The consensus preseason No. 1 team in high school basketball, Columbus (Miami, Fla.), lost its season opener on Tuesday night, 66-54.
(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
The Explorers lost to the No. 8 team in the preseason FAB 50 national rankings, Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), in Baca Raton, Fla., as Kansas-bound wing Darryn Peterson went off with 33 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks, as Prolific Prep overcame an early 19-7 deficit.
Prolific Prep upped its record to 7-0 on the young season, while Tuesday’s game was the season opener for Columbus
There is plenty of season left to go, but the whispers are getting louder that Peterson, a well-built specimen with skill and patience, is every bit as good as A.J. Dybansta of No. 14 Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah) and Cameron Boozer of No. 1 Columbus, who scored 15 points and had nine rebounds in Tuesday’s loss to Prolific Prep.
Dybansta is considered the No. 1 prospect in the national 2025 class and is reportedly going to command seven-figures to get his name on a national letter of intent (NLI) under the guise of a Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) deal. Boozer, meanwhile, is considered No. 2 and is the most accomplished high school player of the trio by a pretty significant margin.
Does Being No. 1 Matter?
So the questions are, is Peterson as good as Dybansta and Boozer? Who will be No. 1 at the end of their high school careers? And, does it really matter?
Since we evaluate players for a living, the answer is yes, it does matter, but what’s more important is a player’s continued development. Being the No. 1 player (or highly ranked) opens plenty of doors.
Since a player’s shelf life for making a living playing is relatively short compared to most jobs in America, the earlier earning potential begins the better, so yes, it matters. With that in mind, we take a look at our No. 1 ranked player from each national class for the past ten years, which concludes with a player who is no longer active in an American basketball league.
Being No. 1 Doesn’t Guarantee Anything
2024: Cooper Flagg, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) 6’9 SF (Duke University)
- Current Stats: 16.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 4.0 apg
He was the high school national player of the year (Mr. Basketball USA) over Cameron Boozer after leading his team to a wire-to-wire No. 1 FAb 50 ranking. He’s off to a good start so far in his college career and is the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Does the NBA have an American-born superstar on its hands?
2023: Isaiah Collier, Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) 6’4 PG SF (USC/Utah Jazz/Rookie)
- Current Stats: 4.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.9 apg (46.2 FG)
Collier was considered the top point guard in the 2023 national class, but as a sophomore Boozer was named the nation’s top player ahead of any senior, such as Ronald Holland and Flagg, then a sophomore who re-classified up to the 2024 class. Collier was the No. 29 pick in the 2024 first round and is a meager contributor to one of the worst teams in the
NBA.
2022: Dereck Lively, Westtown School (West Chester, Pa.) 7’1 C (Duke/Dallas Mavericks/2nd Season)
- Current Stats: 8.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.3 apg (69.0 FG)
As a young player, he backed up Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons) on Team Final’s 15U travel club. After overcoming his slow start and some injuries, Lively developed into a No. 1 prospect after teaming up with Duren in the summer of 2021 to lead Team Final to the 17U Nike EYBL Peach Jam title.
He wasn’t named national player of the year and he didn’t have a particular strong freshman season at Duke, but many felt the pro game is where he would thrive. He’s an important cog for a contending team and one of the best rim protectors in the league.
2021: Chet Holmgren, Minnehaha Academy (Minneapolis, Minn.) 7’0 C (Gonzaga/Oklahoma City Thunder/3rd Season)
- Current Stats: 16.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.0 apg (INJURED)
Holmgren was always considered a top-notch prospect and developed into the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. He is considered a unicorn type prospect and coming out of college was compared to all time generational prospect Ralph Sampson, a 3-time college player of the year who is considered one of the best high school prospects of all-time. Sampson, however, suffered injuries as a pro and unfortunately injury has slowed Holmgren’s career so far.
He missed his entire rookie season and is currently out for the contending Thunder with a broken hip. Will long-term health issues overshadow his immense talent? It also should be noted No. 2 prospect Paolo Banchero and No. 3 prospect Jaden Hardy both missed their senior season of high school because of COVID-19 mandates in their respective regions.
