The 2021-22 Virginia High School League Basketball season is underway, much to the delight of fans, athletes and coaches all over the Commonwealth. Best of all, it'll resemble a more normal one than the abbreviated, shortened campaigned players and teams navigated through during the 2020-21 school-year while in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that shelved more than 70 programs from being able to play.

Just like with all new seasons, there are some significant changes around the basketball landscape. Two of the reigning State Champs in Centreville and Smithfield have new coaches. After back-to-back state titles, Joe Turner takes over at the helm of Centreville, where Kevin Harris decided to step down. Theotis Porter left after leading Smithfield to the Class 4 crown to take an assistant gig at Thomas Nelson Community College and in steps his assistant in Keith Goode.

There are also teams shifting up and down classifications across the board, plus regional changes that will make for intriguing playoff matches when February and March rolls around. Plus, the return of some must-see events - such as the VirginiaPreps Classic in Virginia Beach in January and the Chance Harman Classic out at Floyd County - will give an early to mid-season indicator of what we could expect for the postseason.

Even with some changes, there are still household names that can score with ease, such as Boston College signee Donald Hand Jr. of Landstown and North Carolina commit Tyler Nickel from East Rockingham. A couple of towering big men, too, with Spencer Hamilton of Parry McCluer and Abingdon's Evan Ramsey.

*** See Final VHSL Hoops Top Tens from 2020-21 season here ***

Without further ado, here's the Top Tens for each classification, and we plan to provide a closer look at these teams in the coming days, weeks and months...

1. Landstown

2. Hayfield

3. South Lakes

4. Potomac

5. Patriot

6. West Potomac

7. Western Branch

8. Oscar Smith

9. Centreville

10. South County

Honorable Mention:
Woodbridge
Battlefield
Manchester
Colonial Forge
Madison
Fairfax
Thomas Dale
W.T. Woodson
Thomas Edison
Yorktown

1. Stone Bridge

2. L.C. Bird

3. Menchville

4. Independence

5. Kecoughtan

6. Patrick Henry-Roanoke

7. Maury

8. Salem-VB

9. Riverside

10. Green Run

Honorable Mention:
Bethel
Woodside
Potomac Falls
William Fleming
Kempsville

1. Varina

2. King's Fork

3. Western Albemarle

4. Loudoun County

5. Eastern View

6. Courtland

7. Jamestown

8. Monacan

9. Loudoun Valley

10. Manor

Honorable Mention
GW-Danville
Grafton
Pulaski County
Smithfield
Hampton
Jefferson Forest

1. Cave Spring

2. Spotswood

3. Northside

4. Liberty Christian

5. Skyline

6. Abingdon

7. Petersburg

8. Lord Botetourt

9. Hopewell

10. Lake Taylor

Honorable Mention:
Phoebus
Fluvanna
Tunstall

1. John Marshall

2. East Rockingham

3. Union

4. Radford

5. James River-Buchanan

6. Floyd County

7. Central-Woodstock

8. Martinsville

9. Gate City

10. Ridgeview

Honorable Mention:
Dan River
King William
Chatham
Stuarts Draft
Bruton

1. Parry McCluer

2. Auburn

3. Twin Springs

4. West Point

5. Eastside

6. Altavista

7. Rye Cove

8. J.I. Burton

9. Narrows

10. Holston

Honorable Mention:
Buffalo Gap
Fort Chiswell
Grayson County
Franklin
George Wythe
Mathews

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 from 10 AM to Noon on 757 Saturday Sports Talk on ESPN Radio 94.1.