The six area high school basketball teams most likely to take big steps forward

With the start of high school basketball practice a week away, it’s time for our annual look at the teams likely to improve most from last season.

Here are six teams — one that finished a game above .500 and five that were below that mark — primed to put last season in the rearview mirror (2024-25 record in parentheses):

Lyons (14-16)

After finishing 3-9 in the West Suburban Silver last season, the Lions — even with some young pieces — will be dangerous and will enter this season as the conference favorite.

Coach Tom Sloan has size, length and versatility in 6-5 junior Timmy Sloan, 6-5 sophomore Grant Smith, 6-5 Tommy Blyth, 6-5 junior Nate Woods and returning senior guard Owen Carroll.

Shepard (14-19)

The Astros, who finished 3-10 in the South Suburban Red last season, should challenge Oak Lawn for the conference title.

Virtually everyone returns from a year ago, including 6-9 sophomore Amari Williams, who has some varsity seasoning after averaging nearly a double-double as a freshman.

Senior guards Aurion Lee-Barnes and Aaron Arrambide provide shooting and scoring on the perimeter, and point guard Danny McGovern is a much-improved senior.

Plainfield East (12-20)

This team has the potential to go from 20 losses last season to 20 victories this season.

Among the Bengals’ returning players is KJ Miller, a multifaceted guard with great size who is coming off an overlooked season. After filling the stat sheet as a sophomore, the 6-7 Miller will be one of the breakout players in the state this season. He is one of four players who started games last season for coach Kanwer Sarkaria.

Plus, senior Alijah Little has returned. The 6-4 Little was a double-figure scorer for Plainfield East as a sophomore two years ago before leaving for Whitney Young for his junior year.

Maine South (13-17)

This is a crossroads season for the Hawks, who have hovered around 12 or 13 victories in each of coach Colin Wehman’s three seasons. Their record in the always-strong Central Suburban League South has been dismal.

But this season might be different. Maine South has an experienced group, with four starters and a whole lot of production returning. Can the Hawks turn their tight losses last season — they lost six games by one possession — into victories?

Panayiotis Sotos, a 6-3 guard who already has played 93 varsity games, and 6-5 Rico D’Alessandro, who averaged 19.5 points, are returning all-conference players. Alex Matushevskiy, a 6-5 guard, is a three-year player.

Yorkville (13-17)

Considering the Foxes’ two best players are sophomores, forecasting significant improvement might be premature. Nonetheless, Yorkville should be intriguing and much better this winter.

It starts with just how big a jump those two sophomores, 6-4 wing Braydon Porter and 6-7 Joey Jakstys, will make. Both are among the top 10 prospects in the Class of 2028 and join leading scorer Gabe Sanders (13 points per game) and point guard Frankie Pavlik as returning starters.

Glenbard North (16-15)

Yes, the Panthers finished a game above .500 a year ago, but they won’t be spending any time around the break-even mark this season.

Long, athletic juniors Lamari Carpenter (11.1 ppg) and Oturo Redento (10.6 ppg) are promising prospects in the Class of 2027. Matt Welch (12.7 ppg) is the third double-figure scorer returning, and 6-2 guard Maharri Thatch is back, too.