Phenom Hoops is diving into the upcoming season and we’re bringing several previews and discussions of teams and players to watch out for. We’re looking at several conferences to see who might look strong early based on the information we have and last year’s results. Check out these teams below as we think these could be programs to watch out for in each of these conferences.
1A Big Smoke
Cherokee
Swain County
Murphy
Robbinsville
Andrews
Hayesville
When you talk about this conference last year, it was wide open for most of the season and teams were battling it out. Cherokee and Swain County both finished 7-3, Murphy came in at 9-5, Robbinsville wasn’t far behind at 6’4, and Andrews finished the season 5-5.
Andrews
Despite finishing 5-5 in conference play, the Wildcats still have some firepower from last year, although they will have to replace their do-it-all Cameron Rattler (17.4 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game) in 2024. But Ty Clark (2025) will lead the way along with Landon Green (2025). And we’ll see development in Gabe Clark (2027), who had a strong season as a freshman (9.5 points per game). They’ll have to replace Rattler’s production, but they have experienced players who could help make a splash.
Cherokee
The Braves would be a team I would keep an eye on. With a strong finish of 7-3 last year, this is a team that returns a lot of firepower based on last year’s stats. Jack Teesateskie (2026) led the way last year with 17.3 points per game and should be one of the clear leaders again. But he will get a lot of help from several seniors, namely Elijah Lineberry (2025), Luke Smith (2025) and Savion Davis (2025), who all averaged 8.0 points or more last season.
Murphy/Hayesville/Swain County
Hayesville has struggled in the conference but hopes to turn things around and get some wins this coming season. Murphy has a few question marks after losing four seniors who were leading the scoring team and almost all of them averaged double figures in scoring. The Maroon Devils from Swain County did well last year but were an experienced team that featured several seniors and they are looking to replace the top performers as well.
Robbinsville
The Black Knights would be another team I would keep an eye on. This team featured several juniors and sophomores and they look to bring back a strong group again. 2025 Roman Jones, 2026 Dane Knott, 2025 Darion Ledbetter and 2025 Bryce Adams all return as this is a team hoping to build on a 16-8 overall record.
