With the 2025-26 high school girls basketball season coming to a fever pitch, the National Player of the Year conversation is heating up.
Some key states still have a lot of postseason basketball left to be played, and then it’s time for Chipotle Nationals and The Throne. A lot can change in the coming month or so, and it’s not even impossible that candidates outside of this list find their way back into consideration. But as it currently stands, the Player of the Year race has been narrowed down to a small handful of names listed below in alphabetical order.
National Player of the Year watchlist
Brihanna Crittendon, F, Riverdale Ridge (CO), 6-3 – Sr. (Texas)
A 5-star matchup nightmare and Colorado’s all-time leading scorer at 6-foot-3 with three-level scoring skills and the ability to create her own shot. Crittendon has Riverdale Ridge at 20-3 with a chance at a Colorado 6A state title with 28.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 3.4 steals per game shooting 56% overall, 61% inside the arc, and 37% from deep.
Maddyn Greenway, G, Providence Academy (CA), 5-8 – Sr. (Kentucky)
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Minnesota’s all-time leader in points (5,394) and assists (1,204), and a 5-star Kentucky commit. Greenway is averaging career-highs of 36.2 points, 8.7 assists, and 6.2 steals per game to go with 6.7 rebounds on 47% shooting for one of the nation’s better teams.
Saniyah Hall, G, SPIRE Academy National (OH), 6-1 – Sr. (USC)
Hall, the top-ranked senior in the country and reigning National Junior of the Year, has been as good as ever in her lone year at nationally ranked SPIRE. She was averaging 26 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists a game on 42% 3FG late in SPIRE’s regular season according to MaxPreps and can guard every position at the high school level.
Jenica Lewis, G, Johnston (IA), 5-10 – Sr. (Notre Dame)
With No. 10 Johnston on the brink of its third consecutive undefeated campaign, the 4-star Notre Dame commit and top-30 senior is having easily her best season yet. Lewis is averaging 20.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks with 71 made threes while shooting 34.6% from downtown and 85.6% on free throws.
Addy Nyemchek, G/F, Red Bank Catholic (NJ), 6-1 – Sr. (Indiana)
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A national recruit since early in her high school career, Nyemchek has found another gear as a senior to earn McDonald’s All-American status and propel the Caseys to a No. 13 ranking in the country. She’s averaging 18.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.9 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game on 47% shooting
Micah Ojo, G/F, Princess Anne (VA), 6-1 – Jr.
As a sophomore, Ojo averaged 18.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.0 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game for Virginia’s top team and undefeated VHSL champion, and she’s putting up similar numbers in 2025-26 with Princess Anne still undefeated and on the cusp of national title consideration. Ojo is a defensive Swiss Army knife and a top-10 recruit in the Class of 2027 with offers including Baylor.
Jerzy Robinson, G/F, Sierra Canyon (CA), 6-1 – Sr. (South Carolina)
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After averaging 27 points and 10 rebounds per game as a junior, Robinson missed the first few weeks of the 2025-26 season and eased her way back in from a minutes standpoint. But the 5-star senior and consensus top-five recruit in the Class of 2026 has been as good as ever since getting back to 100%, including in Sierra Canyon’s biggest games. Robinson had 24 points and 12 rebounds in Sierra Canyon’s 66-62 CIF-SS Open Division semifinals win against No. 7 Etiwanda and dropped 33 points and 12 points in a 70-60 loss to No. 8 Long Island Lutheran.
Qandace Samuels, G/F, Bishop McNamara (MD), 6-2 – Jr.
Samuels is one of the heaviest favorites nearing the end of the season with her top-ranked Mustangs possibly closing in on a national title. Per MaxPreps, she was averaging 22.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.9 steals per game around midseason against one of high school basketball’s hardest schedules. Samuels is also a particularly versatile on-ball defender who’s played multiple roles on that end to help anchor the country’s top defense. The 5-star wing is “only” ranked 14th and 13th in her class by ESPN and 247Sports, respectively, and might be in line for a stock boost when the dust settles from her huge junior season.
Kaleena Smith, G, Ontario Christian (CA), 5-6 – Jr.
The No. 1 player in the Class of 2027, Smith was unanimously named National Freshman of the Year and Sophomore of the Year leading up to 2025-26 but has been markedly better as a junior. She’s averaging 32.5 points, 7.1 assists and 4.9 steals a game with career-best marks in nearly every measure of shooting efficiency at a staggering 55/40/90 while playing a national schedule for the second-ranked team in the country, which is one win away from repeating as CIF-Southern Section Open Division champion. If Ontario Christian manages to win the national title, it’s hard to imagine Smith isn’t the National Player of the Year with those numbers.
Aaliah “Lizzy” Spaight, G, Bishop Gorman (NV), 5-7 – Sr. (Texas)
Spaight, the nation’s No. 20 senior, already put the finishing touches on her monster senior campaign by leading nationally ranked Bishop Gorman to an NIAA 5A state title for the second time in three years. She averaged 19.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 3.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks as a junior and reportedly averaged career-highs across the board in 2025-26. That included 23 points in the state finals to defeat reigning champion Democracy Prep Agassi Campus 79-76.
Ivanna Wilson-Manyacka, G/F, Bullis (MD), 6-2 – Jr.
The No. 2 player in the Class of 2027 has been arguably the nation’s most complete statistical contributor among high school’s upper ranks this season. Wilson-Manyacka is efficiently averaging 23 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.3 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game against a grueling schedule, all of which are career-highs and team-highs for No. 18 Bullis. She also averages 1.6 assists and has made a team-best 36 three-pointers.
McKenna Woliczko, F/C, Archbishop Mitty (CA), 6-2 – Sr. (Iowa)
Photo by Aaron Woliczko
The sixth-ranked player in the Class of 2026 was the National Player of the Year favorite halfway through 2024-25 before going down with a torn ACL, and she’s been back like she never left since returning in early January. Woliczko is putting up 22.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game on whopping 74/81/38 shooting splits, and she’s one of the top on-ball defenders in the country too for No. 4 Mitty.
