'High School on SI 6:' Preseason high school boys basketball All-American team 2024-25

AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer headline best high school basketball players returning across the country. Who else made the cut?

Utah Prep's AJ Dybantsa is all smiles during game Highland School at Emmanuel College in Boston on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. / Marc Vasconcellos/The Enterprise / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The unceremonious page turn from playoff high school football to the beginning of the high school basketball season is stark.

While state championship trophies are still yet-to-be-earned on high school gridirons across the country, High School on SI is getting ready for the 2024-25 boys basketball season.

• PRESEASEASON NATIONAL TOP 25 TEAM RANKINGS

Columbus (Florida) opens the season as the No. 1 team in the country in High School on SI's preseason national high school boys basketball power rankings (previously known as the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25).

After assessing the 25 best teams in the country, we're taking a look at the top players.

High School on SI has narrowed down the six best players in the country entering the season — a starting five, and-one, so to say. We will spotlight the top athletes by position throughout the season and unveil a more in-depth All-American team after state champions have been crowned and a Chiptle Nationals champ has been minted.

For now, who made the cut in the High School on SI 6 preseason All-American boys basketball team?

2024-25 PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM

Brandon McCoy, St. John Bosco, jr., point guard

Junior guard Brandon McCoy, the nation's top recruit in the class of 2026, will lead preseason No. 1 St. John Bosco into the 2024-25 season eyeing a CIF State Open Division title. / Dennis Lee

Measurables: 6-4, 170 | College: Uncommitted

The nation's top-rated point guard in 2026 led Bosco to a CIF Division I state championship last year and is back for another go at it. The three-level scorer has an offensive bag unparalleled in today's high school landscape and is a certified winner in every sense of the word. As a sophomore, McCoy averaged 18.6 points, 8.0 boards and 2.4 steals per game.

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Darryn Peterson, Prolific Prep, sr., guard

Huntington Prep guard Darryn Peterson catches his breath during the first half at Canton Memorial Field House, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK

Measurables: 6-5, 195 | College: Kansas

As if Peterson, the nation's No. 1 rated combo guard, didn't need more hype entering the 2024-25 season, he erupted for Prolific Prep in an out-of-country game in Canada with 38 points, seven steals, six assists and four boards. He transferred to the California Prep school from another one of those — Huntington Expression Academy, where he went for 24.0 points, 6.0 boards and 4.0 assists per game as a junior. As a sophomore, he averaged 23.1 points, 9.1 boards and 3.0 steals per game.

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AJ Dybantsa, Utah Prep, sr., wing

AJ Dybantsa, the nation's No. 1 prospect, rises for a shot during the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit at the Moda Center in Portland. / Photo by Naji Saker, SBLive

Measurables: 6-9, 210 | College: Uncommitted

He's the consensus nation's No. 1 rated prospect with a NIL price tag reportedly as high as $4.5 million for a reason. Dybantsa averaged 21.2 points, 9.4 boards and 3.5 assists for nationally ranked Prolific Prep last season. The dynamic forward recovers a remarkable amount of ground defensively and can seemingly create and hit any shot he wants at the high school level, is projected top NBA Draft prospect who is fielding interest from BYU, Alabama, UNC and Kansas, among others. He helms the nation's No. 6 ranked team in the preseason.

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Tyran Stokes, Notre Dame, jr. forward

Prolific Prep 2026 forward Tyran Stokes / Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Measurables: 6-7, 245 | College: Uncommitted

Not only does Stokes, one of the nation's top rated juniors, bring back one of the nation's most devastating frames and skill-sets at the high school level, but he also steps into a program — Sherman Oaks Notre Dame — that lost a considerable amount of talent to graduation

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Measurables: 6-9, 235 | College: Duke

Cameron Boozer cemented himself as one of the nation's top players as a freshman, and yet every year he continues to improve. He averaged 18.9 points, 7.9 boards, 4.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game as a ninth grader, and is coming off of a 22.2-point, 11.4-board, 2-block per game junior season and led the Explorers to three consecutive Florida 7A state titles.

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Chris Cenac, Link Academy, sr., center

Measurables: 6-10, 230 | College: Uncommitted

He's the nation's No. 1 rated — and perhaps most sought after — center. Cenac starred at Isadore Newman in Louisiana, where he won a LHSAA state championship. He also helped Team USA's U-17 team win the FIBA World Cup. Now, he has a chance to help 2023 GEICO Nationals champ Link Academy make another run at it.

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More High School on SI Preseason All-American:

• Top 25 national high school preseason boys basketball rankings 

• Top 25 preseason national high school girls basketball rankings

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-- Tarek Fattal | tarek@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveca

-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports