With the 2017-18 High School Basketball season underway, VirginiaPreps.com continues our preview of the teams and players by unveiling the Top Ten in each classification.

What to Know: For the past 41 seasons, the man roaming the sidelines at Matthew Fontaine Maury High School in Norfolk has been Jack Baker, who won 746 games – third most in VHSL history – and guided the Commodores to the State Tournament on eight separate occasions. In the spring, Baker retired from coaching, a post now filled by his former assistant Brandon Plummer, who won a state title as a player at Booker T. Washington in 2006 before playing on the collegiate level at Norfolk State, Virginia State and Wingate. Plummer inherits plenty of talent in his first year at the helm.

Back for Maury are four starters from a team that went 18-6 overall and won the Atlantic Conference 9 regular season title following a two-year hiatus from the 5A-South Region Tournament. Junior guards Bryan Phillips (14.9PPG) and Chase Coleman (11.1PPG) both hold Division I offers. On the wing, 6’4” junior Matthew Mensia (11.4PPG) and 6’5” senior Lamont Edmonds (14PPG), a transfer from Booker T. Washington, give them two of the better rebounding forwards in the area. Mensia, arguably the team’s best three-point shooter, and Coleman were First Team All-Conference performers.

Clarence Rupert, a 6’3” sophomore, is the main presence in the middle for the Commodores. Not having a traditional post player or towering bigs looks to be the only real question mark for this Maury team that has a great opportunity to capture their first regional title since 2013. What they have going for them is four double-figure scorers, something very few teams boast.

Depending on how their depth develops, and they’ll count on sophomore football standouts KeAndre Lambert and Ty Granger to supply a lift off the bench, we could even be talking about Maury as a prime contender for the state title in a year where Class 5 might be more wide open than ever before.

Already Unveiled in the Top Ten:

#4 - Varina Blue Devils - Click Here for Preview

#5 - Wakefield Warriors - Click Here for Preview

#6 - Highland Springs Springers - Click Here for Preview

#7 - Hampton Crabbers - Click Here for Preview

#8 - Green Run Stallions - Click Here for Preview

#9 - Stone Bridge Bulldogs - Click Here for Preview

#10 - North Stafford Wolverines - Click Here for Preview

Final 5A Rankings for 2016-17:

#1 – L.C. Bird (27-1)

#2 – Bethel (24-6)

#3 – Hampton (23-7)

#4 – Potomac (23-3)

#5 – Albemarle (27-4)

#6 – Wakefield (22-6)

#7 – Varina (21-7)

#8 – Green Run (21-4)

#9 – Hermitage (20-5)

#10 – Potomac Falls (19-9)

Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a regular contributor to the ACC Sports Journal. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10 AM to Noon on ESPN Radio 94.1.