Best High School Girls Basketball Player in Every State 2022: South
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As we continue Stadium Talk's list of the best high school boys and girls basketball players in every state heading into the 2022-23 season, we look at the country's southern region.
There's an unbelievable amount of high school girls basketball talent at the moment in the southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia — including a player who has chosen to stay in her home state for college and might be the nation's top recruit.
Alabama: Reniya Kelly
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High School: Hoover High School (Hoover, Alabama)
Position: Point Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-5
College: North Carolina (committed)
Bottom Line: Reniya Kelly averaged 14.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.8 steals and shot over 41 percent from beyond the 3-point arc as she led Hoover High to the 2022 Class 7A state championship as a junior.
Kelly, who is committed to playing for North Carolina, was also named a MaxPreps Junior All-American, while Hoover finished No. 18 in the final MaxPreps Top 25 national poll.
Arkansas: Chloe Clardy
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High School: Conway High School (Conway, Arkansas)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-10
College: Stanford (committed)
Bottom Line: Conway High's Chloe Cardy was named Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year and Arkansas Maxpreps Player of the Year after she led her school to a 29-2 record and the Class 6A quarterfinals.
Cardy, who is committed to play for Stanford, averaged 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 2.6 assists as a junior and is already a two-time All-State selection and was named a 2022 MaxPreps Junior All-American.
Florida: Taliah Scott
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High School: St. Johns Country Day School (Orange Park, Florida)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-9
College: Arkansas (uncommitted)
Bottom Line: Saint Johns Country Day School guard Taliah Scott's scoring is what grabs headlines — she averaged 31.5 points as a junior in 2021-22 — but the reigning Class 2A Player of the Year is much more than that.
Scott, the No. 11 recruit in the country for the Class of 2023 in ESPN's HoopGurlz rankings, also averaged 6.2 rebounds and led Saint Johns in charges taken and is a tough defender. Scott is committed to play for Arkansas, where she should make an impact immediately.
Georgia: Courtney Ogden
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High School: Westminster School (Atlanta)
Position: Wing
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-11
College: Stanford (committed)
Bottom Line: Westminster School's Courtney Ogden already has her name etched into the record books — she's her school's No. 3 career scorer, No. 2 career rebounder and holds the single-game scoring record for boys and girls with 41 points.
As a junior, Ogden averaged 18.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals and led Westminster to the state semifinals. In the summer of 2022, she earned a spot on the USA U18 National Team and won a gold medal at the 2022 FIBA WU18 Americas Championship. She's committed to playing for Stanford.
Kentucky: Zakiyah Johnson
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High School: Sacred Heart Academy (Louisville, Kentucky)
Position: Guard/Forward
Graduation Year: 2025
Height: 6-foot
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Zakiyah Johnson took high school basketball in Kentucky by storm as a freshman in 2021-22, leading Sacred Heart Academy to a 38-3 record and a state championship on the way to being named Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, Kentucky MaxPreps Player of the Year and MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year.
Johnson averaged 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.9 steals as a freshman and is ranked as the No. 2 overall recruit in the Class of 2025 in the ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings.
Louisiana: Mikaylah Williams
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High School: Parkway High School (Bossier City, Louisiana)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 6-foot-1
College: LSU (committed)
Bottom Line: Parkway High's Mikaylah Williams became the first player from her school named Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year and Louisiana MaxPreps Player of the Year as a junior in 2021-22. She averaged 22.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists, and Parkway finished as the state runner-up in Class 5A.
Williams, who is committed to stay in-state and play for LSU, was also named MVP of the U18 3-on-3 World Cup in Hungary after leading Team USA to a gold medal.
Mississippi: Madison Booker
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High School: Germantown High School (Gluckstadt, Mississippi)
Position: Forward
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 6-foot-1
College: Texas (committed)
Bottom Line: Germantown High's Madison Booker led her school to a 24-7 record and a spot in the Class 6A semifinals as a junior, averaging 16.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals. Booker, who is committed to playing for Texas, is already a two-time Clarion-Ledger All-State selection.
