One publication dedicated to “celebrating the Latino story in sports” has placed the most coveted high school girls’ basketball recruit at the top of its newest list.
Chavez, a 5-foot-11 senior 5-star recruit from Lubbock’s Monterey High School in Texas, earned the No. 1 spot on Our Esquina’s “Top 25 young Latino athletes to watch in ’25” list, released Jan. 2.
Mentioning her 74,000 Instagram followers while pointing out comparisons some have given Chavez to former Iowa Hawkeyes standout and current WNBA and Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, the publication lauded Chavez for being “a viral sensation and a star on the court, drawing raves from coast to coast.”
Indeed, Chavez has drawn raves. She’s rated a 5-star recruit by 247Sports and ESPN. She’s the top-ranked girls’ high school basketball player in the Class of 2025. She’s drawn interest from about every college that has a basketball program.
She’s also whittled those colleges down to five finalists: South Carolina, Texas, LSU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
Averaging 36 points per game through 28 games this season, Chavez scored 36 points – including five 3-pointers – and pulled down 13 rebounds with six steals, five assists and one block on Jan. 3 in a big win against Palo Duro before exiting the game with 2:52 left and the Plainsmen leading, 81-35.
For the season she is averaging 36 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.9 steals.
Other high school athletes to make the list were Houston North Shore high cornerback Devin Sanchez, Chino (Calif.) high pitcher Seth Hernandez, San Antonio Johnson shortstop Kayson Cunningham, ABC Prep (Albuquerque, N.M.) girls basketball star Bella Hines and Osceola (Kissimmee, Fla.) linebacker Elijah Melendez, among others.
Chavez has scored 994 points this season.
Other Aaliyah Chavez news:
Chasing Chavez: LSU’s Kim Mulkey, No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez share special bond
Decision by No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez has finalists searching for answers
5-star Aaliyah Chavez, nation’s No. 1 girls recruit, moves up all-time list
