Last week kicked off the start of tryouts for the AIA. Many teams probably know most of their varsity teams, but JV and freshmen teams were probably made last week.
Every year I release my “way-too-early Top-75,” which includes 1A-6A teams.
We will slowly reveal the rest of the teams the next two weeks before we head into the start of the season. This year the season starts Wednesday, November 19th, which is 8 days from today.
Make sure to visit our sponsor: Visual Graphx – trusted by Arizona’s top programs to bring their brand to life. Whether it’s locker room and gym visuals or player spotlights, Visual Graphx delivers championship-level design. See the work at visualgraphx.com — because every champion deserves a brand to match.
We move over to the 51-44 teams.
#51 Seton Catholic Sentinels(3A)
Head Coach: Carter Aby
The skinny:
They lost in the 1st round of the 3A playoffs to the team that won it all with Pusch Ridge but they have a lot of top players coming back plus a very good transfer. Fauske will lead the way most nights with his deep shooting. Heim will help when he is eligible. Fauske will be a difference maker in 3A!
They will be led by:
6’1 CG 2026 KJ Fauske
6’2 SG 2028 Ryan Morris
6’4 PF 2028 Ashton Ries
6’2 SF 2026 Damien Howard
Breakout player
6’5 PF 2026 Jackson Heim
#50 Maryvale Panthers(6A)
Head Coach: Jeremy Smith
The skinny:
They lost in overtime of the 6A play-in playoffs last year but have a star AIA player ready to win some games. Stubbs is one of those rare players who can single-handedly carry the team with 30+ points nightly like Uriah Tenette did last year for Prescott.
They will be led by:
5’10 PG 2026 Adrian Stubbs
5’9 PG 2027 Jose Garcia Jr
6’1 CG 2028 Mikel Montgomery
Breakout players
5’9 PG 2029 Santiago Esquivel
6’3 W 2029 Elijah Antoine
6’3 W 2029 Keith Harrison
#49 Ben Franklin Chargers (3A)
Head Coach: Jonny Magnus
The skinny:
They lost in the Final-4 to Palo Verde in 3A by only four points. They do have some good pieces coming back and a breakout player. Speir and Christensen form a tough duo but Sang seems to get better by the week. He grew around three inches and is one of the better stories heading into the AIA season. The trio will win them a lot of games this season.
They will be led by:
6’2 CG 2026 Talan Speir
6’1 PG 2028 Bennett Christensen (Featured Image)
Breakout player
6’4 SF 2026 Ethan Sang
#48 Notre Dame Prep Saints (5A)
Head Coach: Andrew Doss
The skinny:
They lost in te Elite-8 to Millennium (again) and lost some of their top players plus their coach. They also recently lost two talented younger guards but have a nice core of older players with rare legit size with Sobik and Perkins. Experience and good guard play is usually a recipe for success.
They will be led by:
6’8 PF 2026 Ethan Sobik
5’10 PG 2026 Sami Sibai
6’1 PG 2026 Michael Atabala
Breakout player
6’7 PF 2027 Powell Perkins
#47 Verrado Vipers(5A)
Head Coach: Andra Rogers
The skinny:
They won their play-in game vs AZ College Prep and lost to a good 5A team last with Campo Verde. They lost only two good starters and both of them had some size but bring back one of the top scores in all of 5A with Barrett plus have some experience now coming back. If Howard can finally get healthy, they will be even deeper with their guard core of Rhodes and Etheridge.
They will be led by:
6’5 SF 2026 Brayden Barrett
5’11 PG 2026 Tristen Rhodes
5’9 PG 2027 Jorden Etheridge
Breakout players
6’4 SG 2026 Travon Howard
#46 Mountain View Marana Mountain Lions (5A)
Head Coach Clay Wilson
The skinny:
Another sleeper team for me is a Tucson team. Last year they just missed making the playoffs. They added three immediate impact players that will be three of the better players in Tucson. Nunez and Gill have to sit 9 games but then will both breakout for the Tucson team. Anumba moved into the state and will be a huge boost immediately.
They will be led by:
6’6 PF 2026 Mykael Nunez
6’0 PG 2027 Isaiah Gill
Breakout player
6’6 SF 2026 Daniel Anumba
#45 Desert Edge Scorpions (5A)
Head Coach: Cameron Johnson
The skinny:
Last year they just missed making the playoffs but have a lot of youth getting better plus a stud incoming freshman. Coach Johnson’s son is the real deal. He will be given the ball on day one and lead them to the playoffs with a nice young core of Appenzeller, Storkel, Kueth and Morgan. The scary thing is none of them are seniors.
They will be led by:
5’11 PG 2029 CJ Johnson
6’7 PF 2027 Nick Appenzeller
6’3 CG 2028 Mehki Storkel
6’3 SF 2027 Kueth Kueth
Breakout player
6’5 PF 2028 Jaden Morgan
#44 Chaparral Firebirds (5A)
Head Coach: Dan Pererson
The skinny:
They lost in play-in game to Buena but bring back most of their core players plus some are simply getting better. They had a good showing at Section-7 to qualify. Connell, Swenson, Mendoza, Hong and Moser form a good group of guards they can lean on.
They will be led by:
6’2 SG 2026 Cameron Connell
6’0 PG 2027 Chase Swenson
5’10 PG 2027 Brandon Mendoza
6’4 PF 2027 Thomas Nanson
Breakout players
5’9 PG 2028 Jaiden Hong
5’10 PG 2028 Aaron Moser
Leave a Reply