Connect with us

Sports

247Sports Rankings Update: Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa sit at the top of high school hoops – 247Sports

Published

on

The updated national basketball rankings from 247Sports are now live in both the classes of 2024 and 2025. We have also debuted the national rankings for the class of 2026.
These rankings follow months of traveling the country watching various summer grassroots circuits and other events that have taken place in the weeks since. This accompanied with plenty of video work resulted in the rankings you’ll see today. Usually, we release updated rankings one class at a time. Today sees us roll out three at the same time, which is fitting in this era of high school basketball, where fluidity is the only thing you can rely on. 
The biggest takeaway for fans is that there is now one, virtually undisputed, top prospect in all three of the national classes. This creates a “Big Three” of talented phenoms in high school basketball.
Cooper Flagg takes the title in the senior class of 2024, following his reclassification from 2025 last month.
Related: Finding Flagg: Untold stories of five-star phenom Cooper Flagg’s ‘meteoric rise’
That leaves Cameron Boozer relatively unchallenged — for now at least — in the national junior class. While AJ Dybantsa may well end up in that 2025 class before it’s all said and done, for the time being he sits atop the 2026 class where he’s on a level of his own.
Even just among those three players, you can already see one of the biggest themes in the game today – reclassification.
Flagg already did it. Dybantsa is expected to do it. And there will be a long list of others who could make the leap.
In short, graduation classes have never been more fluid than they are now in this current state of basketball recruiting. In last year’s 2023 class, there were five players in the top 50 alone — Elliot Cadeau, Trentyn Flowers (already in the NBL), Dedan Thomas, Yves Missi and Jarin Stevenson — who were listed as juniors this time last year. Now, they are set to begin their college freshman/first-year professional seasons now. It’s for this reason that we elected to release rankings in all three classes at the same time. Doing this is reflective of a recruiting world that has less separation than ever before.
How exactly do these prospects and others who sit atop their respective classes compare against each other? You will have to wait until tomorrow for that as we debut our first Pound-for-Pound: The Top 10 Prospects Regardless of Class list.
Until then, it is important to remember that whenever we are talking about rankings, we aren’t basing decisions solely off who played the best this summer. In actuality, we’re trying to answer three different questions and then synthesize that into a singular list.
Those are the key three questions. There’s a variety of variables that go into answering each of them, but putting those projected answers together is the foundation for our 247Sports rankings.
With that in mind, let’s dig into the three returning high school classes as they currently exist:
It should come as no surprise that the uncommitted Cooper Flagg retains his spot at the top the rising senior class. He was immediately inserted into that spot upon announcing his reclassification last month. It was then less than two weeks ago that we showed our hands by doing a scouting deep-dive into what makes him the best prospect in high school basketball right now.
Flagg and Boozer both played in 16U divisions this grassroots season which resulted in them putting up video game numbers throughout the spring. Flagg took that to another level in July when he led his Maine United squad all the way to the finals of the Nike Peach Jam. In doing so, he showcases his unmatched two-way dominance, his rapidly high rate of improvement and a real killer instinct.
Of course, everything is fluid. All eyes will be on him this season to see if Flagg can take on a bigger role at Montverde where he was the team’s fourth leading scorer a year ago. If not, players like Dylan Harper (uncommitted) and Ace Bailey (Rutgers) will continue to take their games to the next level and challenging Flagg for that top spot.
SEE THE REST OF THE 2024 RANKINGS
As far as recruiting goes, Flagg’s mother told 247Sports that the 6-foot-8, 195-pound power forward is planning to take official visits to Duke, UConn and Kansas “this fall.” Flagg will reportedly visit UConn the weekend of Sept. 22 followed by KU in early October and Duke towards the end of October.
RELATED: 2024 No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg is nearing the start of his visit process (VIP)
After Cameron Boozer and his Nightrydas Elite squad lost to Flagg and Maine United earlier in the week at Peach Jam, they won the rematch in the event’s finals. In the process, Boozer once again showed his ability to dictate winning while on the floor.
Still, for those of us who have watched him in other settings, it was clear that he was not the best version of himself that week. Even the numbers proved this as Boozer was just as dominant as Flagg through the rest of the spring.
Boozer & Flagg spring stats:

Boozer – 14g, 28.4min, 24.9pts, 70% FG, 40% 3pt, 88% FT, 13.2reb, 3.8ast (1.3to), 1.1stl, 1.6blk

Flagg – 17g, 29.6min, 26.9pts, 55% FG, 34% 3pt, 84% FT, 11.9reb, 4.7ast (2to), 1.2stl, 4.5blk

Absolutely dominant pic.twitter.com/SA92knfx3r

Beyond that, he was even more dominant during last winter’s high school season and has been unmatched with his recent USA Basketball experiences. Boozer is the son of former NBA star Carlos Boozer. His twin brother, Cayden, is also a highly-ranked player in the 2025 class (No. 17) 
Even without Flagg in the class, there is competition coming his Boozer’s way. Darryn Peterson took a major step forward this season while Koa Peat is also on the move. Caleb Wilson is another prospect to keep an eye on in the class as he’s quickly emerging into a star.
SEE THE REST OF THE 2025 RANKINGS
Cameron Boozer’s biggest competition for the top spot in the 2025 class will likely come from a prospect who’s not even in that class yet.
While he and Flagg were both played in the E16 division, it was Dybantsa (who played up in EYBL and led the entire Peach Jam in scoring) who had arguably the most polished individual offensive arsenal of the three.
Like Flagg, Dybantsa’s rate of improvement has been off the charts in recent months — particularly with the ball in his hands. He’s figured out his spots, improved his efficiency and developed an offensive game that transcends class.
Loved what I saw from AJ Dybantsa this weekend.

Transforming from an obviously talented young prospect to one of the best players in the EYBL.

Developing as a shooter, figuring out his spots, & starting to operate in offensive structure. https://t.co/9knlE5Fyjr pic.twitter.com/SfBdgo21Qm

Although he’s wowed evaluators with his rapid upward trajectory, Dybantsa has always been a basketball phenom. When talking to 247Sports’ Isaac Trotter, Dybantsa’s former coach at St. Sebastian (Mass.) Needham, Dave Hinman, revealed that 6-foot-7 small forward has been playing varsity high school hoops since he was in eighth grade. Even as an underdeveloped middle schooler, Dybantsa impacted winning. 
“I had seen him play and you’re like, ‘There’s no way this kid is in the eighth grade,’” a St. Sebastian’s rival coach at Phillips Andover Academy, Terrell Ivory, told Trotter. “We have to play against this kid? There was a lot of hype and he lived up to it in his eighth grade year.”
Now, it’s worth noting that Dybantsa is not your typical sophomore. Dybantsa isn’t just more proven, he’s also older. But stories like his eighth grade varsity dominance and what he did playing up in EYBL have only fueled rumors of his reclassification.
For all players at this early stage — regardless of where they are ranked initially — the most important thing is to recognize that they’ve barely begun their race at this point. There will inevitably be other players who emerge in the coming years. Also, there will unfortunately be some players who fall off our radar for a variety of reasons.
So, this initial ranking of the 2026 class should be viewed at as a list of talented prospects instead of a numbered pecking order. Because, while most young players want to see their name on a 247Sports rankings list, the reality is that it’s much harder to keep your name on the radar than it is to making it into the initial discussion.
SEE THE REST OF THE 2026 RANKINGS

© 2005-2023 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc.

source

Copyright © 2023 Sandidge Ventures