2020: Cade Cunningham, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) 6’7 PG (Oklahoma State/Detroit Pistons/4th Season)
- Current Stats: 23.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 8.8 apg (44.6 FG)
He was the leading player on an all-time high school team that went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country and currently has six active NBA players. We haven’t uncovered another team with six and even three is an incredible number that doesn’t happen often.
Cunningham was the No. 1 pick of the 2021 NBA Draft and the No. 1 player in his class over two over immense talents: Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Many say he’s still the best talent of the bunch, but winning and being in the national spotlight is hard to come by in the Motor City.
2019: Isaiah Stewart, La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) 6’9 PF (Washington/Detroit Pistons/5th Season)
- Current Stats: 6.4 ppg, 6..9 rpg, 1.9 apg (57.1 FG)
This wasn’t a stellar class by any means, but this rugged forward was easily our No. 1 player, mainly because of his terrific effort and winning pedigree. He is a contributing player and we never forecasted him to be anothing other than a what-you-see, is-what-you-get type of player with limited upside.
The disappointment in this class is clearly big man James Wiseman of Memphis East (Tenn.), who we rated much lower (No. 9) than the rest of the recruiting industry. The other disappointment is not having Anthony Edwards rated higher (No. 5) after he re-classed from the 2020 group. The Timberwolves’ guard is clearly the best player of the group.
2018: R.J. Barrett, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) 6’7 SF (Duke/Toronto Raptors/6th Season)
- Current Stats: 23.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 6.5 apg (42.2 FG)
He had many of the same accolades as Cade Cunningham in leading an undefeated MVA team to a wire-to-wire No. 1 finish and earning national player of the year honors in a close call over Zion Williamson. Barrett was as productive as Williamson was spectacular, and the latter might be the most compelling player of the social media era.
Williamson was a phenom, but his motivation and instincts have been questioned as they were masked in high school and college by his overpowering athleticism. Barrett is now back in his native Canada after beginning his career with the New York Knicks and has become the main offensive threat for a team struggling at 3-12 and looking for a glimmer of hope because of injuries to Cunnigham’s high school teammate, Scottie Barnes.
2017: Michael Porter, Nathan Hale (Seattle, Wash.) 6'9 PF (Missouri/Denver Nuggets/7th Season)
- Current Stats: 18.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.8 apg
A key cog on a Denver team that won the 2023 NBA title, Porter is a quality pro, but quite frankly is not really the same prospect that we saw coming out of high school. When he was motivated, he was one of the best forwards we had seen come down the pike in a long time and usually his team won, whether it was finishing No. 1 in the FAB 50 or on the travel ball circuit.
The issue is, Porter’s career was nearly derailed by serious back injuries and surgery, so he’s lucky to be playing the game that can earn him quite a living. He was one heck of a talent then and is a good offensive player now and needs to stay healthy in order for Denver to remain in
playoff
contention. He edged DeAndre Ayton, the best youth player we’ve seen in the last 20 years, for the No. 1 spot.
2016: Josh Jackson, Prolific Prep (Napa,, Calif.) 6'7 SF (Kansas/Four NBA Teams/Not Active)
This explosive wing forward and Detroit native from a military family last played in the NBA during the 2021-22 season at 24 years of age. Jackson lacked maturity and his on-court shooting consistency and range were average, but believe us when we tell you he was an alpha recruit and moved and played like a future NBA player in high school.
He wasn’t challenged often at that level and is still one of the elite wing talents we’ve seen over the past 15-20 years. He’s a classic example of judging a player based on how good he was in real time and not on what he became and armed with the knowledge of what transpired after the final rankings were released.
It’s easy to play Monday morning quarterback, but he was an immense talent but not every No. 1 player is going to work out as the data would show if we kept going back further recruiting classes.
Wondering how a hot start impacts their odds?
BallislifeBets
has the insights you need to make the right picks.
BALLISLIFE.COM
