The Top Five Shooting Guards for the Class of 2023

Arizona’s class of 2023 has many great shooting guards. Here’s a profile of five of them:   [player_tooltip player_id="65611" first="Mia" last="Davis"] is a 6-1 junior shooting guard who recently transferred from Xavier Prep in Phoenix. She is now at Glendale Dream City Christian where her father was just named head coach. Prileu Davis is a former player at Louisville as well as a coach and trainer. She also plays for her club team, BSP.. Xavier Prep finished 13-4 last season and 6-2 in their conference. Mia averaged 11.6 points per game as a sophomore along with 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 steals. Her team lost to Valley Vista in the 6A state semifinals. As a freshman at Xavier, Mia averaged 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds. In 41 games over a two-year period, she averaged 10.0 points a game. Her best game was against Chandler this past January where she exploded for 29 points. From December 2019 to January 2021, Mia was named Player of the Game by Max Preps a total of five different times. She was selected as an elite prospect by ESPN for the class of 2023. She has already had feelers from Stanford, Oregon, and Connecticut. ESPN’s evaluation of Mia is that "...she is athletic with the ability to manufacture her shots, delivers consistently in her mid-range game, physical off the dribble and drives and finished plays in traffic. She is also consistent from the charity stripe." Another scout said that Mia makes players around her better. "She is well-rounded fundamentally and a solid performer with a lot in her offensive bag. She is also a strong and active rebounder that is not afraid to mix it up."   Miyah Verse is a 6-foot shooting guard for Arizona Elite Prep. She also plays for her club team, Arizona Elite, and is a recent transfer from Flagstaff High School. As a freshman, she averaged 13,5 points per game and 9.2 rebounds. As a sophomore, the respective numbers were 13.2 and 9.8. In her first playoff game as a freshman, she scored 28 points against Coconino. Now going into her junior year, she is ranked #55 in ESPN’s listing of the top 60 national players in the class of 2023. One scout referred to Miyah "...as explosive on both ends of the court and one of the top elite athletes on the West Coast. Her game is still improving but the potential is there and the ceiling high. She should be a national-level player as a junior." Another scout had this to say about Miyah. "She has good size in the perimeter with good leaping ability. Her shooting, defensive talent, and finishing skills at the rim set her up as a rising prospect. She can draw fouls when she attacks the paint because defenders have to respect her shooting." Miyah has already been recruited by UNLV, Hampton, Arizona State, Yale, Eastern Michigan, Washington State, North Texas, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. The potential full scholarship offers will continue to grow throughout her junior and senior years of high school.   Makaylei Snyder is a 5-6 shooting guard for Sandra Day O’Connor High School in Phoenix. She also plays for her club team, Arizona Elite 16U. Last season the Lady Eagles finished 12-5 and 8-1 in their 6A division. As a sophomore, Mak averaged 7.8 points a game, 2.6 assists, and 4.1 rebounds. O’Connor lost to Perry High School in last season’s state quarterfinals. She averaged 3.9 points per game as a freshman. Arizona Elite won the Grand Invitational recently, going 4-0 in this Tournament of Champions event. Mak is a leader, shows lots of energy, and motivates her teammates to push harder. Her Head Coach, Danny Soliman had this to say about her. "She’s another great on-ball defender. She’s also learning a lot from Paris and Ella (two senior guards) so she can take over when they’re done." As a junior in 2021-22, Mak is ready for a breakout season. She also maintains a 4.0 GPA.   Mackenzie Nielsen is a 5-8 shooting guard for the Sunrise Mountain Lady Mustangs. She also competes for Arizona Elite 16U, her club team. Last winter Sunrise Mountain ended the season with a 16-5 record, 10-1 in the 4A Division. Kenzie averaged 13.3 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per contest. She was nominated twice for Player of the Week, exploding for 30 points including eight three-pointers in a game in February against Gila Ridge. She earned quality minutes as a freshman and her two-year points per game average - over 41 games - is 8.0. She finished third in the state in three-pointers made with 49 according to AZHoops365. Coaches feel that Kenzie, now going into her junior year, can become an elite shooter. She is very coach- <img class="size-medium wp-image-213148 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/10/Mackenzie-Nielsen-1-240x300.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="300" />able, has strong leadership skills, pays attention to detail, and has a high basketball IQ. By the Glendale Independent, she was nominated for ’Underclassmen to Watch.’ Kenzie made the 360AZ All-Academic Girls Basketball Team with a weighted GPA of 4.0 She is ready now for a breakout junior year.   [player_tooltip player_id="138093" first="Autumn" last="Rodriguez"] is a 5-6 shooting guard for the Chandler High School Lady Wolves. She also plays for her club team, West Coast Elite 17U. Last season Chandler struggled to an overall 2-13 record, and 0-8 in their conference. Autumn averaged 10.3 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per contest. In 36 games as a freshman and sophomore, she averaged 6.6 points per game. In one game, as a freshman, she was selected as Player of the Game by Max Preps (Chandler vs. Corona del Sol). She made the All-Academic team as a freshman and is considered one of the top ten players in the class of 2023. Autumn is also a Chandler High School Honors Scholar and an inductee into the National Honor Society. She plays for Head Coach Glenda Skalitzky in the 6A Premier C onference. Her coach had this to say about Autumn: ’She is now taking on more of a leadership role and she has a basketball IQ that is really high. She’s more of an all-around player. She can shoot but also likes to drive to the basket. Autumn has been playing at a high level for a long time and gets her teammates involved."