The midway point of the travel ball season brings an updated & expanded 2028 Rivals150 ranking

On Monday, Rivals updated its class of 2028 player rankings for the third time. For this Rivals150 update, the list expanded from 100 to a full 150 players. The movement and additions are based on two key sources: 1) in-person player evaluations through the spring portion of the travel ball season, and 2) film study and intel gathered on prospects since the previous update. 

Updated 2028 Rivals150 player rankings

Since this cycle’s last update, in September, the Rivals National Basketball team has attended numerous shoe-sponsored and independent events and practices. With multiple events taking place every week(end), Rivals has also collected streams and film to comb through for the maximum exposure of countless events and players.

The ranking process is a continual and often fluid one. Rivals starts ranking recruits after their freshman-year travel seasons, before their sophomore years of high school. Each recruit can look a lot different for our final ranking after their senior year championships and all-star games are played. 

We have spent the last several weeks working on this 2028 update so it will reflect the most accurate and current representation of the recruiting cycle. This work has resulted in the cycle expanding from 100 players to a full list of 150. We have also continued collecting viewings and data on the previously ranked players, keeping an eye on their progression since the previous update. This has resulted in 54 new names being evaluated and added to this ranking update.

These prospects have ended their sophomore seasons of high school ball and are about halfway through their travel seasons. Our next class update for the 2028 cycle will be released around the start of the high school season.

The goal of rankings at Rivals is to assess a prospect’s long-term potential. As we move forward, a player’s performance on the court and their continued growth will ultimately outweigh their earlier rankings. Again, every player’s arc is different, and each ranking is a snapshot in time. 

Updated 2028 Rivals150 Player Rankings

Here are some storylines from Rivals’ fourth release of the 2028 recruiting cycle. 

Grading the 2028 Rivals150

The basketball player rankings scale is as follows: five-star prospects have grades 98-100, four-star recruits have grades 90-97, and 80-89 grades are for three stars. 

This update has no five-star prospects, with a rating of 98 or higher. The players ranked 1 through 75 are classified as four-star prospects, with grades ranging from 90 to 97. The remainder of the 150 and position rankings are considered three-star prospects. 

Our goal is to assess a prospect’s long-term potential, ultimately manifested by the NBA Draft. The goal of the ranking is not to determine who had the best high school career or who will be the best college player. This is why we aim to conclude each cycle with 14 five-star prospects, following the lead of the NBA Draft Lottery. Our vision, as we end each cycle, is draft night.

AJ Williams takes over the No. 1 spot

AJ Williams moves to No. 1 overall in the updated 2028 Rivals150. The No. 1 spot in the ranking was previous held by Adan Diggs who recently reclassified up in the 2027 cycle, leaving the spot wide open. At the end of the day, at this point in the process, Williams resume coupled with his projectability is simply too much to ignore at the top of this class.

Williams is a 6-foot-7, pushing 6-foot-8 wing forward at Eagles Landing (GA) Christian. Last summer, he won a FIBA gold medal with USA Basketball at the U16 Americup in June and turned right around and won Nike’s 15U Peach Jam with his Georgia Stars program.

During his time with the USA Basketball program, Williams averaged 13.5 points and 7.8 rebounds. His points per game average was 9th overall of the event, and rebounding averaged was 3rd. Due to the depth of the team, and the margins of victory, Williams only averaged 18.9 minutes per game. During his run to last summer’s 15U Peach Jam title, Williams averaged 22.2 points.

Williams takes a streamline approach to his offense. Not only does he have the desired positional size for a wing, but scores within his means as a player. He is good at moving off ball, finding his spots and recieving shot ready. He also plays well off his jump shot, getting a clean look within two or three dribbles max to rise up. He is a good positional rebounder and has to instincts to get off the ball and relocate when things are not there.

It is the mature approach along with the scalablity of his production consistently impresses in each setting we watch him.

This summer, Williams moved to play the last two sessions with the Team CP3 program on Nikes 17U EYBL Circuit. Since joining the team, Team CP3 is 6-1 in league play with Williams leading the way at 19.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.

