Aaliyah Crump
Much is made of recognition in today’s game, especially rankings. There are a plethora of sources out there with varying levels of credibility and transparency. With that we’ve decided to launch the consensus top 25 for each graduating class, starting with the current senior class (2025).
HOW IT IS DETERMINED
To reach the consensus top 25 we’re utilizing the three most established companies – 247Sports.com, ESPN HoopGurlz and ProspectsNation.com. The emphasis is that these groups are known for being in the gym across the different circuits and at major events. If you’re not consistently in the gym it’s hard to justify using an opinion.
ESPN’s rankings date back to 2008 after acquiring HoopGurlz.com. (Note: PN Managing Editor was one of the original co-founders of HoopGurlz from 2005-2008 and was the Director of Scouting for ESPN rankings from 2008-2012). The current group is led by the trio of Shane Lafflin, KP Pannell and Jason Key. In terms of girls basketball coverage the company has been in the space the longest. ESPN uses its rankings to support broadcasts and other digital content.
In the rankings there are a handful of things that are considered and deliberated: skill, athleticism, size, production and statistics, impact on winning now and at the next level, projection in regards to all of the above, consistency, and the current impact on the game within the given class as compared only to peers (regardless of projected potential). There is a “total résumé” aspect to rankings of players in a given class for that snapshot in time. – Shane Lafflin (ESPN.com)
247Sports.com is CBS Sports online offering for college team and recruiting coverage. It’s had some changes over the years with acquisitions. The women’s basketball rankings and content were relaunched in Spring of 2023 and are led by Brandon Clay. The network’s focus is more to individual college fanbases through its numerous school-specific sites.
My evaluations and rankings for 247Sports are based on current production and future potential. I weigh more heavily on what a player is capable of doing on the day they leave high school basketball. I consider that their college floor. If there was not marked improvement from that day until their last day of college, how productive would they be at the college level? Over 23 years, I’ve found that a select few prospects have found a noticeably higher ceiling in college that outperforms their high school grouping. – Brandon Clay (247Sports.com)
ProspectsNation.com has been covering the women’s game since 2012. It was created by the original HoopGurlz (ESPN) staff to continue the mission as an independent voice for the sport. As managing editor I’ve brought the experiences after more than two decades in the space, having been published on Fox Sports, Scout.com, ESPN and the original Hoopgurlz.com independent site. The site is player-focused and evaluation-oriented currently.
ProspectsNation.com rankings lean towards college projection though current productivity is still a major contributor. A matchup between higher level opposition will always weigh more than production amassed against lesser competition. In 2022 we pivoted our rankings to include up to 150 players per class but only assigning numbers to the point there is notable differences in projected output at the next level. We’re slower on the underclass rankings than some others as we want to document not just body of work but also progression in that time. – Chris Hansen (ProspectsNation.com)
To Consensus is an average of the three entities rankings. The main requirement is that all three outlets have a player ranked to be eligible. From there it is simple math, averaging the overall ranking assigned for each player. In the event players are tied the lowest ranking for tied players is removed and the average recalculated.
THE 2025 CONSENSUS Top 25
There was no disagreement on the top player in the class and Aaliyah Chavez of Lubbock, Texas, swept all three outlets. There’s very little deviation among the top four but then the numbers start to create wider gaps and thus the need for a consensus offering.
Aaliyah Crump of Minnetonka, Minnesota, lands at No. 5, which is where both 247Sports and ESPN have her ranked. ZaKiyah Johnson of Louisville, Kentucky, comes in at a consensus 9th overall with ProspectsNation.com having her higher than both ESPN and 247Sports.
The biggest differences across the three groups are Addie Deal, the Iowa Commit from Irvine, California, and Jaida Civil, the Tennessee commit from Vero Beach, Florida. ESPN has both lower than PN and 247Sports. Deal’s highest ranking comes from ProspectsNation.com at No. 8, where Civil’s comes from 247Sports at No. 13. Neither gets dropped from the top 25 discussion with the Consensus process, which is similar to how a lot of the most prestigious awards platforms operate to set their voting groups.
The differing ranks are due to a lot of factors such as when and where the players were seen, what attributes each group puts emphasis on and who the opposition was during those evaluations. The process is inherently difficult to get right, thus the need for a Consensus to merge all the data in a transparent way. Rankings change multiple times throughout the process and the 2025 Consensus Top 25 will get one more revision in the Spring when all three entities update their rankings.
The other piece the combining of the rankings does is address the star ratings and use of the term “five-star” prospect. Each group uses different rating systems but uses the 5-star system as its baseline. ESPN and 247Sports uses numerical ratings up to 100 along with the stars while ProspectsNation.com uses stars in half-star increments.
Looking across all three platforms and you find 10 consensus 5-star prospects, a distinct group that earned a nod from each, even with their different criteria. The 10 Consensus 5-star players in 2025 are Chavez, Sienna Betts of Centennial, Colorado, Jasmine Davidson of Clackamas, Oregon, Agot Makeer of Ontario, Canada, Crump, Hailee Swain of Marietta, Georgia, Emilee Skinner of Millville, Utah, Divine Bourrage of Davenport, Iowa, Deniya Prawl of Ontario, Canada, and Deal.
247Sports.com – Top 80 – 2025
ESPN.com – Top 100 – 2025
ProspectsNation.com – ELITE 150 – 2025
See the full CONSENSUS TOP 25
