Boys basketball: Preseason North Jersey Top 25 rankings entering 2023-24 season

New Jersey's boys basketball season tips off Thursday and Don Bosco is the No. 1 team in the North Jersey preseason Top 25 rankings.

The defending Bergen County Jamboree champion features senior All-American Dylan Harper, who last week committed to Rutgers, and also returns senior Isaiah Brown and junior Brady Loughlin.

Ramapo starts the season at No. 2 after capturing the Group 3 state title last winter. The Green Raiders feature a trio of senior veterans in Princeton commit Peyton Seals, Wyatt Eglinton Manner and Chris Cervino.

Bergen Catholic, last season's Bergen County Jamboree runner-up, is No. 3, followed by St. Joseph and new coach Dan Davis at No. 4.

Passaic County's top team is Eastside at No. 6, and much has changed since winning last season's Group 4 state title. The Ghosts graduated a majority of standouts and have a new coach, Jayon James.

There are more than a dozen new coaches spread across the Big North and North Jersey Interscholastic Conference. The most notable is former NBA veteran Tim Thomas, now guiding Paramus Catholic. Several standouts transferred to the Paladins, who are a wild card and ranked No. 8.

Here are the rankings, with last season's records in parentheses:

Preseason Top 25 rankings

1. Don Bosco (26-3)

2. Ramapo (30-3)

3. Bergen Catholic (22-9)

4. St. Joseph (19-10)

5. Ridgewood (15-13)

6. Eastside (29-2)

7. Ramsey (24-5)

8. Paramus Catholic (13-15)

9. St. Mary (20-7)

10. Saddle River Day (14-9)

11. Teaneck (20-5)

12. Hackensack (12-16)

13. Wayne Valley (16-13)

14. Old Tappan (14-13)

15. Paterson Charter (17-7)

16. Demarest (14-12)

17. Pascack Valley (20-9)

18. Clifton (17-10)

19. DePaul (13-14)

20. Kennedy (10-12)

21. Indian Hills (19-7)

22. River Dell (21-7)

23. Pascack Hills (13-12)

24. Dumont (17-7)

25. Cresskill (19-10)

Also considered: Glen Rock (16-11), Lyndhurst (16-10), and Paramus (13-14).

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Jersey boys basketball: Preseason Top 25 rankings