Where would Aaliyah Chavez be on ESPN's best women's NCAA tournament players rankings?
Aaliyah Chavez is the country’s No. 1 women’s basketball recruit, and she is pretty amazing.
Earlier this week, she was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, and is a McDonald's All-American after a career that included eight games scoring 50 or more points. She averaged 34.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.7 steals per game this year.
Chavez has said she will make her college choice next week, and reports have been that Texas and Oklahoma are still high on her list, along with Texas Tech, South Carolina and UCLA.
Aaliyah Chavez ( @AALIYAH2CHAVEZ ) was talking spicy & won Mamba invitational MVP with a years worth of Kobe’s 😳 she has an elite skillset is the number 1 player in her class
— Swish Cultures (@swishcultures_) August 25, 2024
“I’m in your town & you’re not lacing it up you don’t want that smoke 😳”
pic.twitter.com/cD0L3bb5sy
Truth be told, Chavez could be making an impact at the NCAA level right now, if she were eligible.
This week, ESPN ranked the top 25 players in the women's NCAA tournament, and if Chavez were a freshman in college rather than a senior in high school, I believe she would be on that list.
But where?
It’s a pretty good question, as there are some monster names on the list. For example, ESPN’s top two players, JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers are both polished superstars in the hunt for the women’s Naismith Award. It would be silly to put a high school player – even one as talented as Chavez – in that conversation.
Aaliyah Chavez dropped 35 while Dawn Staley was watching🔥
— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) July 20, 2024
pic.twitter.com/ZCD3HMP0rU
The first freshman on ESPN’s list is UConn’s Sarah Strong, who is ranked 9th. It’s reasonable to believe that Chavez would be ranked somewhere close to Strong, although with her size and a year of experience at the advanced level, I might still rank Strong higher.
My best guess is, if Chavez was in college right now, she’d be ranked 12th. Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson is a guard who is averaging 24.9 points and 4.7 assists per game, which is awfully impressive. Will Chavez immediately reach those numbers – it’s hard to tell, but unlikely.
That would put Chavez just in front of TCU's Hailey Van Lith, and that feels right. Chavez is so athletic and could outplay Van Lith on most nights, although certainly not always.
Lots of people are super excited to find out how good Chavez can be – including some anxious college coaches in places like Austin, Norman and Columbia. Where she would rank if she were already at the college level is simply a fun thought exercise at this point, and obviously opinions will vary. So what do you think?
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY High School Sports Wire: Would Aaliyah Chavez be on ESPN's NCAA tournament players rankings?
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