Aaliyah Chavez is next up. The No. 1 recruit out of Monterey High School in Lubbock was named the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year Wednesday.
Next week, Chavez will decide where she will play college basketball. But for the time being, she celebrates a triumphant high-school career which culminated in a state title and the top honor in high school sports. As the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Chavez joins elite company like JuJu Watkins, Paige Bueckers, Kiki Rice, Breanna Stewart, Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike.
Ogwumike, nine-time WNBA All-Star and a Texas native herself, flew in to surprise Chavez with the trophy early Wednesday, and she even battled some Texas storms to get there. They were both named Texas's Miss Basketball twice, both McDonald's All-Americans and come from the same AAU family. With all the parallels, Ogwumike knows they have a much different game.
"I've always been described as a player that doesn't have any mustard on her hot dog and then Aaliyah has a lot of mustard on her hot dog," Ogwumike told in an interview Wednesday. "So I will say that about how she plays, it's a lot of fun to watch."
Monterey is on spring break this week, but Chavez still woke up early to head to her school and discuss logistics for her commitment day, which is scheduled for March 25. Or so she thought. As she walked into the school gym, she saw her teammates, friends and family to surprise her, plus Ogwumike holding the trophy.
Chavez admitted that she's not much of an awards person, but this one was special. She was Texas's Gatorade Player of the Year in each of the past two years. The state-based honor went elsewhere in Chavez's freshman and sophomore years, which brought motivation to bring home the honor as a junior. Now she caps off her senior season with the national honor once again.
"Sophomore year I realized this is something I wanted," Chavez told SI. "So I worked a little bit [extra] hard my junior and senior year to win it. And then winning national means a lot because that's more than Texas. Obviously there's great girls in Texas, but this means nationally. It was something that means a lot to me."
Even if awards aren't the main focus, Ogwumike and Chavez agreed that Gatorade's National Player of the Year is a big deal as an all-encompassing honor, both on the court and off.
"I've already imparted upon [Chavez] to make sure she leans into the moment," Ogwumike, the 2008 Gatorade National Player of the Year, said. "Even though awards may not be important, this one is a really big deal because it's holistic. It's not just about points scored, it's not just about records broken. It's about being a star student. It's about being an elite member of the community.
"My advice [for Chavez] is to receive it and understand that you earned it."
On the floor, Chavez is a do-it-all guard who can score at all three levels, make plays for her teammates, rebound and defend. She has averaged 30 or more points per game in each of her past three high-school seasons, including 37.8 points as a junior and 34.9 as a senior, per MaxPreps. For her college choice, she's deciding between Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma and South Carolina, according to Pete Christy of KCBD-TV, a local television station in Lubbock.
The flashy plays add to Chavez's lore as a must-watch any time she picks up a basketball. As Ogwumike noted, Chavez has a lot of mustard on her hot dog, which puts fans in seats and keeps them there.
Fans will get to see her step onto the college scene next year. Where? That's still to be determined. But in the meantime, you can get to know one of basketball's next big stars and the 2025 Gatorade National Player of the Year.
