2023 Top 10 Remain Solid Amid Miller’s Move Up
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While the 2022 July rankings refresh saw substantial changes throughout the top 20 the 2023 rankings do not sport many substantial changes from March. The top ten contain the same ten players, but one player’s play has leap-frogged her into…
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Continue ReadingWhile the 2022 July rankings refresh saw substantial changes throughout the top 20 the 2023 rankings do not sport many substantial changes from March. The top ten contain the same ten players, but one player’s play has leap-frogged her into the top 5.
#1
S’Mya Nichols
S’Mya
Nichols
6'0" | SF
Shawnee Mission West | 2023
State
#16
Nation
KS
, 6’0″, CG/SF, Shawnee Mission West, Missouri Phenom – Nichols is one of three players in the top ten who have been or are currently ranked in ESPN HoopGurlz recruiting rankings. As recent as last season Nichols was ranked #17 in the 2023 Terrific 25. Now, not even on the list of current 2023 Super 60. Go figure. Before even reaching high school she was on the JrNBA Central Team that won back-to-back national and international championships. Averaging 14.1 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.8 steals this past season Nichols earned Kansas Basketball Coaches Association 6A second team and Sunflower League first team. While I have not seen her play in person many in the know regard her as a cut above anybody else in the class around the Kansas City area. They also fully agree with R. Simone’s comments about her from the May 1, 2019 Boo Williams Invitational, “To watch her play, especially against the competition she faced all weekend; no one would have guessed that S’Mya has yet to play one game of high school basketball. This talented young player worked hard every possession, did not mind diving on the floor for loose balls, and created contact under the rim to get the free throw line.”
#2 Kiara Smith Kiara Smith 5'7" | SG Topeka | 2023 State KS , 5’7″, SG, Topeka, Missouri Phenom – Kiki was a KBCA 6A and Centennial League first team selection. Oh, and she was a JrNBA Championships MVP for the Central team. A serious perimeter threat, for her first two years of high school she has made 70 threes at a greater than 42% clip. After averaging 20.3 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.8 steals her freshman year she followed that up with 15.7 points, 3 assists, and 2.8 steals this past season. She also shot 81% from the charity stripe and had a 1.71 assists to turnovers ratio.
#3 Ava Jones Ava Jones 6'2" | PF Nickerson | 2023 State KS , 6’2″, PF, Nickerson, Wheat State Elite – It has been my fortune to have watched Jones from her eighth grade year on and have seen her several times. Her work ethic drives her continuous improvement and has led her to be the strong all-around player that she is. Her ability to out-hustle opponents is a big strength. Coupled with her terrific hands, an ability to score a substantial number of ways from the mid-range in, her IQ, and her physical gifts of size; length; and athleticism, she is just tough. Defensively she is formidable for those same personality and physical gifts that leads to gathering rebounds, boxing out, and controlling the ball. Jones has already verbally committed to Arizona State University.
#4
McKayla Miller
McKayla
Miller
6'1" | CG
Cimarron | 2023
State
KS
, 6’1″, PG, Cimarron, SSA Gameball – Some numbers to think about last season at her school. Led the team in scoring (18 points, 37% from three), rebounds (7.7), steals (3), assists (3) and blocked shots. She also shot 77% from the line. She earned KBCA 3A honorable mention and Great West Activities Conference first team honors this past season and is a player that makes others around better no matter who she plays with. I have seen her play several times in her two high school and club years and her game has taken off. She is stronger, more confident and physical than ever, and is turning herself into a great offensive rebounder. Her length, IQ, unselfishness, and ability to score at all three levels has jumped off the charts as well. Her play has not gone unnoticed as she recently completed the trifecta of offers from all three of Kansas’s D I schools, Creighton, Oklahoma State and more. She deservedly jumped five spots in the class rankings.
#5
Taryn Sides
Taryn
Sides
5'7" | CG
Phillipsburg | 2023
State
KS
, 5’6″, CG, Phillipsburg, Missouri Phenom – I personally have not had the pleasure of watching Sides play since last summer. I first saw her when, as a freshman, she led her high school team to its first ever 3A state tournament appearance. What has been true every time I have watched her in some fashion is her quick hands, ability to score off the bounce with athleticism, activeness as a offensive rebounder, unselfishness, and her perimeter range. She is just tough on both ends of the floor. She wrapped up this past high school season with KBCA 3A first team and repeated on the brutal Mid-Continent League first team. While I have not been privy to offers she has received, I am fully aware of the high level of attention she has been generating.
