2025 Updated Rankings - Combo Guards

It is Ranking Season and I think this is my first pass at the Combo Guards in the class of 2025. A talented group to be sure, but like most players that were Freshmen last year or this year, I don't know many of them well enough to talk about them as thoroughly as I do the Upperclass players who I try to focus my attention on. If I don't watch the Junior and Seniors they are gone before I can do anything to try to amplify their presence on the net to coaches that might be looking for them on the College level. If I don't give those layers their shot, they may not get their shot. The young players I know are typically players who played with some Upperclass players of note last season or were involved in one of the many tournaments I attended to see as many teams and players as I possibly could. And this year after seeing so many players and teams I know better where I need to look to close the gap in my own knowledge of who can play and who has the potential of making it onto a College Roster when the time comes.   You could probably place the names of anybody in the mid-40s through the end of the list and rank them in the order you draw them out. I assure you we did put in more effort than that. But I wouldn't stand by any of those numbers as Gospel. Some of those same players could potentially be in the Top 20s or the bottom of the list by the next Ranking based on who we get a chance to see and how well they perform. Being on the list though will get you looked at and it is ultimately the opinion of the college coach that signs you that matters, not my current vague opinion that you are good. But how good?     [player_tooltip player_id='311967' first='Ciara' last='Byars'] - 6'-2" - CG - George Rogers Clark - Ky Premier - '25   Byars is Ranked 3rd in her class in the state but has designs on rising higher. Not that she needs to. Our Ranking that puts her below two whole players isn't going to make any difference to any Coach that wants her to play on their team, especially when they know who is Ranked above her. And to be fair we may have her Ranked too low. there is no doubting her talents, skills, athleticism, work ethic, and basketball intelligence. She is impressive as soon as she steps into the gym before warm-ups even start and that continues throughout the game. Me, I wouldn't mind seeing her Ranked higher by our site, but other than for her motivation I don't find it necessary. Yet. But it isn't like I won't be watching or rethinking these Rankings multiple times before she Graduates. If you haven't seen her play, and there is a major basketball tournament or event near you at some point, you can probably find her there. Odds are you will see her playing against another major program in the state when you go. The schedule looks like a whos-who of Kentucky High School Girls' Basketball.   In the 4 games I have access to for stats she s averaging 21.5 points, and 9'5 rebounds per game, making 5.5 free throws per game for 73.3% at the line and making 50.8% of her field goals. For a larger sample size, last season she scored 17.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, shooting a slightly better 73.5% at the free throw line while taking 111 of 151 for the year. and made 51% of her field goals. I wish I could give you the stats on her Blocks and Assists etc but those stats are not readily available from the KHSAA. Lots of times I throw in a phrase about how Coaches need to know this or that about her if they are looking for this or that type of player. I don't have to tell Coaches ANYTHING about Byars. They knew her before I had this job.     [player_tooltip player_id='254562' first='Peyton' last='Bradley'] - 5'-9" - CG - Meade County - Ky Premier - '25   Bradley is the 4th Ranked player in the class of 2025 and I covered her fairly thoroughly about three weeks ago while writing a preseason article about her team. Follow the hyperlink in her name to find it for more talk about her and not just what I have to say. Those hyperlinks will lead you to anything we have ever written about any player that has been previously written about on our site. I covered her stats from last season extensively in the last article. So I will not mention those here but I will inform you that through 5 games this season she is scoring 27.2 points a game, hitting 5 three-points a game at a rate of 52.1%, yes those are only three-point shots. But it doesn't just end there, she is grabbing 6.2 rebounds a game. making 76% of her free throws, and 50.5% of all field goals. You can be sure she will be on multiple Top 50 stats lists again this season once enough games have been played for KHSAA to compile the list.   She will also be at multiple top tournaments and events across the Commonwealth this season including the LIT (Louisville Invitational Tournament), Queen of the Commonwealth, and maybe this little tournament they are holding in Lexington at the end of the season the Sweet... something... I can't remember the name. And like the player above I don't need to push Bradley's name out for Coaches. If they don't know who she is they are going to be fired before she graduates anyway. But parents if you have a daughter that plays basketball and you know enough about the game to be able to point out the fundamentals and techniques being used by a player, this is the player you want her to see play. My Dad did this for my sister and me with some of the greats that played near us when we were kids and it was a good learning experience. Get your kid out for a fun night with Mom and/or Dad (of Guardian etc) at a reasonable price and see what could be done IF they will put in the work and believe that IF they will do the work they can be this good someday. Maybe it will inspire them to earn it the way Bradley does.     [player_tooltip player_id='254278' first='Karmin' last='Riley'] - 5'-7" - CG - Owensboro Catholic - Ky Premier - '25   Riley is a "Three and D" kind of player that can also handle the ball to create for herself and her teammates. She helped lead her team to the Finals of the All "A" Classic last season and will be back for more in late January. They will also be back for more at the Queen of the Commonwealth and a few other key events across the Commonwealth but they will mainly be playing a slate of home and away games against a who's who of Girl's Basketball in Western Kentucky. I saw her play numerous times last season starting with two Christmas Tournaments the All "A" and a nice one-day event that was held at Breckenridge County. If she was anything it was consistent. She applies excellent defensive pressure from on and off the ball, is alert for the deflections caused by her teammates and is adept at turning them into points off of turnovers. She can shoot the three (39.6% last year and 59.3% through 5 games this season) in transition or out of the offense and is always an impact player on both ends of the court.   Last season she posted 12.2 points, 5.1 rebounds a game, and made 79.2% of her free throws, which is a good enough percentage to tie for 29th in the Commonwealth but she did not attempt enough of them to qualify based on KHSAA's standards. Through five games her free throw percentage has slipped to a still very impressive 75%, but she has only shot 8 so far. (Understand, I am trying to be glib with that last comment.) She is dropping 13.2 points a game and it looks like the Lady Aces have added a few good rebounders to the roster who have affected her stats there.     [player_tooltip player_id='231488' first='Niah' last='Rhodes'] - 5'7" - CG - Frederick Douglas - ETA Thunder - '25   Rhodes fits the description of a Combo Guard to a tee. She has strong ballhandling skills under pressure and at top speeds, the court vision needed to see her teammates getting open before it happens like a Point Guard, and the outside shooting prowess of s Shooting Guard. She shoots it from deeper than she will need to shoot it in College NOW. How far behind the line will she be firing up the 3-ball once she makes it to the college level?   She has upped her game in the early new season. After leading her team with 16 points per game last season she has toured in the buckets a 25.3   point average over the first three games reported. She is still making threes at a high rate of 39.3% last year and 34.3% now behind the three-point arc. And she is shooting an improved 87% of her free throws this season, up from 71.6% last winter. She has even added a new skill, rebounding. She is grabbing more than twice the boards she pulled down last year at a current 6 rebounds a game. It's no wonder I have heard she has received an offer from a Division 1 program since the last time I saw her play. This should be a breakout season for Rhodes and I might see her play in an upcoming Tournament depending on how the bracket shakes out and have more to say about her relatively soon. Stay tuned.     [player_tooltip player_id='254283' first='Claire' last='Roberts'] - 5'-8" - CG - Lexington Christian - [program_tooltip program_id='714288' first='Bluegrass' last='Girls Basketball'] - '25   I tried to see Roberts a 2nd time after seeing her in a scrimmage early this year but she did not travel with the team and I was unable to ascertain why. She is the leading returning scorer on a team that is in the running as the youngest team in the Commonwealth. There are no Juniors or Seniors on the roster and only 3 Sophomores and 3 Freshmen on the team and it has to be concerning that she has only played in one game of her team's six games, shooting and making only one field goal and 1 of 2 free throws. I hope she is OK. She is a shooter that runs the floor, shoots a set shot, and plays good defense. She is creative with the ball, has good court vision, and has the handles to get to the hoops off the bounce. She tallied 9 points, and 4.5 rebounds per game last season, and made 66.7% of her free throws, and 25,8% of her threes.     [player_tooltip player_id='555982' first='Holly' last='Gilliam'] - 5'-7" - CG - Whitefield Academy - [program_tooltip program_id='713394' first='Kentucky' last='Ice'] - '25   Gilliam has transferred in and is working her way into a well-established rotation of six trying to be the seventh player on a Junior and Senior dominated roster. The growing pains of learning a whole new offensive and defensive system and how to find your niche in a team of new teammates have held her back a bit early. But I have it on good authority from her coaches that her day is coming and the work she is putting in paying off. She has been a Point Guard most of her life but is currently playing the Wing, learning a new position.   She is currently ranked in a range of players we have identified as having talent and likely to be college prospects but it is just too early to know enough to be as certain of their talent. At least that applies to players currently laboring as Freshmen and Sophomores. Players we know have talent, players that we believe in, but that we aren't familiar enough with them to accurately rank very well.

It is Ranking Season and I think this is my first pass at the Combo Guards in the class of 2025. A talented group to be sure, but like most players that were Freshmen last year or this year, I don't know many of them well enough to talk about them as thoroughly as I do the Upperclass players who I try to focus my attention on. If I don't watch the Junior and Seniors they are gone before I can do anything to try to amplify their presence on the net to coaches that might be looking for them on the College level. If I don't give those layers their shot, they may not get their shot.
The young players I know are typically players who played with some Upperclass players of note last season or were involved in one of the many tournaments I attended to see as many teams and players as I possibly could. And this year after seeing so many players and teams I know better where I need to look to close the gap in my own knowledge of who can play and who has the potential of making it onto a College Roster when the time comes.