A First Look: 2025 Small Forwards

<span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id="295763" first="Jaylah" last="Lampley"] (2025) of Lawrence Central High School and Ohio United 15U.</em></span> Tuesday Prep Girls Hoops Indiana released it’s initial Class of 2025 Watchlist. It ended up including 55 prospects who have stood out over the past year or so, and it will expand in September as more players come to light. At this point in time, I wanted to highlight a few of the small forward prospects from that list and give you a little more detail into them and their games. To be clear, they are arranged below alphabetically by last name (<em>not ranked</em>), and there might be someone better out there who isn’t mentioned below. But these are some of the young ladies I have seen and/or heard about the most, and they are the ones I felt most comfortable writing about at this point in time. &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="295757" first="Ava" last="Carter"], 2025, 5-10 SF, Fishers H.S.</strong></span> Ava is one of the better athletes I have seen in Indiana’s 2025 class. She is extremely long, wiry strong, fluid, and very bouncy. She is a playmaker who is great in transition, she can score the ball at all three levels, and she plays with unlimited energy. As good/bad of a reference as this is, she sort of reminds me of the fictional character Tigger. I also like her versatility, because she can play in the mid-post of a small lineup and rebound/defend inside, plus she’s skilled like a guard outside. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="295811" first="Ayla" last="Krygier"], 2025, 5-10 SF, Lake Central H.S.</strong></span> Ayla has been well-known in Lake County for the last few years, but now she’s starting to make an impression on a statewide level. She is strong for her age, a solid athlete in most directions, and she plays with a really nice motor and a quiet toughness. She is very "blue-collared" in her efforts and will do whatever it takes for her team to win. She can play in the mid-post and battle bigger players, but she’s also comfortable around the perimeter as more of a traditional wing. She’s just a nice ballplayer. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="295763" first="Jaylah" last="Lampley"], 2025, 6-0 SF, Lawrence Central H.S.</strong></span> Jaylah is one of the elite prospects in the state and nationally, as proven by the number of high-major Division-I offers she’s already accumulated. She is a matchup problem amongst her peers, because she has a wiry strong, athletic frame, she has tremendous length, and she is a really nice run &amp; jump athlete. She can handle it and initiate the offense like a point forward, she’s great attacking the basket and absorbing/finishing through contact, plus she has a nice-looking and consistent jump-shot. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="295764" first="Maya" last="Makalusky"], 2025, 6-2 SF, Hamilton Southeastern H.S.</strong></span> Maya is an extremely long, tall, but fluidly athletic true wing. She is not a post by any means, and she’s actually known for being a perimeter shooting threat who you have to almost chase and give zero space to. Now, with her height she can get inside and rebound her position, plus she causes problems defensively with her length. She can block shots, and she’s good in trapping situations because of her quickness. I think as she continues to add strength, she’s going to just get better and better. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="295769" first="Lauren" last="Perry"], 2025, 5-11 SF, Carmel H.S.</strong></span> Lauren is already a nice, skillful ballplayer, but she’s what I like to call a "wait-and-see" kid, because she’s nowhere near done growing, and her best days are well ahead of her. Lauren’s father is 6-9, so I anticipate her growth being much like what happened with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="62527" first="Bridget" last="Dunn"]</strong> (<em>2021 Carmel</em>) or <strong>Haliegh Reinoehl</strong> (<em>2016 Westfield</em>), and I see her approaching 6-2 or 6-3 at some point. Lauren is another fluidly athletic, perimeter shooting threat. She also has some ball skill and a really nice motor. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="295792" first="Alexis" last="Stillman"], 2025, 5-11 SF, Angola H.S.</strong></span> I’ve said this about a couple of other schools, but Angola seems to have these cookie-cutter kids who just come out long, fluidly athletic, and bouncy. Alexis is just the next one. She is a nice-looking wing prospect with great length, and she’s still possibly growing. She has some touch around the perimeter, she’s really good in the mid-post, and even though she needs to get much stronger, she is willing to take on contact and battle inside defensively, plus she’ll pursue rebounds. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="295797" first="Kaycie" last="Warfel"], 2025, 5-7 SF, Pendleton Heights H.S.</strong></span> Kaycie is the younger sister of Pendleton Junior-to-be <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="241199" first="Whitney" last="Warfel"]</strong>. Kaycie is a long, fluid athlete who plays with a nice motor and a competitive toughness to her. She is aggressive attacking the basket, and though she’s a bit slight of frame right now, she actually seeks contact and absorbs it reasonably well. She has some touch around the perimeter, and she can use the dribble to create opportunities for herself or others, but she’s best when she’s on attack. I also like her willingness to defend hard.