2025 Player Rankings Update: Better Than Your Average

There are a lot of solid basketball prospects throughout the country on both the men's and women's side. In this piece we discuss five players out of the 2025 Class in Iowa, that have demonstrated that they are better than your average prospect the past couple of years while competing on the high school floor. Some of these individuals haven't had as many Varsity chances as other because of their team's roster situation in the past but that should all be changing over this next season.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    [player_tooltip player_id='342167' first='Makenzie' last='Hughes'] of Akron Westfield High School is someone that falls victim to competing within a smaller high school program so she isn't see on a bigger scale too often but trust me, she can compete with some of the best athletes in the state and hold her own at the guard spot. Hughes falls into the category of being both a PG and a SG, mixed with a little bit of a 3 at times. Within a smaller team and program, she has the responsibility to step up and make a play for her squad, no matter the given situation. If you gave Hughes a spot at the next level, she wouldn't disappoint. She is very well rounded and that will translate to the next level. Especially if she gets to compete in smaller doses to start out as she gets acclimated to the collegiate floor.     I've said this a lot lately but North Polk will be on a revenge tour this upcoming 2024-2025 Varsity season, returning most of their prospects from a year ago when they went on their impressive run. One of their guards, who will be called upon to step up as a role player will be [player_tooltip player_id='311384' first='Jada' last='Podey']. Offensively, Podey can get hot off of the catch while shooting it, she is willing to make the extra pass, and she moves well off of the ball. Defensively, she has long arms to stick in front of bigger opponents on a switch or she can stay on someone smaller and stick on them pretty thoroughly around the outside. Don't quote me on this just yet but I think the Comets are going to be my favorite to bring home the 4A title this season once things tip off. If players like Podey do what they are capable of, they will have a better shot than most to hoist the trophy come early 2025.     Out of the 2A Class, [player_tooltip player_id='788527' first='Molly' last='Roling'] of Cascade High School has put up some notable numbers ever since she was a Freshman competing at the Varsity level. Roling is a guard that can score from all three offensive levels but she really thrives going at the basket or attacking the midrange. Defensively, she is scrappy and she competes with a lot of heart. She creates a lot of turnovers in the open court because of her willingness to adapt and her quick thinking within situations. During her 2023-2024 Varsity season, she led her team in scoring with 13 PPG on 40% shooting, while also grabbing 6 RPG and dishing out 4 APG. If she can do anything close to building on this from a year ago, she is going to kill it over this next eight months.     There is going to be a lot of opportunity at Clear Creek Amana High School from the Clippers after coming off of a State Title a year ago. The Clips graduated a good amount of their Varsity production but they also played a solid rotation during their run last season. Meaning that they will return a good amount of prospects, who could step into a starting role if need be. One of their Forwards, who could get more of a shot is [player_tooltip player_id='908852' first='Kelsey' last='Leathers']. Leathers isn't going to kill you with 30 a game but she is going to hold her own and put up better numbers than most if she were to play a whole contest. I'm not sure where she will fall within her team's rotation but there is going to be some opportunity there so it'll be interesting to see who seizes those chances.     Nodaway Valley will be an interesting product this Winter. They are well coached with a star in the making as their PG in [player_tooltip player_id='510277' first='Izzy' last='Eisbach'] but others will have to step up if they want to have success as a team. One of those players being Senior CG, [player_tooltip player_id='842594' first='Maddie' last='Weston']. Weston has been a piece to her team's success the past three years at the Varsity level and they need her more than ever this next eight months. With Eisbach getting all of the opposing team's attention, it's going to open up major holes for the teammates like Weston to score and produce at higher rates than normal. She has demonstrated that she is definitely capable of stepping up and making this her best season to date.

There are a lot of solid basketball prospects throughout the country on both the men's and women's side. In this piece we discuss five players out of the 2025 Class in Iowa, that have demonstrated that they are better than your average prospect the past couple of years while competing on the high school floor. Some of these individuals haven't had as many Varsity chances as other because of their team's roster situation in the past but that should all be changing over this next season.