MaxPreps 2013-14 Preseason Xcellent 25 Basketball preview: No. 9 Whitney Young

Key returners:

Erwin Henry (6-1, Sr., G)

Rodney Herenton Jr. (6-1, So., G)

Jahlil Okafor (6-10, Sr., C)

Miles Reynolds (6-1, Sr., G), Committed to Saint Louis

Paul White (6-9, Sr., F), Committed to Georgetown

Newcomers:

Anthony Mosley Jr. (6-2, Jr., G)

Skyler Nash (6-4, So., G)

Circle the date:

Lining up a daunting schedule has become the norm for Whitney Young under Slaughter. The Dolphins will play games in at least six different states this season and have five preseason ranked teams on the slate excluding potential tournament showdowns.

Murderer's row begins Dec. 7 at the Chicago Elite Classic against No. 10 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.). Just five days later, the Dolphins will hit the road for an ESPN-televised matchup with Tyus Jones and No. 23 Apple Valley (Minn.).

After the holiday break, No. 7 Prime Prep (Dallas) at the Cancer Research Classic, No. 16 White Station (Memphis) at the Penny Hardaway Hoopfest and No. 5 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) at the Nike Extravaganza make for quite a gauntlet.

Tournament time:

Whitney Young will compete in two major tournaments sandwiched around Christmas. First up is the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., where matchups with nationally-ranked opponents like Montverde Academy (Fla.), Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), St. John Bosco (again) and Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) are likely to materialize.

After Christmas, the Dolphins head to the Pacific Northwest for the Les Schwab Invitational in Hillsboro, Ore. That field is headlined by No. 6 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), back-to-back Washington 3A champ Rainier Beach (Seattle) and defending Oregon 6A champ West Linn.