High School

Here's what No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez brings to the table for her new program

Top 2025 women's basketball recruit Aaliyah Chavez has the ability to make an instant impact at the next level

Levi Payton

Lubbock Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez has the ability to instantly impact women's college basketball.
Lubbock Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez has the ability to instantly impact women's college basketball. / Angela Piazza/USA Today Network via Caller-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If you haven't seen Aaliyah Chavez play basketball yet, do you even YouTube, bro?

Well, if you want to watch her commitment on Tuesday, you're going to need it as it will be broadcast live on ESPN's SportsCenter Next channel and Lubbock's ISD channel at 2 p.m., Eastern, live from the Lubbock Monterey Auditorium.

By now if you've seen her, you'd know it. Her talent is hard to forget. Listed at 5-foot-9 by 247Sports, 5-foot-10 on Aaliyah's X, formerly Twitter, bio, and 5-foot-11 by just about every other roster out there, her game is not a mystery. And she plays about as big as anyone in the country.

Set to commit between Texas, Texas Tech, South Carolina or Oklahoma (UCLA and LSU are believed to be out, per a report by 247Sports, but were among her six original finalists and will still be represented on commitment day) Chavez possesses the type of skills that would fit it well with just about any program.

Smooth as butter. Smooth as silk. Pick your cliche, the only seeming edge to Chavez's game is the one she plays with on the floor and takes into her training. She has an uncanny knack of quietly dropping 40 points, if there is such a thing, before you realize she's got 25.

Aaliyah Chavez
Lubbock Monterey guard Aaliyah Chavez (2) scores on a layup in the third quarter of the Texas UIL 5A Division II state championship at The Alamodome in San Antonio, March 1, 2025. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

That seemingly has a lot to do with her unselfishness. A threat to get to the rack, she's equally content with drawing traffic and then feeding an open teammate for the assist. Despite crazy numbers at Lubbock Monterey that saw her finish with 4,796 points, including at least 1,001 in each season and 1,451 as a senior, she also set Monterey's single-season assist record as a freshman (260) and was amongst its overall leaders when she concluded her career there with 770.

Active on defense, she was also one of Monterey's top rebounders, averaging 8.5 boards during her career and 3.2 steals across 150 games.

Her athleticism stands out the most. She controls her body very well in traffic and has the ability to get off good shots under pressure. Are there things to work on and refine? You bet. If those adjustments make her a better player, watch out.

Brandon Clay, Director of Scouting for Women's Basketball for 247Sports, seems to think Chavez could make an impact right away.

"There is no reason to think that Chavez can't walk onto any campus and provide immediate production next season," Clay stated in a recent evaluation. "Expecting Chavez to have a season comparable to Ohio State's standout freshman, Jaloni Cambridge, isn't too far out of the question."

In an evaluation of Chavez last May, Clay said, "Chavez gets her shot off as easily as any high school guard I can remember dating back to the days of Kelsey Mitchell as a prep prospect. A five-star guard, Chavez has legitimate shooting range to 25 feet with the ability to get into the teeth of the defense on a consistent basis to make a shot or find a corner shooter."

Aaliyah Chavez
Lubbock Monterey guard Aaliyah Chavez (2) takes the court ahead of the Texas UIL 5A Division II state championship at The Alamodome in San Antonio, March 1, 2025. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While the stressors that come with the recruiting process are about to be lifted, the real work for Chavez is about to begin. There's work to be done if she's to become the next great women's college basketball player. So fire up the YouTube, because we're about to learn how, and where, she plans to go to get there.

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Levi Payton
LEVI PAYTON

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