New Guards to the 2025 Rankings – Big Schools

Prep Hoops Staff

September 12, 2023 @ 10:13 AM

We added 16 players to the 2025 rankings, so to cover them all, we broke them into three groups: Big school guards, big school forwards/centers, and small school players (everyone in the 3A class and lower).   The guard group consists of shooters and scorers, ball handlers and distributors and physical attackers of the bucket. Here are the five guards added to the 2025 rankings:   46 – [player_tooltip player_id='1624999' first='Phillip' last='Moore'], 5-foot-11 guard, 2025, Piper (pictured):   Moore, called PJ most of the time, was part of a youth movement at Piper last year, getting a lot of playing time as a sophomore. He's strong and physical and uses his body well. He is a pass-first ballhandler who likes to direct traffic and get the ball into the paint to create shot opportunities. He plays with a calmness and has good vision. His shooting and scoring numbers should improve as a junior. There is a lot of talent around him, so watch for 3 assists per game to go up.   53 – [player_tooltip player_id='2169828' first='Eli' last='Benning'], 6-foot guard, 2025 Wichita Northwest:   Another pass-first point guard, Benning ran the show for the Grizzlies last year, allowing all-state guard Tasean Williams to play off the ball or focus on getting into positions to score. He is aggressive with the ball, particularly making some passes with a high degree of difficulty. Still, he keeps the number of turnovers down. He is long and athletic, giving a tough matchup to smaller guards. He didn't score a lot as a sophomore but turned in several double-digit games late in the season.   63 – [player_tooltip player_id='2169833' first='Kaden' last='Ballard'], 5-foot-11 guard, 2025, Washburn Rural:   Like his backcourt mate [player_tooltip player_id='1962887' first='Amare' last='Jones'], Ballard worked his way into more and more playing time and responsibility as last season went along. He impressed with his ball handling and ability to penetrate and get shots in the midrange. But what really stood out in summer action was his ability to hit from deep. He's got picture-perfect form and shot the lights out with his MOKAN team. He didn't always score a lot, but he had double digits against state-bound Manhattan, Blue Valley and Derby.   65 – [player_tooltip player_id='1624970' first='Carter' last='Peintner'], 6-foot-2 guard, 2025, Cheney:   A bit of a tweener, Peintner can be viewed as a shooting guard, or a forward. He's adept at attacking from the wing or along the baseline, using the dribble to get into the paint to use a jump stop to create space for midrange jumpers. He can get to the goal and play through contact. He's a strong, physical player who can also make an impact from behind the arc. He is part of a talented group returning for Cheney.   66 – [player_tooltip player_id='2169844' first='Jack' last='Ulwelling'], 5-foot-10 guard, 2025, Derby:   Even with a bunch of talented guards in the fold at Derby last year, Ulwelling carved out a role and was an important part of the state tournament run. In fact, you could argue that Derby doesn't make the tournament without Ulwelling, He hit the buzzer beater to advance past Washburn Rural in the substate final. He's one of the state's best 3-point shooters, but he's more than just a shooter. He brought a ton of defensive energy off the bench last year. He impressed this summer as a feisty gamer who can handle the ball and get it to teammates in good spots.

We added 16 players to the 2025 rankings, so to cover them all, we broke them into three groups: Big school guards, big school forwards/centers, and small school players (everyone in the 3A class and lower).