Nov 18, 2020 - Sports

The state of high school basketball

Data: Maxpreps; Map: Axios Visuals
Data: Maxpreps; Map: Axios Visuals

High schoolers haven't been able to jump straight to the NBA since 2005, though that could change in 2022.

  • For now, the focus is on what the coming season will look like for the nearly one million boys and girls playing high school hoops nationwide.

The state of play: Seven states have already begun their seasons, 31 plan to start before the end of the year, nine will begin play in 2021 and four are still TBD.

  • Already started: Alabama, Mississippi (Nov. 5); Arkansas (Nov. 9); Texas (Nov. 13); Louisiana, South Carolina (Nov. 16); Utah (Nov. 17)
  • Later this month: Oklahoma (Nov. 19); Georgia, Indiana (Nov. 20); North Dakota, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky (Nov. 23); Ohio (Nov. 25); Idaho, Pennsylvania (Nov. 28); Arizona, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri (Nov. 30).
  • December: Wisconsin (Dec. 1); Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska (Dec. 3); Delaware, Maryland, Montana (Dec. 4); Michigan (Dec. 7); West Virginia (Dec. 8); South Dakota, Wyoming (Dec. 10); Maine, New Hampshire (Dec. 11); Alaska, Connecticut (Dec. 17); New Jersey (Dec. 18); Virginia (Dec. 28).
  • January: North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Washington, D.C. (Jan. 4); Washington (Jan. 10); Oregon (11); Nevada (Jan. 15); Colorado (Jan. 19).
  • March: California (Mar. 12).
  • TBD: Hawaii, Illinois, Rhode Island, Vermont.

Top 5 teams: The Montverde Academy Eagles sit atop the rankings after going 25-0 last season and capturing their fourth national title in eight years. At No. 5 is a California school that won't play games until mid-March. Full Top 25.

  1. Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)
  2. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)
  3. Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)
  4. Ypsi Prep Academy (Ypsilanti, Mich.)
  5. Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.)

ICYMI ... Chet Holmgren (No. 2 recruit in 2021) and Emoni Bates (No. 1 recruit in 2022) went head-to-head in an exhibition game last week.

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