Aaliyah Chavez to Texas Tech? Why nation’s No. 1 girls basketball recruit could be staying home

Is the only unranked team in top player's finalists a Darkhorse or the favorite?
Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez (center) swag surfs with Krista Gerlich and the Lady Raiders during the Texas Tech basketball block party, Monday, October 28, 2024, on Broadway.
Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez (center) swag surfs with Krista Gerlich and the Lady Raiders during the Texas Tech basketball block party, Monday, October 28, 2024, on Broadway. / Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There are two ways to look at Texas Tech being mixed into Aaliyah Chavez’s list of six college finalists along with Texas, UCLA, LSU, South Carolina and Oklahoma.

Lady Raiders faithful and Lubbock natives will tell you the budding national star from Lubbock's Monterey High School wants to stay home. That she is just enjoying the courtship of the nation’s top programs right now but will ultimately do what she did in high school – shun the easiness of stepping into a plush program and carry another beloved Lubbock program into the national spotlight through grit and hard work.

Doubters say Texas Tech is the sixth name on her list. Sort of an honorable mention that’s been written in only because of her admitted love of the hometown team. They say she’ll get more of a spotlight, win more games and make more money at any of the other Universities on her list.  

She’s been compared with some of the greatest women’s guards in basketball history, and for good reason. She gets folks talking around the barber shops and diners and gets the headlines online.

A social media darling on and off the court, Chavez - MVP of last summer's Mamba Classic - has used her dazzling play to amass 4,431 points during her high school career as of Jan. 12 (which would place her seventh overall on the NHFS all-time scoring list), and her presence to gain 74,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 20,000 on TikTok.

According to reports, it is believed the 5-foot-11 senior guard and nation’s No. 1 high school girls basketball recruit is seeking a Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) deal for around $1 million. So, it should come as no surprise that Chavez will take her time choosing where to go.

After all, it’s not as if her play this season would do anything to hurt negotiations. As of Jan. 12, Chavez is averaging 36.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.6 steals and one block per game through 30 games in the 2024-2025 season.

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Why could Nation’s No. 1 high school recruit Aaliyah Chavez choose Texas?

That’s eerily on pace with her junior season averages of 37.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 3.5 steals and 0.9 blocks.

She scored a whopping 124 points at the Caprock Classic Dec. 27-29 in Lubbock and has eight career 50-point games at Monterey.

She’s eyeing 5,000 career points with Texas Regional Playoffs looming and a potential 11 games remaining in her high school career.

While records seemingly fall with each game she plays, High School on SI decided to dive into why she could choose hometown Texas Tech.

Of course, NIL will probably play the biggest factor in any decision she makes. Players of Chavez’s caliber are rare, and the social media presence she’s built will help play a key role in any future earnings.

With that in mind, here are the decisions Chavez must ponder with the Lady Raiders.

Doing business

Getting paid to play college sports, competing against the nation’s best in front of your friends, family and neighbors while putting your beloved childhood program on your back and leading them to national prominence is a thought a lot of young kids have had.

Aaliyah Chavez
Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez is one of the all-time leading scorers in high school girls basketball history. / Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

And while childhood dreams don’t always become reality, they soon could for Chavez. She’s just one commitment away.

She would be the most popular recruit in Texas Tech women’s basketball history. Season tickets would sell. Her face would be all over town. Her family, friends and neighbors would come watch her play. The Lady Raiders would have a new identity. She could go home and sleep in her own bed.

But things aren’t always as they seem. Perhaps the loyalty she’s shown to Monterey – deciding to remain there to chase a state championship rather than transferring to a more prominent program – won’t be extended to Texas Tech? Maybe there isn’t a hometown discount in store?

College athletics are a business now. That should not be forgotten.

No place like home

If one thing is certain, Chavez will bring the spotlight wherever she goes. She’s a high school athlete with a huge head start on building a career brand, but that brand – and its value – could be affected by where she chooses to go.

Stacked up to the competition, Texas Tech’s biggest draw in this chase is its location. She draws fanfare in town and had fans buzzing when she took her official visit.

There will be no problem marketing the star with her steering the program, but that’s true of anywhere she goes. It’s a benefit to both player and program, of course, but none of it matters if they don’t win. And that’s where things start to get a bit murky for the Lady Raiders.

Lubbock loyalty

While those who know her best laud Chavez for being loyal, it’s also understood that she’s a competitor who wants to win. Aside from the money and attention, she wants to win more than anything.

At 12-6 overall as of Jan. 12, the Lady Raiders are the only team in her six finalists who aren’t nationally ranked. They’re led by junior guards Jasmine Shavers and Bailey Maupin, who are each averaging 14.3 points through 18 games.

Aaliyah Chavez
A popular figure around Lubbock, Chavez is spotted regularly posing for photos and signing autographs for young fans. The Mamba Classic MVP has seen her star rapidly rise since scoring 1,000 points during her freshman season at Monterey. / Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Chavez is the kind of player who could help fifth-year coach and legendary former Lady Raiders player Krista Kirkland-Gerlich get the program back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.

The Lady Raiders are currently 70-69 in their fifth year under Gerlich. After going 10-15 in her first year after taking over for Marlene Stollings in 2020-2021, they went 10-18 in her second season before rebounding in 2022-2023 to go 20-14 - her best mark – making it to the WNIT Super 16.

They fell back a bit last season, going 17-16.

Signing the nation’s No. 1 recruit could go a long way toward shaping the future of the program, but it might not happen overnight. While the other finalists have signed or gotten commitments from other players on the ESPN HoopGurlz Top 100, Texas Tech is not one of them. Chavez would stand to be their only commitment from the Top 100.

In the end, it probably comes down to how bad Chavez wants to stay home. Even then, Oklahoma’s campus sits less than 300 miles from Lubbock and Austin isn’t much further.

In Lubbock, they’re pulling for loyalty.


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