Colton HIller was the other player in the conversation for this top spot. Hiller, a 6-foot-6 wing out of Coatesville (PA) High School. He was teammates with Williams on that gold medal winning USA Basketball U16 team last summer. He is also playing 17U EYBL this summer.

With the PSA Cardinals program he is averaging 21.0 points on 38.6 percent shooting from three. Behind Hiller, at No. 3 is 7-foot-0 center Bamba Touray of IMG (FL) Academy. At No. 4 is center Erick Dampier Jr, the son of former NBA center Erick Dampier, of Madison-Ridgeland (MS) Academy and at No. 5 is center Yann Kamagate of St. Francis (CA) High School.

Josiah Rose remains the cycle’s top PG

Josiah Rose remains the top point guard in the class for the second consecutive ranking update. The 6-foot-3 Rose led Faith Family (TX) Academy in scoring during Nike EYBL Scholastic play at 15.8 points while also grabbig 4.8 reboundsa and dishing 4.4 assists per game.

Rose has good length with a sturdy frame at around 200 pounds. He also has sneaky pop that he uses to be a disruptor on the defensive end. His timing and anticpation gets him in position for weak side shot blocks, and he is good in the passing lanes and aggressive on the ball.

Offensively, Rose’s best attribute might be his processing. Playing both in club ball and high school with players who are smaller than him, both organziations line up him all over the court. During crunch time, there is no double whose hands the ball is in, where he is tasked with making plays and trusted with making decisions. Throughout the course of the game, the also line up him as the first pass, in the mid-post, as a second-side creator. While he might not always be the one who crosses half-court with the ball, he is the one who makes the majority of the decisions.

This summer, with the 99OVR organization on the Adidas 3SSB 16U Circuit, Rose is averaging 24.3 points and 2.5 assists on 60.3 percent shooting and 45.5 percent from three. This is the same 99OVR team that won the Adidas 3SSB 15U Circuit championship last year, with Rose leading the way.

Brady Pettigrew, the 6-foot-3 guard from Boilingbrook (IL) High, is the second-ranked point guard in the recent update and No. 16 overall. Next is Liam Mitakaro, the 6-foot-2 point guard at CIA Bella Vista (AZ) Prep at No. 23. Rounding out the top-5 point guards in the updated 2028 Rivals150 are 6-foot-2 Malik Moore of Union (NJ) Catholic at No. 26, and 5-foot-11 Machai White at Brewster (NH) Academy.

Yann Kamagate makes the highest 4-star debut

In total, 11 players made their 2028 Rivals150 debuts as four-star prospects in Monday’s update. The highest-ranking player was 7-foot-0 center Yann Kamagate of St. Francis (CA) High School. Kamgate is averaging 14.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 3.9 blocks while shooting 64.4 percent from the field this summer with the Compton Magic 17u program on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit.

No. 5 C Yann Kamagate, St Francis (CA) High School
No. 32 PF LJ Williams, Saraland (AL) High School
No. 42 SG Kaleb Allen, TL Hanna (SC) High School
No. 47 PG Micah Gunter, Greensboro (NC) Day School
No. 52 SG Joshua Huggins, Briercrest (TN) Christian
No. 57 SG Keaton Murry, Putnam North (OK) High School
No. 63 SF Jordan Fisher, Columbus (FL) High School
No. 68 SF Jakobe Owere, Long Beach (CA) Poly
No. 71 SF James Jenkins, DME (FL) Academy
No. 73 PF Illia Maydan, Argyle (CAN) Academy
No. 75 PF Sebastian Ndour, Montverde (FL) Academy

California has 14 players in the updated 2028 Rivals150

California led the way with 13 players in the updated Rivals150 ranking. Their highest-ranking player is No. 5 overall Yann Kamagate. Hall is a 7-foot-0 center at St. Francis (CA) High School. In total, 35 states, as well as Washington DC and Canada are represented in the Rivals’ 2028 rankings update.

California, 14
North Carolina, 12
Florida, 12
Texas, 12
Georgia, 11
Arizona, 8
New Jersey, 7
Maryland, 7
Pennsylvania, 7
New York, 5