reigning Player of the Year in the Cloverbelt-East. Ben Weilland (2027) has taken huge strides after averaging 13.7 points a season ago and consists of one of the top guard combos in the Division 5. The Dons have historically been a great shooting, fundamentally sound program under Konieczny, so that will be pushed with non-conference games with Assumption, Living Word Lutheran, Iola-Scandinavia, Rice Lake, and Rib Lake.

Todd Henderson has put together back-to-back 21-win seasons with Marawood-North titles. He now returns an entire team that came eight points shy of a state tournament appearance last year. Jed Henderson is the eldest son of head coach Todd and the returning Player of the Year in the Marawood-North. Seniors Talon Scheithauer, Seth Borchardt, Ethan Cook, and sophomore Blake Henderson are back in a starting rotation that will be complete from last season. The balance in scoring, size advantage of the Henderson brothers, and experience of a full returning rotation, give the Redmen a big advantage in the smallest division in the state. The two games with Prentice, crossover games with the Marawood-South teams, and a few non-conference contests will help prepare the team for a deep playoff push.

Coach Nick Verhagen is no stranger to success at Lutheran, having won over 250 games in 13 years and three state tournament appearances, including a runner-up finish last season. He returns a good amount of talent from that squad, headlined by senior Brennen Hackbarth, 6-5 wing that can really score the ball and should play at the next level. The loss of Marion Boyland (6-5 junior) to transfer is definitely a hit, but the Crusaders have done a great job of building its program up to push 20+ wins year in and year out. On top of playing Oostburg twice this year, Lutheran will challenge itself with non-conference opponents Roncalli, Living Word Lutheran, and University School.

The Panthers of Kickapoo return everyone from a squad that won 17 games a year ago. Head coach Mat Wood has a team that is balanced throughout the lineup starting with 6-7 senior Arlon Walter who can jump out of the gym and gives his guard teammates more freedom defensively to gamble, as he cleans up around the paint. Malachi McCauley is a 6-3 wing that can score in volume at all three levels, giving the Panthers a go-to guy in crunch time. Wings Aldric Egge and Brekken Miller defend and can score and Warren Uhe serves as the unselfish facilitator on the hardwood. The two battles with North Crawford this season will be battles between two competitive teams with an eye on a deep playoff run.

Oakfield had five double-digit scorers last season and returns three of them coming into the 2025-26 year. Jason Collien will lean on senior Bo Bijl (6-8) to man the lane while Broede Collien and Brayden Glugla both scored ten plus points playing in the high scoring Oaks offense. The balance of Oakfield this season is a reason why they land in our preseason rankings. Inside Bijl will command plenty of attention on offense while serving as a deterrent on the defensive side. From the perimeter, the Oaks can make it hurt where Collien knocked down 80 triples last season at a 40% clip. Non-conference contests with Cedar Grove-Belgium and Lomira will serve as the marquee games outside of the Oaks league schedule.

Playing primarily Division 4 teams during the conference season has always been an advantage for Southwestern come playoff time, when they drop to Division 5. Head coach Clint Nemitz returns his top scorer, senior Aiden Keleher, along with a plethora of returnees including Carsen Splinter and Caden Demuth. Nemitz has always done a great job of scheduling opponents that push Southwestern and prepare them for those close, high pressure moments of the postseason. On top of playing the SWAL teams twice, the Wildcats have Argyle, North Crawford, Potosi/Cassville, and Lancaster on the docket.

Loyal had high expectations with the returnees last season, but fell in a regional championship against eventual champion Cochrane-Fountain City and finishing with 19 wins. The Greyhounds are headlined by a trio of seniors in Reed Steiglitz, Bryce Deegan, and Cain Toufar who are all double-digit scorers with three years of varsity experience. Brian DeSmet’s squad is balanced, has three proven senior leaders that can effect the outcome of a game in a handful of different ways, and is balanced up and down the rotation. The Greyhounds play in a Cloverbelt-East conference alongside Columbus Catholic, making those two games must see when it comes to small-school contests to tune in to this season. The Greyhounds subsectional will have both Columbus Catholic and Rib Lake to get through, marking for a tough path to the Kohl Center.

Turtle Lake is coming off its first state tournament appearance in program history and have one of, if not the, biggest game changers in Division 5. Senior Brandon Wagner, son of head coach Amy Wagner, is a 6-7 big man who can score from anywhere on the court, something he displayed while playing on the Kohl Center court. He’s a 1,100 point scorer, committed to MSU-Mankato for football, and can wreck ball games in every facet. The Lakers also return double digit scorers Brody Tarman (2027) and Camden Davis (2026), and will be a favorite to get to the sectional final out of top half of sectional.

The Rebels were still young last season when they won 15 games and a share of the Northern Lakes conference. The top two scorers were both sophomores, now juniors, in Canton Chrisman and Cooper Albrecht. Senior Walker Winkelman alongside that duo provides head coach Kendric Allen with a trio of proven bucket getters that have one more year of experience under their belts. The Rebels have gone out of their conference to add a few games that will give them the competition they will see in the later rounds of the playoffs. The co-op has scheduled Rhinelander, Assumption, Prentice, and Pacelli.

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].