#6
Maryn Archer
Maryn
Archer
5'8" | PG
Derby | 2023
#29
Nation
KS
, 5’6″, PG, Derby, PBR Team Lex Nation – Archer returned to game play in May after suffering a knee injury in mid-December vs Goddard. After seeing some July footage, the Arkansas commit is back to playing her strong suit with tremendous success. She plays with composure – head up, controlled, deliberate about looking at openings and options. She is also strong off the bounce, able to split defenders and drop dimes to teammates. Archer also is a solid three point and mid-range shooter. In 2020 Archer was selected to the KBCA 6A honorable mention and Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division I first team. She also has been one of the three players in this top 10 who have been in and out of ESPN rankings in the past couple of years.
#7
Addyson Brown
Addyson
Brown
6'2" | PF
Derby | 2023
State
#44
Nation
KS
, 6’2″, SF/PF, Derby, PBR Team Lex Nation – Brown is the third player to appear in a ESPN Hoop ranked list and, at the moment, is ranked #36 in the ESPN 2023 Super 60. The two-time AVCTL Div I first team selection followed up her 2020 KBCA 6A honorable mention selection by earning first team 6A honors in 2021. Brown is a physically strong player who uses her frame well to power through a defense, is versatile on the perimeter, and has good hands to finish around the basket. A three point threat, she can beat defenders off the dribble. In 2021 she averaged 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. She also tied for the team’s lead in assists per game with 2.8. Brown is also fielding multiple division I offers.
#8
Brooklyn Deleye
Brooklyn
Deleye
6'2" | PF
Washburn Rural | 2023
State
KS
, 6’2″, F, Washburn Rural, Missouri Phenom – This University of Kentucky alum (the home of the real Wildcats) locked in right away when he saw that Deleye had committed to play for them. But not basketball, she’s going to deal with a different kind of net – that of a volleyball nature. With that being noted Deleye is without a doubt one of the class’s strongest basketball players as well. She earned KBCA 6A honorable mention honors. She also earned 2021 Centennial League first team honors after being selected to the second team in 2020. She is extremely athletic, a good scorer, and obviously has some hops. A very good combination in a 6’2″ package that will have Washburn Rural challenging again for a state title. Deleye was also on the Central Team, JrNBA Champions.
#9 Mikyn Hamlin Mikyn Hamlin 5'8" | CG Hugoton | 2023 State KS , 5’8″, CG, Hugoton, Wheat State Elite – Prep Girls Hoops’ Joel Hannagan wrote back in February that Hamlin is “Strong and physical. She likes to get down hill, use her strength to create space, and draw fouls. Mikyn has a mid-range game and shoots the three ball off the bounce as good as anyone that I have seen in the state.” Hamlin joined Sides as the only sophomore KBCA 3A first team selections, stepping up from her honorable mention nod in 2020. She is also two-time first team Great West Activities Conference. Averaging 16.3 points (38.8% from three with 40 made), 6.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.2 steals per game last season she has applied her combination of strength, speed, and scoring ability to show her game just continues to grow. Recent offers from Wichita State, University of San Francisco, and others show her work has gained attentions.
#10
Amaya Gallegos
Amaya
Gallegos
5'8" | PG
Garden City | 2023
State
KS
, 5’7″, PG, Garden City, SSA Gameball – Gallegos, a player I have seen several times in the past two years, brings this top ten to a close. The physical and strong defender brings that mentality to the offensive end where she uses her athleticism, quickness, and handles to show off her ability to score. She can finish with either hand and is among the best at breaking her defender down with multiple ways of scoring around the basket – floaters, reverse layups, finger rolls, and do it with either hand. She is one of the quickest point guards in the west who can put together multiple moves to abuse defenders in the half court…and score with contact. She also has three point and jump shooting abilities. After earning second team honors in 2020 Gallegos was the Buffalo show runner this past successful season, earning Western Activities Conference first team honors. The offer flood gates have yet to open much yet but heading into her junior year I suspect it is only a matter of time.
Featured image: Cimarron and SSA Gameball 17U 2023 McKayla Miller McKayla Miller 6'1" | CG Cimarron | 2023 State KS . Photo: Robert Kelly.