Basketball season is in full swing here in the Western North Carolina Mountains, so it’s time to take a look at what to expect from our Smoky Mountain Conference teams for the 2023-2024 season. Below are our preseason rankings, plus key returners and players to watch for each team.

BOYS RANKINGS

Murphy

Robbinsville

Swain

Cherokee

Andrews

Hayesville

 

 

Returning players have All-SMC or HM beside their name to indicate if they were All-Conference or Honorable Mention last season. 

 

Murphy

 

Key Departures- Ty and Cole Laney, Dillian Brown

 

Key Returners- Zack Skogen (SMC POY), Dom Rummler (All-SMC)

 

New Additions– Xander Wachacha, Cale Harger

 

The Bulldogs are projected to win the Smoky Mountain Conference in 2024, and for good reason. The Dogs return SMC Player of The Year Zack Skogen and All-SMC Forward Dom Rummler to solidify the front court, and the addition of All-SMC guard Xander Wachacha will help replace Dillian Brown. Sophomores Tyler Payne, Ryan Payne, and Cale Harger should also see valuable minutes this season, so the experience of the Dogs 5 senior starters will be balanced out by the youth coming off of the bench. 

The key to knocking Murphy out of their #1 Preseason ranking will be to press the young guards and shoot the lights out, because the paint will not be a friendly place for opposing teams to enter.  

 

 

Robbinsville

 

Key Departures- Brock Adams, Xander Wachacha, Bo Rattler

 

Key Returners- Bryce Adams (HM), Donovan Carpenter (All-SMC), Quinn Jumper 

 

New Additions- Dane Knott, Darion Ledbetter, Luke Lovin

 

Donovan Carpenter and Bryce Adams are two key pieces that return off of last year’s Smoky Mountain Conference championship winning team. The Knights will be young in 2024, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t talented. Dane Knott and Luke Lovin are the future of Robbinsville basketball and the sophomore guards will be learning through experience in ‘24, as they should see a lot of minutes this season. The Knights are talented, but their inexperience may show down the stretch in conference play. 

Swain

 

Key Departures- Nathan Bogdanowicz, Riley Winchester

 

Key Players- Reese Winchester (HM), Joshua Collins (HM), Aidan Southards, Josiah Glaspie (All-SMC)

 

Swain County might be the most fun SMC team to watch in 2024. The Maroon Devils are going to run and gun it up and down the court and use their athletes to create an organized chaos of fun basketball. Winchester, Collins, Southards, and Glaspie are all legitimate scorers so defenses cannot key on just one or two guys when game planning for the Devils. 

Cherokee

 

Key Departures- Tso Smith

 

Key Returners- Michael Driver (HM), Jack Jack Teestateskie (All-SMC), Eli Lineberry 

 

Jack Jack Teesateskie might be the best guard in the SMC. The sophomore is quick off the dribble and when he’s hot he can knock down any shot. Teesateskie will have Michael Driver and Eli Lineberry in complementary roles around him, so the Braves should bounce back from last year’s sub .500 performance. There also should be some new found fire coming from the Braves roster as they play for first year head coach Raymius Smith. 

 

Andrews

 

Key Departures- Donovan Bateman, Isaac Weaver

 

Key Returners- Cam Rattler (HM), Ty Clark

 

Eli Aguilar, Tyler West, Kegan Ellis are three potential starters that will miss most of, if not all of the 2023-2024 season. Prior to the injury news, you could have argued that Andrews should be ranked #1 in preseason rankings- But when a school as small as Andews is hit with the injury bug as hard as they have been this season, it’s hard to bounce back. The Cats do benefit from some of the best coaching in the conference, so they will still find a way to compete and win a few games they “shouldn’t”. 

 

 

Hayesville

 

Key Departures– Logan Caldwell, Ethan Hooper, Kyle Lunsford 

 

Key Returners– Asher Brown, Landon Hughes, Jacob McClure 

 

The loss of the backcourt duo of Logan Caldwell and Ethan Hooper will hit the Jackets hard in 2024. Caldwell and Hooper were the main source of offense for Hayesville last season, so they will need their group of seniors in Brown, Hughes, and McClure to find ways to get points. The most telling game so far this season for the Jackets has been their 20 point loss to Franklin; A Franklin team that beat Cherokee by 10 and Swain by 13. It’s also important to note how much of a factor good coaching is in high school basketball- and the Jackets have one of the best coaches in the state. They could slide up the rankings in a hurry. 

