The five-star recruit from Monterey High School, Aaliyah Chavez, is one of the best women's high school players in the country. A lot of top schools are in contention to acquire the point guard, but Chavez has shortlisted her top-10 schools and will decide among them.
Arizona, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA and Texas Tech made the five-star prospect's list of top-10.
Aaliyah Chavez is ranked no.1 nationally and has an HS Women's Basketball NIL rank of 4, as per On3. The five-star recruit averaged 30 points on 55.9% shooting. She made 140 3-pointers at 47.9% and posted 7.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.1 steals as a sophomore in high school.
Aaliyah Chavez College offers
#10 Tennessee
Tennessee is one of the colleges shortlisted by the five-star point guard. Although the current Tennessee roster consists of a lot of guards, Aaliyah Chavez's inclusion will only give a huge boost to the program. She spoke about Tennessee and their recruiting process.
"I just started talking to the new coach," the 5-foot-9 point guard said, as per On3. "I knew the old coach very well, but the new coach is kind of different… I love their recruiting and they talk to me almost every day too."
#9 UCLA
Another school in contention to acquire Chavez is UCLA. She is yet to visit the school, but the no.1 recruit likes the way the program plays basketball. She also said that the program is leaving no stone unturned in recruiting her.
UCLA will benefit from acquiring the five-star recruit from Texas. They went 13-5 in their conference last season and 27-7 overall.
#8 Ohio State
Ohio State approached Chavez very early in her high school career. The Buckeyes already have the five-star point guard Jaloni Cambridge on their roster and adding Chavez will strengthen their squad even further.
"I got recruited by Ohio State very young in eighth grade, so I’m definitely just keeping them in the mix because I do talk to them a lot still and they have a great program," Chavez told On3 in the same interview. "They’re high energy every time I talk to them and there’s no low energy with them."
#7 Arizona
Arizona's head coach, Adia Burns, has received a lot of praise from the five-star recruit. She believes in the coach's direction and has Arizona on her list majorly because of the program's head coach.
Arizona had a poor 2023 season, winning just 7 of their 18 conference games and going 18-16 overall. Acquiring Chavez will improve their chances of having a better outing next season.
#6 USC
USC is another school whose coaching staff has impressed the guard from Lubbock, Texas. Although she hasn't talked to the program for a while, she believes they have great energy about them.
"When I first talked to this coaching staff, I liked how their energy was," the five-star recruit said. "It was very high. I haven’t talked to them in a while, though. They have a good program, and I like the way they play."
#5 Texas
The Texas Longhorns were one of the first schools to extend an offer to the Texan. The program is also close to Aaliyah Chavez's home, so there will be a familiar feeling about them. Texas has a 3.5% chance of landing the five-star recruit, as per On3.
In the Longhorns' final season in the Big 12, they won 14 of their 18 conference games and went 33-5 overall.
#4 South Carolina
South Carolina is also in the running to sign Chavez. The five-star prospect always had the program on her list because of their consistently high ranking in the nation. They also have a 3.5% chance of signing the prodigy, as per On3.
South Carolina went undefeated during their 2023-24 campaign and were the best team in the SEC. They captured their third national title in the history of the program.
#3 Oklahoma
Oklahoma is also on Aaliyah Chavez's shortlist. They are close to home for the point guard and she loves the school's head coach, Jennie Baranczyk. Oklahoma has a 4.3% chance of landing her.
"It’s not too far from home and I love coach Jennie [Baranczyk]," Chavez said. "She’s the head coach that I usually talk to. She’s very young, and I like how they just play basketball. They don’t try to force anything – no sets. They just go out there and play basketball."
#2 Texas Tech
Another program on her shortlist is her hometown school, Texas Tech. They have a pretty good chance of acquiring the point guard. According to On3, Texas Tech has a 5.0% chance of landing Chavez.
Texas Tech did not have a great season last year. They finished their campaign with a 5-13 record in the conference and 17-16 overall.
#1 LSU
LSU is the favorite to acquire Aaliyah Chavez, as per On3's prediction model. They have a massive 62.4% chance of landing the five-star recruit. Chavez says she would love to join a winning program.
"They’ve recruited me very well. I think I talk to at least an assistant coach every day. They definitely talk to my parents a lot. They’re also a winning program, and I would love to win."
LSU finished the 2023-24 season with a 13-3 record in the conference and a 31-6 record overall. Clearly, LSU are the frontrunners for recruiting the point guard. However, until the final decision is made, nothing is certain.