Summer Storylines: 2026 Class

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hard to believe it but the 2026 class are already Juniors. They only have one more year of AAU left in their lives and are down to their last two years of high school basketball. Here's a look at some storylines coming out of the Summer for these rising Juniors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">The Race for #1:</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The worst thing for the class of 2026 has been the class of 2025. While 25 is loaded, 26 is just a really solid class with no players who are lightyears ahead of the rest. With [player_tooltip player_id='376789' first='Ashlinn' last='James'] sitting on top of the rankings right now, there is no shortage of competition for the top spot. [player_tooltip player_id='494359' first='Sayler' last='Lowe'], [player_tooltip player_id='376791' first='Brianna' last='Wilkins'], [player_tooltip player_id='376806' first='Teigh' last='Yeast'] and [player_tooltip player_id='376804' first='Anaya' last='Chestnut'] are all in the mix for the top spot before we get to graduation day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">How Good is this Class?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the surface level, this 2026 group looks to be pretty good but not great, overall. Over the next year, I'm most interested to see how many new names may emerge or if there are some players who take their games up a notch. There is no Johnson or Macy at this point but could the overall depth in 2026 be better than in the 25 class? It's possible.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Who Will Break Out?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are a few players who could make big waves in the next 12 months. Look at players like [player_tooltip player_id='647293' first='Logan' last='Kennedy'], [player_tooltip player_id='418066' first='Destiny' last='Scott'], [player_tooltip player_id='724178' first='Haylie' last='Webb'] and [player_tooltip player_id='494367' first='Hadley' last='French'] who could move up from the 15-30 range and crack the top ten. While farther down, [player_tooltip player_id='761880' first='Jaidan' last='Koch'], [player_tooltip player_id='494529' first='Macy' last='Spivey'] and [player_tooltip player_id='502127' first='Katie' last='Mastin'] are capable of elevating their games and making huge moves in the next rankings updates.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->