 

 

Girls Rankings

Cherokee

Robbinsville

Hayesville

Andrews

Swain

Murphy

 

 

Cherokee

 

Key Returners- Whitney Rogers (All-SMC), Dvdaya Swimmer (All-SMC), Loshi Ward (All-SMC), Kyla Moore (All-SMC)

 

Key Departures- Kemia Wiggins

 

New Additions- Joscelyn Stamper, Aaliyah Rogers

 

It’s State Title or bust for the Lady Braves for the next few years. They return the most talent in the state in 2024, and have a highly touted Freshman class incoming. Whitney Rogers is the FYN Sports Preseason Player of The Year for a reason. The moment is never too big for the Junior guard, and she makes everyone around her better. This will be a fun season in Braves Country, and we can’t wait to see these young girls mesh with the vets. 

 

 

Robbinsville 

 

Key Departures- Desta Trammell (SMC POTY), Kensley Phillips (All-SMC)

 

Key Returners- Liz Carpenter (All-SMC), Aubrie Wachacha

 

While on paper the Lady Knights only lost two starters, those two starters combined for an average of 30 points per game, 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Down low, the Knights won’t miss a beat as they return two six-footers in Liz Carpenter and Aubrie Wachacha. Junior Abby Wehr is an All-SMC Honorable Mention guard returning off of last year’s historic team, and Sophomore Surri Watty will also be on the perimeter with her. Hopefully Wehr is able to handle the main ball handling duties for the Knights, which would allow them to use Watty’s off-ball shooting to their advantage. 

 

Hayesville

 

Key Departures- Lila Roberts

 

Key Returners- Mallory Peck (HM), Emma Ashe, Ava Shook (HM)

 

This is a young, talented basketball team in Clay County. Lila Roberts was literally the only senior on last year’s team that finished 4th in conference. Even crazier than that, the 2024 roster does not have a single senior on it. A Jacket squad led by Sophomores and Juniors, Hayesville should compete at a fairly high level this season.

Next year is when the Jackets will make their deep playoff run.  

 

 

 

Andrews

 

Key Departures- None

 

Key Returners- Kylie Donaldson (HM), Kinleigh Queen, Chanteah Rattler, Alexis Beasley

 

The Lady Cats are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. They return everyone from last years team, and they’ve already tied their win total from last season as they sit 3-1 on the year. With two wins over Tuscola and one over Highlands (two teams that beat them last year), there is a lot of excitement surrounding this girls program. Head Coach Tim Wood has this thing headed in the right direction, and Andrews should win more games this year than they have over the previous five seasons. With the way the conference looks as a whole, the Lady Cats could be vying for a top 3rd or 4th place finish come February. 

 

 

 

Swain

 

Key Departures- Amaya Hicks (All-SMC)

 

Key Returners- Marlee Hicks (HM)

 

“Rebuilding” seems to be the theme around the conference in women’s basketball, and with only 4 returning players from last year’s roster, the Lady Devils fit right into that theme. With leading scorer Amaya Hicks graduated, the Devils will rely on their talented Sophomore class of Marlee Hicks, Jayden Smiley, Carley Teesateskie, and freshman Kierstan Cucumber to lead them through the 2023-2024 season. 

 

Murphy

 

Key Departures- Lailee Holloway (All-SMC), Addie Johnson (All-SMC)

 

Key Returners- Saige Kent, Julia Dockery

 

New Additions- Emma Laney, Kennedy White

 

The Murphy Lady Bulldogs are in a rebuilding stage to put it lightly. No one on the 2023-2024 roster received any kind of All-SMC honors last season, but the Dogs do add multiple freshmen off of last year’s 8th grade SMC Runner up team. They also get Emma Laney back from injury, but with a shallow Junior and Senior class it is safe to say they are working toward the future in Murphy.