SC's 2028 Rankings: Forwards and Centers To Watch

We are roughly a month-plus into this year's travel basketball season with the first live period having been completed.    As April transitions to May, we at Prep Girls Hoops decided it was an ideal time to update our rankings of South Carolina's 2028 class. These rankings are based, in large part, on what happened back in late February and March during state championship season.    It will not be long before we use the phrase “rising junior” to describe a prospect that is part of the 2028 class. There were a number of forwards and centers that are part of that class that made jumps in our latest 2028 rankings.     Burgess is one of the more intriguing prospects from the 2028 class considering she can find time in a team's lineup as either a small forward or in the backcourt as a two guard. The Hurricanes of 4A Wren put together another winning season in the second campaign of the Samantha Camp era in large part thanks to Burgess' heroics. Burgess would play in all 28 games this past season for a Hurricanes assembling that finished with a 16-12 record. She averaged 15.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.5 steals per contest. Following a pair of seasons in the 4A ranks, Wren will return to 3A in 2026-27 – the same 3A where the Hurricanes recently won back-to-back Upper State championships.     Boatwright would right Ashley Ridge's ship all 2025-26 long as the Swamp Foxes season would include a region championship in addition to a 5A Division 1 tournament run to the Lower State semifinals. She would average 9.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per contest for Ashley Ridge this past season. With the 2025-26 campaign in the rear view mirror, Boatwright is now running with [program_tooltip program_id='988463' first='Mosch' last='Ball'] on the AAU circuit. She participated with [program_tooltip program_id='988463' first='Mosch' last='Ball'] last month at the Prep Girls Hoops Circuit's Southeast Kickoff event in Hickory, North Carolina and will take to the court next in mid-May at the Select Events Showcase in Atlantic City.     The Blue Devils of 4A Dreher may have had one of the more underwhelming seasons across the Palmetto State, but the play of Breland was anything but underwhelming. Breland, who has played in the high school varsity ranks since her middle school days, put together a 2025-26 campaign for the Blue Devils where she played in all but one of Dreher's 23 contests. Breland was not only a double-double possibility on a game-by-game basis, but she averaged a double-double this past season to the tune of 13.4 points and 11.7 rebounds in addition to 1.1 steals per game. She was one of six sophomores on last season's Blue Devils team.     Rivers is a multi-sport athlete who has also excelled as a volleyball standout in addition to what she gets accomplished on the basketball hardwood. Chesterfield – one of the younger teams across the state this past season – got the bulk of its production from sophomores in 2025-26. Rivers was one of those as she would proudly sport the Rams' blue and gold hues in 25 of the team's 27 contests this past season. Rivers would nearly average a double-double with 14.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, a team-leading 3.5 assists, 2.8 steals and a team-leading 1.9 blocks per matchup in 2025-26.     After a pair of seasons competing up in the 2A ranks, the latest round of reclassification will see the Bulldogs of Burke return to the 1A realm beginning in 2026-27. Legare had a 2025-26 season that saw her play in all 28 of Burke's contests. Legare would average 7.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals on a Bulldogs team whose nucleus was comprised of sophomores. She was one of three 2028s on this past season's very young Burke assembling. Legare's travel career includes a stint with Lowcountry Premier. The Bulldogs finished 16-9 in its most recent season as a 1A combatant and are only graduating three seniors from its 2025-26 squad.     Young is another that whose athletic career has included playing both volleyball and basketball. When one plays off the grid as Young does at 1A Ridge Spring-Monetta, it can be difficult to garner much attention for one's play, but she is more than deserving of it. The walking double-double that is young would average such in the 21 contests that she played this past season for the Trojans. Young would average 12.5 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per contest. She was part of a winning formula for Ridge Spring-Monetta that has led to the team putting together back-to-back double-digit winning campaigns for the first time since 2015-16 and 2016-17.     The Panthers of 5A Division 1 Carolina Forest may not have had the season they had in 2024-25 when they went 25-4, but a 16-7 showing still will earn a team a distinction of being one of the tougher statewide outs. Floyd's play aided the Panthers' cause greatly as she would play in all 23 contests in 2025-26 for Carolina Forest. She would average 12.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest. One can expect Floyd to be the featured name for Carolina Forest the next couple of seasons as long as she continues to wear its black and burgundy hues. Floyd was one of four from the class of 2028 on this past season's Panthers team.     When one has worn the [program_tooltip program_id='783909' first='Palmetto' last='76ers/A'ja Wilson Elite'] uniform as Glenn has done throughout her AAU career, one can expect that individual to be among the top prospects in South Carolina. Glenn followed up what was a solid freshman season with 4A Lakewood with an improved campaign for the Gators. She would compete in 14 games this past season for Lakewood and averaged 9.4 points per contest. Glenn not only was one of six sophomores for this past season's Gators assembling but she was also one of three team co-captains. She was one of the taller participants of last season's Lakewood team as a frontcourt stalwart.     A difficult task awaited McClure and her Dorchester Academy assembling as they entered its 2A SCISA championship clash at the Sumter County Civic Center. That task was dethroning a Cross Schools assembling that had departed from Sumter the last two occasions with state hardware. The Raiders needed overtime in order to dethrone the Stingrays, but the 13 points that were placed on the scoreboard courtesy of McClure helped Dorchester Academy to state euphoria. McClure also earned All-Tournament honors. She is a multi-sport athlete who has also excelled as a softball standout and was one of three sophomores on this past season's Raiders team coached by Callie McClure.

We are roughly a month-plus into this year's travel basketball season with the first live period having been completed.