With the defection of Zanesville, the SEOAL now stands at eight member schools and will do away with the north/south divisions in favor of the double round robin beginning this school year. Ironton leaves after the 2009-10 school year dropping the league membership to seven at that time.

CHILLICOTHE CAVALIERS
GALLIA ACADEMY BLUE DEVILS
IRONTON FIGHTING TIGERS
JACKSON IRONMEN
LOGAN CHIEFTAINS
MARIETTA TIGERS
PORTSMOUTH TROJANS
WARREN LOCAL WARRIORS

There are no finer experts on the internet concerning a preview of the league for the coming year than pfloyd, trojandave, and LoganLocos and I am hoping they will make their way to freehuddle to benefit us with their knowledge of all things roundball.

Might not get very much from Loganlocos, he not that much into basketball-but you will hear a few good words

Warren and Chillicothe will be the teams to beat but look for Logan to have a say into it

I believe the SEOAL will be more balanced than it has in years and the double round robin will be a gauntlet that the eventual champion will survive.

It would be easy to make the fahionable pick and say Chillicothe or Warren; two programs that have played at the district level and in Chillicothe's case even beyond the past few years, but I see even the teams who were in the bottom half of the league last year like Jackson and Gallia Academy returning enough veteran leadership that if they see any improvement at all could throw the league race into a tizzy.

I have heard posters suggest that perhaps 4 league losses could win the SEOAL, and that wouldnt surprise me in the least.

When was the last time Marietta failed to put a quality product on the court and the Sutton gym is a tough place to get a "W" in. The same could be said about Ironton. Portsmouth returns a very athletic nucleus with a new head coach, and Logan should be improved as well.

Im having a hard time saying anything negative about any of the eight schools and thus see a real dogfight in the league this year.

The old axiom about taking care of business at home and split on the road might hold true here. At any rate it's going to be fun, and I cant wait for our SEOAL friends to see the new GAHS and especially our state-of-the-art gymnasium.

So, this is what a basketball forum looks like

Hopefully, Angle's knee injury isn't serious enough to keep him off the court for very long. Sounds like Logan could be a dark horse.