Spring Rankings: The Class of 2025’s Top-10
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The featured image is of Laila Abdurraqib Laila Abdurraqib 5'7" | PG Lawrence Central | 2025 State IN (2025) of Lawrence Central High School. Since the Prep Girls Hoops Indiana site’s inception during the Fall of 2018, anytime we have…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Laila Abdurraqib Laila Abdurraqib 5'7" | PG Lawrence Central | 2025 State IN (2025) of Lawrence Central High School.
Since the Prep Girls Hoops Indiana site’s inception during the Fall of 2018, anytime we have had a rankings update, it is pretty impersonal and I feel like I just throw rankings/lists, along with position-by-position breakdowns, at you in mass quantity spread over four graduating classes each time, with very little to no editorial type of content. Yes, there is a lot of information to be obtained from the positional breakdown articles, and I will continue to do those articles for that reason. We also do have a general informational piece as to how we determine rankings that we try to post each quarter before rankings are released, but again, it’s rigid with specific facts and not a lot of personal touch to it. The positional rankings and the informational article about rankings will continue to post in the future, but I wanted to specifically do a few other articles to see what kind of interest they drew. Below, I have highlighted the Top-10 prospects in the 2025 rankings. Later, I will have additional articles with other topics, and if these go over well, I will continue with this method each quarter.
Previously, I’ve told several of you (parents, players coaches) that forming rankings is the least enjoyable part of my job, because it forces me to organize prospects in a list without a specific need in mind, unlike what a college program does with differing needs from year to year. I do enjoy the positional breakdown lists more, because to me at least, that’s more of an “apples to apples” comparison. The Class of 2025 makes it even tougher, because it is what I like to call “podded” in some ways. For example, there are clusters of prospects within the rankings who are so close, it’s difficult to separate one from another without being a college program and having a specific need in mind. Such is the case at the top of the class, with what I feel like are four #1s. Jaylah Lampley Jaylah Lampley 6'2" | SF Lawrence Central | 2025 State IN , Kira Reynolds Kira Reynolds 6'4" | PF South Bend Washington | 2025 State IN , Maya Makalusky Maya Makalusky 6'3" | SF Hamilton Southeastern | 2025 State IN , and Avery Gordon Avery Gordon 6'6" | C Brownsburg | 2025 State IN are all high-major prospects, all are very talented and skilled, and all are deserving of being at the top of a college’s recruiting list, depending on the biggest position of need for that school.
Case in point, if I was at a high-major school, and I absolutely needed a traditional post, there’s no question Avery Gordon Avery Gordon 6'6" | C Brownsburg | 2025 State IN would be at the top of this list. At 6-6, she is big and strong, but also skilled at her size, and most importantly, she’s highly productive. The most important thing for Avery to be successful, honestly, is to have perimeter players around her who are willing and able to feed her with regularity. She works hard, has solid hands and footwork, and is a dominant force if you let her get her spot when she wants it. She would probably be the first to admit she isn’t an elite sprinter, but what she does do is, she rim-runs with effort and more often than not, beats her matchup because of it. Wing Maya Makalusky Maya Makalusky 6'3" | SF Hamilton Southeastern | 2025 State IN is another prospect who is deserving of mention for that top spot. She had an outstanding year, averaging 26.1 points per game, and she did so by becoming stronger and more aggressive to the basket. At 6-3, she is an elite perimeter shooter who can honestly just shoot over most defenders. However, her willingness to add layers to her game really helped her increase her scoring from 15.4 points per game as a Sophomore. Not only has she gotten more aggressive, but she has worked on her handle and started to play lower. Because she’s from Hamilton Southeastern, she draws a lot of obvious comparisons to Sydney Parrish (Class of 2020, Miss Basketball), but I think former UConn star Katie Lou Samuelson might be even more fitting for Maya.
