Porter and Ogden waved off six seniors, including Standard-Examiner Player of the Year Stockton Marriott, with the most recent graduating class. Summer break also saw the Tigers lose a returning piece on the block to Roy. Ogden, essentially, will be starting from scratch.

Official team tryouts are this week, with Porter expecting nearly 100 kids to report in hopes of making the program. The Tigers open the season next week, going to Juab on Nov. 19. Porter is 28-29 at Ogden in two seasons.

“We’ve got some tough decisions to make,” Porter said. “Those (seniors) really helped change the culture. Those guys that we had last year were a big part of the two-year culture shift that we’ve had, so they’re going to be tough to fill but we’re excited about the group we’re going to have.”

The only sole returning contributor from last season’s 20-7 finish is senior point guard Conrad Moore, who picked up light minutes on the varsity floor during the team’s Region 13 title run. Moore is filling the shoes of Marriott, the region’s second-leading scorer (17.7 ppg), and fellow graduate guard Teegan Porter, the region’s assist leader (4.1 apg) last season.

“(Moore) has some ability to be a playmaker for us,” Porter said. “We like Conrad as a point guard, he’s a super headsy kid, super intelligent kid but sometimes basketball IQ and scholastic IQ aren’t the same thing. We’re working with him on decision making and we’re going to lean on him for some scoring.”

Even with a promising candidate at the top of the key, Porter said Ogden still knows little about his group other than its strong work ethic and lack of size. One of Porter’s prospects for the 4 or 5 is sophomore Ryan Kirkland, a two-way starting lineman for the football team.

“All of our size are underclassmen,” Porter said. “We’re vulnerable inside, but if (Kirkland) can step in that would be magical for us because we’re not very lengthy. … It’s been a guessing game this summer about our strengths, we just don’t know. If these young guys step up, we’ll find that balance.”

Ogden has scheduled friendly scrimmages with area teams, including AAU outfits, at Porter’s direction throughout October. The Tigers opened November with a tournament down in Lehi, albeit limited to students not actively participating in other fall sports and activities.

The upcoming season opener at Juab, featuring BYU baseball commit Austin Parks (16.3 ppg), will be a tall test for an unproven Tigers team. The non-region slate grows with Providence Hall in Ogden’s home opener on Nov. 22 and another road test at Mountain Crest on Nov. 27.

“We are in the unknown,” Porter said. “We have a pretty good young group of sophomores and juniors. … The good news is that they’re great kids, high-character kids but the bad news is that we don’t know what they’re going to be when they step onto a varsity floor.”

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.