Southwest FL Class of 2026: Ones to Watch

With the 2025-26 High School basketball season quickly approaching, many seniors will be looking to take a major leap for both themselves and their teams for what will be their last season. Let's take a look a host of players who I expect to have strong senior year campaigns.    Since his sophomore season, Elijah Felix has been an extremely impactful player for the Cape Coral Seahawks, and with his senior season quickly approaching, expect much in the same for Felix. As a junior, Felix led his Seahawks team in PPG, APG and SPG, helping to lead Cape Coral to a 21-5 record. On the offensive end, Elijah is a scoring threat who possesses a solid jumper from outside and the athleticism to go finish against anybody at the rim. Felix's wingspan in tandem with his strong defensive instincts also allows him to generate steals and turnovers for his team, granting him the opportunity to make plays in transition, an area that he excels in.     As a junior last season, [player_tooltip player_id='2826528' first='Daniel' last='Rees'] was one of St. John Nuemann's most impactful players. As a floor general, Rees possesses a great vision out of the pick and roll with the ability to hit his centers for pocket passes or his shooters for 3's on the perimeter. Rees also plays the game at his own pace, rarely getting sped up even when faced with heavy ball pressure. As Rees goes into his senior season, look for Daniel to be even more aggressive when it comes to scoring basketball and expect him to propel his Celtics team to even greater heights this season.     Across Southwest Florida, there are few players I can think of who are as underappreciated as Collin Chrzanowski. For the past two seasons, Collin has been able to offer his Gulf Coast High School team valuable minutes with the ability to fulfill a multitude of roles depending on what his team needs. Chrzanowski is relentless when attacking the rim, looking for contact, even against bigger defenders. Collin also carries this mindset when it comes to rebounding the basketball, securing 4.5 rebounds per game last season, 2.0 of which came on the offensive glass. Going into his senior year, be sure to keep an eye out for Collin as he helps do all the little things to propel his Gulf Coast team towards a campaign.     Last season at Seacrest Country Day, [player_tooltip player_id='2831282' first='Ethan' last='Bates'] was a do-it-all player for his Stingray team, coming second in multiple per-game statistical categories, including points (13.9), assists (2.5), blocks (1) and rebounds (5.3). At 6'8, Ethan is a versatile player who utilizes his frame well to score on smaller matchups and footspeed to stay with them on defense. With the senior transferring to Palmetto Ridge for his final season, he is in a great location that will allow him to play his game as more of a wing, while competing on a gritty team that prides itself on defense under coach Solak.     On a Charlotte HS team that went 22-7 and had 6 seniors last season, guard [player_tooltip player_id='1633098' first='Devan' last='Jones'] “DJ”, was still able to crack over 10 minutes per game and contribute to winning at the highest level. With a smooth jump shot, a quick first step and good touch around the rim, DJ has all the tools to be one of the most dangerous scoring threats in all of southwest Florida for his senior season. Aside from scoring, expect Jones to also bring a level of ball security and leadership needed to help his team achieve their expectations of getting to Jacksonville.

With the 2025-26 High School basketball season quickly approaching, many seniors will be looking to take a major leap for both themselves and their teams for what will be their last season. Let's take a look a host of players who I expect to have strong senior year campaigns.