Season Preview: 2026 Forwards to Watch

Basketball nowadays is a year-round sport. And in states such as ours that are especially passionate about the game, that can particularly be the case.    The end of the regular season and state tournaments transitions into AAU (including our Prep Girls Hoops Circuit. Then AAU transitions into late summer and early autumn camps (like our Freshman and Sophomore ID camps plus The Expo). Then, before we know it, the season begins again.    The 2024-25 regular season will soon commence across North Carolina with every other team wanting to be where Cherokee, North Pitt, West Rowan and Rolesville were last season – at the top of their respective class mountains in March.    As our preview of the upcoming season continues, we turn our attention from the backcourt to the frontcourt – junior forwards to be precise.    The top-ranked three forward among juniors, Bryant has had quite the high school career and AAU career. Said time on the club ranks has seen her run with [program_tooltip program_id='714756' first='Carolina' last='All-Stars'] and most recently with Elevate Elite. She has hooped at the varsity level since she was in the eighth grade and is preparing for her junior season with Durham-based NC GBB Academy's national team. It was last calendar year when the collegiate offers began coming in. Bryant has drawn interest from UNC-Greensboro, Longwood, Holy Cross, Army and UMBC. Prior to arriving on the scene at NC GBB, she was at Southeast Guilford.      Being the second-ranked three forward among 2026s is not shabby either – especially in a state with as deep a talent pool (and a passion for basketball) as North Carolina. Evans is a two-sport athlete who has also partaken in volleyball throughout her athletic career. A product of the CP3 EYBL AAU program, she has garnered interest from North Carolina A&T, Elon, UNC-Greensboro and Texas Southern. Evans was a key piece in a winning 3A South Central formula last season. The Falcons finished with a record of 28-3 plus a perfect 12-0 mark in its Big Carolina conference. She averaged a double-double last season of 14.5 points and 12 rebounds in 31 games – plus 2.4 steals.      North is not only the last name of this noteworthy prospect out of the Charlotte metropolitan area, it also describes the trajectory of her game and profile. Her career has included stints with Lake Norman as well as with [program_tooltip program_id='713552' first='1' last='of 1'] Prep. North has garnered interest from UMBC as well as from Appalachian State. She stands at an even six feet and has ran on the club circuit with [program_tooltip program_id='713558' first='Lady' last='Attack Elite']. In addition to utilizing her height to her advantage, it is complimented by what she can do with her length. One can particularly see why she is garnering Division I interest when seeing what she gets accomplished in the painted area.      Another multi-sport forward who has experience in volleyball in addition to hoops. Last season at 3A Northwest Cabarrus she averaged 11.7 points, six rebounds and 2.9 steals a game in the 27 contests she played for the Trojans. She led Northwest Cabarrus to a 20-7 record and a 13-3 mark in its South Piedmont Conference. After spending a bit of time wearing the [program_tooltip program_id='713552' first='1' last='of 1'] Prep uniform, Ortscheid will indeed return to the Trojans for 2024-25. The highly talented 5-foot-11 [program_tooltip program_id='713558' first='Lady' last='Attack Elite'] standout landed an offer from Davis & Elkins at the beginning of the calendar year and has since added one from Barton College as of August.

Basketball nowadays is a year-round sport. And in states such as ours that are especially passionate about the game, that can particularly be the case.