Kira Reynolds Kira Reynolds 6'4" | PF South Bend Washington | 2025 State IN grew up watching her two older sisters pave the way for her. And what’s unique about her is, she has parts of both of their games in hers. She took a lot of Mila’s (Class of 2022) physicality, size, and toughness on the interior and has become one of the best, if not the best shot-blocker in the state, regardless of class. She has also taken some of Amiyah’s (Class of 2023) ball skill and playmaking ability and shown the potential to be a full-time wing over time. And what’s scary is, Mila is about 6-3, Amiyah is about 6-0, and Kira is taller than both at 6-4. With a little more sense of urgency consistently at both ends of the floor, and she could be in that mold of an Angel Reese (Louisiana State University) with her inside-out versatility. Then there is Jaylah Lampley Jaylah Lampley 6'2" | SF Lawrence Central | 2025 State IN , and while Jaylah is also from a big basketball family, she is actually the oldest and first to come along. Jaylah has been nothing but versatile and productive since arriving at Lawrence Central, and this year she helped the Lady Bears to a Class 4A state championship. What she has done the best over her three seasons in maroon & silver is develop her perimeter jumper to where she is a threat on every catch. On the whole, she shot 29 more 3-pointers this season from last, and at a 5% increase from the outside (31% in 2022-2023 to 36% in 2023-2024). Now, at 6-2 Jaylah still has the size and strength to battle inside, rebound, and defend, but she also has improved her ball skill and can attack from different angles, create offense for others, or get to the rim and finish through contact. Of the four top prospects, she is the one who remains uncommitted, so I’ll be curious to see where she chooses to attend in the future.
Once again, I feel like the next five prospects are in another “pod” of their own; it just depends on positional fit and style of play as to which direction you go with them. Laila Abdurraqib Laila Abdurraqib 5'7" | PG Lawrence Central | 2025 State IN and Addison Baxter Addison Baxter 5'9" | PG Columbia City | 2025 State IN are the two true lead guards of the group, and while they are different in style of play, both are outstanding. With Laila, I think people either fail to remember, or were unaware to begin with, but she was drawing high-major interest/offers before she arrived in high school. However, two knee injuries later and she is just finishing her first full calendar year of health since then. When she was in 8th Grade, she was drawing comparisons to UConn Freshman K.K. Arnold for her leadership and toughness, her athleticism, and her ability to command a team and for doing whatever she can to help them win. You could really see that start to come out of Laila again after Christmas this season. I am thoroughly excited to see what a healthy Spring & Summer can do for her recruiting-wise in front of coaches. Addison absolutely put on a show at the Hall of Fame tournament December 29th in New Castle, when she helped the Eagles defeat Indian Creek and Jennings County. Baxter is incredibly skilled with the ball, she is a capable perimeter shooter, but what she does best is find chinks in the defense and attack her opponents in different ways from game to game. Sometimes, she attacks off the dribble and creates. Other times, she is needed to make shots outside and even play off the ball more. And then there’s the element of running offense and racking up assists to open teammates. She is a complete point guard.
Monique Mitchell Monique Mitchell 5'11" | SF South Bend Washington | 2025 State IN , Meredith Tippner Meredith Tippner 5'10" | SG Noblesville | 2025 State IN , and Ryiah Wilson Ryiah Wilson 5'8" | CG South Bend Washington | 2025 State IN bring major athletic elements to the game each time they take the floor. Mitchell was more of an interior player when I first saw her in 8th grade, but she has done a tremendous job of becoming a knockdown shooting threat from the perimeter. She is also a high-level run-and-jump athlete who plays with a lot of pace and bounce in her game. She was so good last Spring & Summer, that she started to draw high-major interest, including one Big Ten offer I am aware of. Tippner is a multisport athlete who is also one of the top soccer players in the entire country. She helped Noblesville to a 2023 state title with a goal and two assists in the championship game. On the hardwood, she is a North/South fast, incredibly effortful player, who performs with a great deal of toughness. However, she is also skilled and can handle the ball, create for others, or knock down open shots from the perimeter. Wilson is an elite defender, and maybe the best on-ball defender in the state, regardless of class right now. She has speed and athleticism, toughness, and a motor. Offensively, she is more of an attacking style of scorer and has more of that shooting/scoring mindset, which is why I have her as a combo guard. She can slide over and run offense some, she can certainly defend the point position, but I think she’s even more effective offensively playing off the ball. Last, but not least, is Brooke Winchester Brooke Winchester 6'0" | PF Warsaw Community | 2025 State IN . She has risen several spots over the past six months, and a lot of it has to do with her continued skill development. While she has always been a nice mid-post forward with some low-post moves, she is now starting to act as a cutter around the perimeter, using screens to get open, and she was 13-28 from 3-point range over her final seven games this Winter. The added versatility to her game will make her that much more difficult to defend long-term.