Top 20 Freshmen

<p>In the final week of January we released our first Class of 2026 player rankings. While the list is not long there are some thrilling prospects already embedded in the Top 20. Read about several of these talented freshmen.</p>   <h2>>11<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1508978' first='Jarron' last='Talley']</strong> (Pope Prep)</p>   <p>Impressive natural strength. Jarron's team is loaded with talent, including <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1336420' first='Fred' last='Bailey']</strong> as the primary scorer and former PrepHoopsTN Freshman MVP <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1560719' first='Trey' last='Pearson']</strong>. Talley is already a threat to scorer at the varsity level, which in itself is a tremendous accomplishment for a freshman. He will do well to focus this off-season on shooting and shooting off-the-dribble. Talley is in an enviable position, that of a top-tier prospect in the 2026 class.</p>   <h2>>12<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1642602' first='Luke' last='Robertson']</strong> (Maryville)</p>   <p>Skilled. Luke is tall for a point guard, though quicker than other tall, young guards. He showed during the PrepHoopsTN Combine (late October) that he can create his own shots or set up teammates. Good effort player. Ideally, Luke will be a knockdown catch-and-shoot guy with elusive dribbling and unmatched court vision. These are all realistic goals considering how advanced he already is in this beautiful game.</p>   <h2>>13<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1760995' first='Ronald' last='Towns'] </strong>(Southwind)</p>   <h2>>14<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1277257' first='Talen' last='Maze']</strong></p>   <p>During the summer of 2022, [player_tooltip player_id='1277257' first='Talen' last='Maze'] dressed and played with BMaze 15u. He was a year younger than his teammates, and frankly not fully caught up physically, which is to be expected. Maze stood approximately 6-foot-3 with impressive natural strength. The team utilized him as a power forward. Power forward is a position that rarely gets offensive touches during the fast-paced AAU weekends. Maze was frequently just helpful as a defensive rebounder. Again, he was largely unable to show off his offensive skills with the older peers dominating the ball. It is difficult to predict Maze's ultimate position, but post player is unlikely. Expect him to naturally improve his agility and speed and then settle in at a high school 2-3.</p>   <h2>>15<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1683902' first='Parker' last='Lane']</strong> (Farragut)</p>   <p>Farragut's guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1683902' first='Parker' last='Lane']</strong> is averaging a startling 12.3 points per game and 3.3 assists per game. Farragut is 16-10 on this the first day of February. Lane shoots a lot of three-pointers (112) and his 34 makes work out to 30%. The freshman looks like a very capable 15u scorer, and depending on which squad he runs with this upcoming summer he might rack up gaudy assist numbers. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/coachtatefhs20/status/1620599250219302913?s=20&t=vwt9bKFQWwsd_fBBYeVTJA </div></figure>   <h2>>16<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown']</strong> (Webb-Bell Buckle)<br>One of the better catch-and-shoot players in middle Tennessee, [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] typically finds shooting windows. Like many freshmen, Brown's scoring burden is small. The team does not need his scoring to operate, but obviously points are welcomed from him. Brown projects as a point guard even though sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1368094' first='Arnett' last='Hayes'] </strong>and sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1498078' first='Jax' last='Howard']</strong> handle the ball-handling duties. Excitingly, Eli will occasionally dribble himself into a three-point attempt with success. As the skill of shooting takes on different levels of maturation, creating high-percentage outside shots after a dribble is so, so tough. [player_tooltip player_id='1578687' first='Eli' last='Brown'] is not steady with that skill just yet, but there have been a few flashes on this.</p>   <h2>>17<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1646372' first='Quez' last='Scott']</strong> (Clarksville Northwest)</p>   <h2>>18<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1671461' first='Ayden' last='Sadler']</strong> (Green Hill)</p>   <h2>>19<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1549167' first='Craig' last='Lewis II']</strong> (Providence Christian Academy)</p>   <p>Hard-driving guard [player_tooltip player_id='1549167' first='Craig' last='Lewis II'] demonstrated an unnatural agility both with and without the basketball in the mid-September PrepHoops 250 Expo. Lewis II is creative, clever.</p>   <h2>>20<</h2>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1591000' first='Monterrio' last='Cox']</strong> (Bartlett)</p>   <p>Up next for the Class of 2026 are their first high school playoff season followed by a 15u AAU summer. The modest number of evaluations done for each of the above players will be augmented significantly in the coming six months.</p>   <p><a href="https://prephoops.com/2023/01/2026-player-rankings-4-takeaways/">Top 10 Analysis </a>by Courtney Smith.</p>

In the final week of January we released our first Class of 2026 player rankings. While the list is not long there are some thrilling prospects already embedded in the Top 20. Read about several of these talented freshmen.