By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Walton-Verona boys basketball team was voted No. 13 in a statewide preseason coaches poll even though the Bearcats lost four of the top six scorers on the 26-6 team that was runner-up in the Kentucky All “A” Classic state tournament last season.
The main reason for the 8th Region team’s high ranking is Dieonte Miles, a 6-foot-10, 210-pound senior who accepted a basketball scholarship offer from Xavier University over the summer.
As a sophomore, Miles averaged 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks per game for Walton-Verona. Nine games into his junior season, however, he aggravated a previous shoulder injury and needed surgery.
Miles was out of action until last summer when he played for the Kentucky Junior All Stars and went to a select team tournament in Louisville. That’s how he got the exposure he needed to become Walton-Verona’s first major college basketball recruit in more than 30 years.
Walton-Verona coach Grant Brannen’s only returning full-time starter is senior forward Kameron Pardee, who averaged 10.1 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds. The top reserves back from last season are center Ethan Brook and guards Garrett Jones, Grant Grubbs and Trey Boone. They all played in 28 or more games for the Bearcats.
The other local teams voted among the top 20 in the statewide preseason coaches poll conducted by the Courier Journal newspaper were No. 3 Covington Catholic, No. 15 Cooper and No. 20 Campbell County.
Walton-Verona was not included in the preseason poll conducted by the Northern Kentucky Boys Basketball Coaches Association because it’s not a member. The NKyTribune posted a story about the top 12 teams in the local coaches poll on Monday.