Quick confession.

I'm not originally from around here.

But yinz have no need to worry -- I'm quickly adjusting to life in Western Pennsylvania, uncommon vernacular and all.

The one thing I don't understand, though, is why it takes so long for basketball season to start here.

See, I'm from Indiana (the state), and if we Hoosiers could, we'd eliminate all other sports so that basketball season never ended.

I know Greensburg Central Catholic is still alive in the PIAA football playoffs, but I'd like to dedicate this notebook to the start of the hoops season.

Here are, in my opinion, the teams from the south suburbs to watch this season (in no particular order):

Central Catholic -- Sure, the Vikings graduated Lucas Mickens, Liam Halferty, Evan Tsudis, Brian Rajakovich and Dan Schnelbach. But, there's still a lot of talent at Central Catholic, and coach Chuck Crummie knows how to push the right buttons with his team.

Senior Dylan Layton will give the Vikings some needed experience. He posted double figures in multiple games last season.

Sophomore Lincoln Davis showed flashes of talent when he entered games last season, and he should see a lot more court time this season.

Gateway -- With three players 6-foot-6 or taller, the Gators' starting lineup has the height of a Division I college team.

Devon Cottrell (6 feet 6), Mike Kromka (6-7) and Barnett Harris (6-9) will tower over their competition as Gateway is trying to make the playoffs for the second time in the past eight years.

This year, they should do it.

Tyler Scott, a 6-5 sophomore, already has a scholarship offer from Duquesne, and Cottrell, the team's leading returning scorer, is among the best players in the WPIAL.

But, as always, the Gators will have to weather one of the toughest sections in Class AAAA.

McKeesport -- Zeke Marshall is impressing a lot of people with his play at Akron, and the Tigers will surely miss his production this season. But McKeesport has enough talent to field a strong team yet again.

Ty-Meer Brown is one of the best athletes in the WPIAL, and he has shown he can carry a team. Branden Jackson developed into a true scorer for the Tigers, who finished last season with a WPIAL quarterfinals loss.

Sam Gooden was also a strong contributor down the stretch last season and will be featured more prominently this year.

Greensburg Salem -- The Golden Lions return just one starter from last year's team that advanced to the PIAA Class AAA championship game. But their sophomore class is one of the most talented groups of players in the area.

And, that one returning starter is pretty good.

Senior Jake Matthews, a Cornell recruit, averaged 16.1 points per game and fueled Greensburg Salem's playoff run, scoring more than 15 points in each of the Golden Lions' final five games.

Hempfield Area -- Senior guard Nate Perry averaged 25.7 points per game last season and was one of the top scorers in the WPIAL.

R.J. Thomas proved he could be a viable second option for the Spartans, and he will probably get a lot of looks as defenses focus on Perry.

The Spartans lost in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs last year after finishing second in their section.

Jeannette girls -- The Jayhawks graduated just one player from last year's roster, a group that advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Kayla Cook, now a senior, averaged more than 20 points per game last season, finishing the year with 528 total points.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.