No. 1 ranked WBB prospect Aaliyah Chavez is already a household name in high school basketball. With that chapter now closed, she's set to begin the next one at the college level after committing to the Oklahoma Sooners on Tuesday.
In an interview with ESPN, Aaliyah shared her goal of leaving a lasting legacy by helping to elevate women's basketball. As a Mexican-American, she sees herself not just as a representative of the Hispanic community but as a trailblazer for women's basketball as a whole.
"I don't want to be good for a Mexican," Aaliyah says. "I want to be good all around. That I'm the best. That I'm changing women's basketball."
Chavez ended her high school career with a whopping 4,796 points,1,279 rebounds and 771 assists.
Beyond her incredible level of talent, ESPN recruiting analyst Shane Laflin believes that Aaliyah's focus, determination, competitiveness and preparation are her greatest strengths.
"The things that make her really good are her focus, her determination, her competitiveness, and her preparation," she said. "Her shotmaking is elite."
This season, Aaliyah Chavez led Monterey to their first state championship since 1981. She will look to replicate this success with the Sooners, who will be eager to see her on the court wearing an Oklahoma jersey.
"I realized around eighth grade.": No. 1 ranked WBB prospect on when she realized she could go on to be the best
Five-star prospect Aaliyah Chavez may be the top-ranked high school player now, but she had always known she'd get to this point since eighth grade. Following her commitment announcement, Aaliyah Chavez shared a little bit of her journey to being a basketball player in an interview with ESPN.
When asked when she first knew that she could be the best high school basketball player, she said:
"I think I realized around eighth grade is when I first got ranked on ESPN, so that's when I like started pushing more to get that number one ranking spot and I here we are now." (5:28-5:39)
This season, Aaliyah was also named the Naismith Player of the Year as well as the Gatorade State and National Player of the Year. Fans will get to see her in action again at the McDonald's All-American Games on April 1.