Coach: Bill Heisler, entering ninth season
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Returning players: Sr. F-C DeAndre Williams (11.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg.), Sr. G Robert Wisnewski, Sr. G Adrian Guerrero (6 ppg)
Last season: 18-11 overall, 5-7 West Suburban Gold; lost in a Class 4A regional semifinal to Oak Park-River Forest, 66-43.
By the numbers
2 — Fall athletes, both juniors, who are expected to have late starts to the basketball season while recovering from injuries. Michael Wilms was the starting quarterback for the football team and Jose Alvarado was a defender for the soccer team.
Conference outlook
After Leyden lost five of its top six players from last season to graduation, the 6-foot-4 Williams is the top returnee for the Eagles, which placed fifth in the West Suburban Gold last season. The Eagles feature a younger team this season and might have a better chance of competing in the conference next season. With five returning starters, including Northwestern-bound 6-10 center Barret Benson, Hinsdale South is considered the favorite. The Gold’s top two players from last season are departed: Willowbrook’s Alonzo Verge Jr. decided to spend his junior season at an out-of-state prep academy and Morton’s Weisner Perez is at Harvard, where he scored a basketball in his first game last week. It is hard to predict how perennial power Proviso East will handle an offseason of upheaval after coach Donnie Boyce was fired and assistant coach Cedric McCullough was named as his successor when preseason practice started.
Sound bite
“Newcomers Mike Wilms and Jose Alvarado will have a big role once they are healthy.” — Heisler
George M. Wilcox, Pioneer Press