Class of 2025 Rankings: Top 5, October 2023
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There’s a new name at the top of the Oklahoma Class of 2025 rankings. Two of the top five are small town gems who have shined on bigger stages, along with an high upside lead guard who’s bouncing back from…
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Continue ReadingThere’s a new name at the top of the Oklahoma Class of 2025 rankings. Two of the top five are small town gems who have shined on bigger stages, along with an high upside lead guard who’s bouncing back from injury and a floor general who elevates his teammates. While part of the shake up at the top shot is due to Carlsheon Young moving to Huntington Prep in West Virginia, the new name at the top has made one of the biggest leaps of any prospect in Oklahoma.
Furnish breaks into the top five of the rankings because of the consistency of his production, no matter the level of competition. Watching the evolution of Furnish’s games throughout the multi-month grind that is the Nike EYBL was a positive sign when projecting the lead guard to being a D1 quality player. After excelling as a set up man and leading his squad to a weekend championship in April, Furnish and by an extension his team hit a bit of a lull in May. A factor in that lull, the scouting report was out on Furnish. At the time he was a pass first, smaller guard with questions on if he could score at the national level.
In July, the cerebral lead guard made that scouting report out dated. He hit big threes, often from multiple steps behind the line, and found ways to survive among the trees when driving. All way retaining his trade mark vision and decision making. His work in ball screens from feeding roll men to finding popping shooters is very advanced. He made clutch plays throughout Team Griffin’s 16U squad run to the Final Four of the Peach Jam. The deepest run the program has made since they won the 16U championship in 2019.
Guards that are under 6 foot often have to be perfect to earn D1 opportunities, Furnish is trending to being perfect and should see an increase in opportunities from D1 programs.
The steady rise continues for the small town gem who has starting to capitalize on his natural gifts to become one of the top players in Oklahoma. While he’s still chasing the top spot and even bigger college offers, along with long term success, Terrell will now have more of a target on his back.
The signs point to him making another leap this winter, but sometimes the leap from “good to great” can be tougher than from “average to good”. Especially for post players who can become isolated on the offensive end. Thankfully for Terrell he does have quality guard play as Pocola looks to make another appearance in Oklahoma City for the 2A State Tournament.
Another reason to bet on Terrell going from “good to great”, his outstanding motor. It’s apparent in the way he rebounds, protects the rim and runs the floor hard in transition. If he starts to become a powerful finisher around the rim, players in eastern Oklahoma and all over the state should be on the lookout for “head tap” slams. Mix in promising touch in the mid-range and on post ups, and Terrell looks poised to continue to rise a junior.
Highlights
Howell remains a strong bet on upside following his impressive run to the end the season as Broken Arrow finished runner ups in Class 6A. After a knee surgery wiped out his spring and summer, he’s sure to be eager to return to the court this winter for the Tigers. In state programs, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Oral Roberts have all been keeping tabs on the high ceiling prospect as workouts and practices have started to unfold this fall. He’s the type of prospect who immediately passes the eye test thanks to great size for a lead guard, ease of movement and flashes of good court awareness.
To close out the season, he was even shooting it better from distance. Which is a good sign as he’s expected to take on a bigger scoring load as the only returning starter from last year’s team. Howell’s return to the court will be one of the top stories this winter, as he looks to elevate his personal game and keep Broken Arrow a contender for the State Tournament.
Often in Oklahoma when prospects can pick between football or basketball, football wins out. Nickson is a prospect with huge offers in football, but basketball is his first love. And the Weatherford Eagle backs up that love for hoops with a skilled game that mixes well with his powerful frame. While he can play bully ball on post up mismatches and physical drives to the hoops, he has a silky jumper in the mid-range and is an overall incredibly efficient scorer. At the rim he’s an explosive leaper, which allows him to rebound at a high rate, block shots and often put the opposition threw the rim with rim rattling dunks.
The junior wing already has 1,000 career points (he crossed the 1,000 point mark in a game where he doubled up the opponent’s point total, IYKYK), and led Weatherford to a Class 4A runner up finish this past year. He followed that up by anchoring a Team Griffin run to the final four of Nike’s E16 Division at Peach Jam. Along the way, he’s earned basketball offers from UT Arlington, Tulsa and Oral Roberts. With basketball as his first love, that offer list should continue to grow as Nickson adds even more accomplishments to his resume.
In early March, Putnam City West’ quest for another Class 6A State Tournament appearance came to a bitter ending in Area. At that time Rayfield was one of the top upside players in this class, but still had a lot question marks in his game. Especially when it came to translating his immense potential into production. That loss was a big example of the question marks surrounding him, as he was a half a foot taller than any opponent, but his impact down the stretch in that contested was muted.
It appears that the loss, was part of a catalyst that has changed the scouting report on Oklahoma’s top junior. Now there’s no questions when it comes to the impact that the 6 foot 8 stretch forward with a huge wingspan makes. He’s made huge strides, especially on the defensive end where he’s embraced his natural gifts and become a high level rebounder and rim protector. Offensively, he’s finding the right mix of post ups, face up driving, and draining three pointers. Power 5 offers have rolled in for Rayfield, and the sky is the limit for the Putnam City West Patriot who seems to have fallen in love with the process of getting better and competing.