LAGUNA NIGUEL – Tyran Stokes made his first “real” high school season a memorable one – even if he and his Sherman Oaks Notre Dame teammates couldn’t quite get over the “Roosevelt hump”.
The 6-foot-7 Stokes, who played at Prolific Prep School in Napa as a freshman and sophomore before relocating to the San Fernando Valley in the fall, is the BurlisonOnBasketball top SoCal junior for the 2024-25 season.
He heads a group of players in the region’s Class of 2026 that could prove as deep and gifted as anywhere in the country, including Jason Crowe, Jr. (BurlisonOnBasketball Freshman of the Year two seasons ago at Lynwood but now attending Inglewood), Brandon McCoy, Jr. (the 2023-24 season’s top sophomore for St. John Bosco) and L.A. City co-Player of the Year Tajh Ariza (Westchester).
Stokes – the consensus No. 1 prospect in the national Class of 2026 – averaged 21.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the 28-8 Knights.
But three of those losses were inflicted by Brayden Burries-led Roosevelt of Eastvale.
The Mustangs, despite trailing by 15 points after the first quarter, prevailed against Stoke and Notre Dame in the Dec 21 championship game of the Platinum Division in the Tarkanian Classic at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, 76-58.
The Knights came a lot closer in their next two clashes with Roosevelt but fell in the CIF Southern Section Open Division title game, 74-67, on March 1 in Ontario, and – 10 nights later – in the State South Region Open finale, 79-76, on the Mustangs home floor.
One reminder before we move on to the all-SoCal, Junior selections:
These choices are made based upon a combination of on-the-floor success of the players and their teams’ performances throughout the season, not “college potential”.
Top Junior of 2024-25
Tyran Stokes/6-7/Sherman Oaks Notre Dame
Runner-up
Jason Crowe, Jr./6-4/Inglewood
Top 10
*Maximus Adams/6-8/Sierra Canyon
*Tajh Ariza/6-8/Westchester
*Kaiden Bailey/6-3/Santa Margarita
*Luke Barnett/6-3/Mater Dei
*Christian Collins/6-8/St. John Bosco
*S.J. Madison/6-5/Redondo Union
*Brannon Martinsen/6-7/JSerra
*Brandon McCoy, Jr./6-5/St. John Bosco
*Joe Sterling/6-3/Harvard-Westlake
*Zachary White/6-6/Sherman Oaks Notre Dame
Next 10
*David Abisogun/6-9/Fairmont Prep
*JRob Croy/6-5/Riverside Poly
*Elijah Garner/6-6/Damien
*Joshua Irving/6-9/Pasadena
*Acen Jimenez/6-2/La Habra
*Josiah Johnson/6-3/Mayfair
*Amir Jones/6-3/Harvard-Westlake
*Brayden Kyman/6-8/Santa Margarita
*Jacob Majok/6-7/Crean Lutheran
*Isaiah Rogers/6-3/Corona Centennial
Third 10
*Drew Anderson/6-8/Santa Margarita
*Timmy Anderson/6-1/Blair
*Dominic Bentho/6-8/Harvard-Westlake
*William Bryson III/6–2/St. Paul
*Jonathan Dzabatou/6-7/Orange Lutheran
*Noa Eteuati-Edwards/6-3/Arcadia
*Chace Holley/6-2/Redondo Union
*Jeremiah Lark/6-4/Oak Hills
*Nolan Newman-Gomez/6-7/Hesperia
*Josahn Webster/6-3/King-Drew
Fourth 10
*DeLan Grant/6-2/St. Francis
*Jackson Haggins/6-3/Roosevelt
*Jeremiah Hunt/6-2/Millikan
*Ty Ingram/6-2/Westchester
*Kayleb Kearse/5-10/St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy
*Will Malual/6-9/Crean Lutheran
*Jonas Oware/6-9/Long Beach Poly
*Kawika Suter/6-8/Rolling Hills Prep
*Mamadou Traore/6-4/San Gabriel Academy
*Rodney Westmoreland III/6-0/Santa Margarita
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