Previewing and Grading the YMCA Cap City Rosters

With the draft now completed and the rosters finalized, the six YMCA Capital City League teams are ready to square off in this summer's debut at 5:30 p.m. on June 15th at Valley Southwoods. Deonte Burton and the Hannah Homes squad took home last season's championship, but who can take the crown this summer? We at WRNL graded out the coaches/GMs and the rosters they assembled to see who's got the inside track to the Cap City throne.

Hannah Homes

Deonte Burton did himself no favors this year by winning the whole thing last year and asserting himself as a dominant force in the league. Instead of his big three of himself, Hallice Cooke and Kale Abrahamson, Burton shot up to the #1 pick, landing him on a roster via snake draft with Stuuuuu, Drake's Graham Woodward and league veteran Ray Miller. The good news for Deonte is the roster is open enough for him to get up a lot shots. The bad news is he'll have to largely carry his team, who outside their starting five has little league experience, if he wants to repeat as league champ.

Grade: B

Renaissance Granite & Quartz

In theory, Renaissance should've fallen victim to the same snake draft syndrome Hannah Homes did, but any time you can take a preseason All-American with the second pick, you can't complain.

At first glance this team might seem top loaded with Morris at the point and lacking any traditional bigs. Except between the shooting of the much improved Wes Greder (ISU) and Drake newcomer Detae McMurray, and the versatility of long, athletic swingmen like TJ Thomas (Drake), Jordan Stotts (U. Sioux Falls), and Carlo Marble (Valley HS), this team has the potential to play a summer friendly, Warrior-esque style of play that can put up big numbers.

Grade: B+

Phoenix Renewable Resources

Between Naz Mitrou-Long's first public games in nearly six months and Cyclone fans' first glimpse at grad transfer Darrell Bowie, I really want to like this team and its promise, but I just can't. For the 3rd time in as many years, Casey Schlatter and Kory Kuentsling of Drake are paired up in Phoenix's purple for the summer, both of whom fall into the ungraceful, plodding center category.

While Khalid Edwards and Malachi Canada (both SWCC) will give some nice league experience off the bench, Phoenix will have to rely heavily on the one-two punch of Long and Bowie to make it to make it deep in the playoffs.

Grade: C+

Tim Vorland Photography

While the Vorland team of ISU's Matt Thomas and Simeon Carter and Drake's Billy Wampler and CJ Rivers might not have the D-I star power as the first three teams, it definitely is the deepest. While no one will forget Thomas' ability to drop 50 in a night, his roster this year might not require those kind of stat-stuffing performances from the Cyclone starter to win.

Small college players Terrance Bush (NCMC) and Jordan Johnson (SWCC) are staples in the CCL, as well as once-upon-a-time ISU transfer (now former Morehead State) John Lamb. Depending on how Carter has developed this year, Vorland could be a team to beat in their first year back in the league in five years.

Grade: A-

ADIO Chiropractic

In the first of two ISU newcomer pairings, Nick Weiler-Babb and freshman Solomon Young will pair up with the #1 pick of the Drake players, Reed Timmer. Even though this is an Iowa State blog, I have no doubts that Timmer will run the show and lead ADIO in scoring.

Even though his team struggled last year as he chucked 40 shots a game, having Young's raw athleticism and (more than likely) puppy-dog style misplaced aggression will give them someone to scoop up Timmer inevitable loads of rebounds.

#HotTakePrediction: Solomon Young leads the league in rebounding because even if Timmer shoots 50%, there will still be 20 boards to go grab.

Grade: B

Des Moines Outreach Lions Club

In another ISU newcomer combo, don't expect a shortage of highlight plays, or wins at that. When Merrill Holden committed in May, he cited Iowa State needing someone to throw lobs to as a reason for his decision. It might not be Monte Morris, but putting him together with freshman point guard Jakolby Long look like it could be a winning combination.

Toss in the Danish 7-footer Enevold and crowd favorite Ore Arugandade from Drake, last year's CCL Small College POY Galat Toang (Grace) and #1 pick of the open draft round former UW-Milwaukee star Matt Tiby, fresh off an All-Horizon League season, priming to pursue a pro career overseas, and head coach and league commish Derek Hannah might be staring directly into the eyes of another CCL title. Crazy how that works out, right?

Grade: A

Now, of course, a lot of game results might come down to who actually shows up to the gym, but nonetheless, the parity and competitive nature of all the rosters has set up for another exciting season of Cap City League play starting June 15th in West Des Moines.

Below are the full rosters and schedule for your viewing pleasure:

Here is the schedule for our 2016 season! pic.twitter.com/CrUJzhWYCk

— YMCA CapCity League (@yCapCity) June 7, 2016