Booker is also already a two-time gold medalist for Team USA, winning at the 2021 FIBA U16 Americas Championship and the 2022 FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup, where she started all six games.
North Carolina: Sarah Strong
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High School: Grace Academy (Stallings, North Carolina)
Position: Forward
Graduation Year: 2024
Height: 6-foot-2
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Grace Academy's Sarah Strong is one of the top prospects in the nation from the Class of 2024, ranked No. 4 overall by ESPN's HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings.
Few players in the country can fill up a stat sheet like Strong, who averaged 25.5 points, 17.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.8 steals and 3.1 blocks as a sophomore in 2021-22 as she led Grace Academy to a 29-1 record and the NCISAA Class 1A state championship. Strong's father, Danny, was a two-year starter at North Carolina State in the mid-1990s.
South Carolina: Milaysia Fulwiley
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High School: Keenan High School (Columbia, South Carolina)
Position: Point Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-6
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Keenan High's Milaysia Fulwiley was named South Carolina MaxPreps Player of the Year after she led her school to a Class 3A state championship in 2021-22 — the third consecutive state title for Keenan. Fulwiley filled up the stat sheet with averages of 29.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 4.6 steals as a junior and is currently ranked as the No. 13 prospect in the Class of 2023 in the ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings.
Fulwiley has played for Keenan's varsity team since the seventh grade — when she won another state championship — and was named the MVP of the SLAM All-Star Event at Rucker Park in 2022.
Tennessee: Jaloni Cambridge
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High School: Ensworth School (Nashville, Tennessee)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2024
Height: 5-foot-6
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Jaloni Cambridge led Ensworth School to a Division II Class AA state championship as a junior. Ensworth finished No. 24 in the MaxPreps Top 25 National Rankings, and Cambridge was named MaxPreps National Sophomore of the Year. Cambridge averaged 17.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 3.1 assists as a junior and ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the nation for the Class of 2024 in the ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings.
One big advantage Cambridge has on the competition is her speed — she finished third in the 200-meter dash at the Division II state championships in 2022.
Texas: Gisella Maul
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High School: Cedar Park High School (Cedar Park, Texas)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-10
College: Texas
Bottom Line: Gisella Maul helped lead Cedar Park High to a 37-0 record and the 2022 Class 5A state championship as well as to the No. 11 spot in the final MaxPreps Top 25 National Rankings.
Maul averaged 25.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.9 steals and shot 50 percent from the field as a junior and became the first Texas Gatorade Player of the Year from Cedar Park as well as being named Texas MaxPreps Player of the Year and a MaxPreps All-American. Cedar Park has now won two consecutive state championships and is 64-1 over the last two seasons.
Virginia: Kymora Johnson
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High School: St. Anne's-Belfield School (Charlottesville, Virginia)
Position: Guard
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-8
College: Virginia (committed)
Bottom Line: Kymora Johnson led St. Anne's Belfield to a Division I state runner-up finish in 2021-22, after she averaged 21.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 4.5 steals on the way to becoming the first player from her school to be named Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year.
Johnson, who was also named Virginia MaxPreps Player of the Year, shot 47.4 percent on 3-pointers and is committed to playing college basketball for Virginia.
West Virginia: Alexis Bordas
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High School: Wheeling Park High School (Wheeling, West Virginia)
Position: Shooting Guard
Graduation Year: 2025
Height: 5-foot-8
College: Uncommitted
Bottom Line: Wheeling Park High's Alexis Bordas established herself as one of the top girls basketball players in West Virginia as a freshman, as she averaged 21.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals and was the only freshman named to the Class 4A All-State team.
The daughter of former Wheeling Central Catholic three-time All-State pick Stacy Contraguerro Bordas, Alexis Bordas made her presence known around the state in the first few months of her prep career when she lit up Parkersburg South for 50 points in December 2021, while Wheeling Park finished 25-5 and made it to the Class 4A state semifinals.
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