D2 State Player of the Year Parker Spees of San Joaquin Memorial (left) scores on a dunk during team’s win vs Bakersfield Christian. At right, State Junior Player of the Year NaVorro Bowman Jr. looks to make a play for Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. Photos: Isai Gutierrez / Cal-Hi Sports & NDAthleticsSO / X.com.
Presented by new partners Brite Legacy, congratulations to all of the Cal-Hi Sports 2026 top honorees for juniors, sophomores and freshmen and for each CIF division with Open & D1 combined. The CIF Southern Section sweeps all of the class-by-class honors, but the CIF Central Section gets two of the four according to divisions.
For official writeup on the 2026 Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year, CLICK HERE.
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Congratulations to these boys players for being selected as a Cal-Hi Sports State Player of the Year. Stay tuned for the upcoming release of the 47th annual Cal-Hi Sports All-State Teams. Here is the complete list of our boys basketball individual players of the year for the 2025-26 season:
(Note: For this year, we have again considered the Open Division and Division I to be a single category. Cal-Hi Sports editor Mark Tennis did the writeups for each CIF division and freshmen. Managing editor Ronnie Flores did Juniors & Sophs.)
SENIORS & CIF D1/OPEN DIVISION
Jason Crowe Jr. (Inglewood)
Our Mr. Basketball selection is the third from Inglewood, a school that has produced seven NBA players. Of those three, Ralph Jackson may have been the most heralded coming into high school and Paul Pierce the least heralded even though he was a known talent. In fact, the Truth almost left for L.A. Crenshaw, but decided trying out with 100 other guys that remaining at Inglewood was the wiser choice. Another thing that separates Pierce is that Crowe and Ralph Jackson were also considered the honorees for the top division, whereas Inglewood was considered D2 back in 1995 when Pierce was the top talent on the West Coast. Another unique aspect of Crowe’s dominance in the competitive equity era is he is a three time State Player of the Year by CIF Division. He previously was the top honoree in D3 as a sophomore and in D5 as a freshman when Lynwood won a CIF state title.
JUNIORS
NaVarro Bowman Jr. (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks) 6-2 G
When Tyran Stokes, last year’s State Junior of the Year, left the program right on the dawn of our 2025-26 preseason state rankings, it obviously dropped the Blue Knights from the No. 1 spot but we knew Notre Dame would still be a formidable club.
The reason being was the presence of the team’s unflappable point guard, who led Notre Dame to a major June Scholastic Live Period title (without Stokes) as the Blue Knights opened No. 6 in the state. The Blue Knights played to that level all season long behind the dynamic Bowman, who makes spectacular plays around the basket as well as any point guard in the state.
Bowman has the ability to come up with a big play just when Notre Dame needed it, always has to be accounted for and isn’t afraid to take, or make, the big outside shot. He led his team to the Mission League title game and to the CIF Southern Section Open Division semifinals by scoring 30 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing off 5 assists in the Mission League semis vs. Crespi. He also had 23 points, five rebounds and three steals in the CIFSS quarterfinal win over Corona Centennial. His is the son of former San Francisco 49ers star linebacker NaVarro Bowman Sr., who has taken time off from his own coaching career to help his son during these next critical months in his life.
Bowman’s toughest competition for this honor was La Mirada’s Gene Roebuck, the 2025 sophomore state player of the year and 2024 freshman POY who had an excellent season, but two head-to-head matchups tipped the scales in the point guard’s favor over the scoring wing. Notre Dame defeated the Mats twice, as Bowman went for 26 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals in the early regular season win and for 25 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to open the CIFSS open playoffs, while Roebuck scored 16 and 22 points respectively.
For the season, Bowman averaged 22.5, 4.9 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.9 spg and 0.6 bpg and was named Mission League Co-Player of the Year and to the L.A. Times’ 10-man all-star team. Bowman is the 10th consecutive selection from the CIF Southern Section for State Junior of the Year. The last time the top honoree for juniors came from the same school in back-to-back seasons were future NBA players Chris Mills and Sean Higgins for L.A. Fairfax in 1987 and 1986.
Recent State Juniors of the Year: Tyran Stokes (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame); 2024 Brayden Burries (Roosevelt, Eastvale); 2023 Trent Perry (Studio City Harvard-Westlake); 2022 Jared McCain (Corona Centennial); 2021 Amari Bailey (Chatsworth Sierra Canyon); 2020 Malik Thomas (La Verne Damien); 2019 Evan Mobley (Temecula Rancho Christian); 2018 Onyeka Okongwu (Chino Hills); 2017 Marvin Bagley (Chatsworth Sierra Canyon); 2016 Brandon McCoy (San Diego Cathedral Catholic); 2015 Lonzo Ball (Chino Hills). For the complete list of all State Juniors of the Year back to 1960, CLICK HERE.
Probably the best game that state sophomore of the year Ryan Doane of JSerra had was in game against Inglewood and Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year Jason Crowe Jr. Photo: Ronnie Flores / Cal-Hi Sports.
SOPHOMORES
Ryan Doane (JSerra, SJ Capistrano) 6-10 C
It wasn’t an easy call to name the top 10th grader this season, as one hasn’t yet emerged who is on pace for a record-shattering career or as the top player on a CIF open level team.
There are plenty of terrific long-term prospects and the best one sat out the season. That would be La Canada St. Francis’ Yann Lamagate, a 7-footer with prodigious skill that will be this class’ top prospect when he plays in regulation games. Speaking of sitting out and missing games, many top players have transferred early and last year’s freshman of the year, L.A. Brentwood’s Shalen Sheppard, ended up playing only 16 games for Santa Monica Crossroads and the team didn’t finish strong enough for us to justify a repeat selection.
Another talented Crossroads player, Santa Ana Mater Dei transfer Evan Willis, played in only 10 games. Three of the most impactful 10th-graders, Jordan Mize, Josh Lowery, and J.J. Sati-Grier, all had moments for the best team, Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, but in many ways cancel each other out on a team led by two McDonald’s All-Americans.
Doane is a big man in the same tier as the Crossroads duo as prospects and he started 35 games for a team that finished ranked No. 15 in the state at 24-14. Doane, who has a nice variety of moves around the basket and a good blend of power and skill, helped the Lions reach the CIFSS D1 final with a 33-point, 16-rebound performance in the semis vs. Inglewood.
For the season, Doane averaged 11.3 ppg (second on the team to all-state guard Jaden Bailes), 9.9 rpg, 2.8 apg and 1.3 bpg. Doane set program records for offensive rebounds (141) rebounds (348) and blocks (46) while also making 19-of-58 on 3-pointers to boot. Another notch to Doane’s candidacy is being named first team all-CIFSS D1. Doane is JSerra’s first ever class player of the year and the first State Sophomore of the Year from Orange County since Devin Askew of Santa Ana Mater Dei in 2019. Since then, the Trinity League has had three selections, including Bellflower St. John Bosco’s Brandon McCoy in 2024.
Recent State Sophomores of the Year: 2025 Gene Roebuck (La Mirada); 2024 Brandon McCoy Jr. (Bellflower St. John Bosco); 2023 Tounde Yessoufou (Santa Maria St. Joseph); 2022 Jamari Phillips (Modesto Christian); 2021 Kylan Boswell (Corona Centennial); 2020 Amari Bailey (Chatsworth Sierra Canyon); 2019 Devin Askew (Santa Ana Mater Dei); 2018 Jalen Green (Fresno San Joaquin Memorial); 2017 La’Melo Ball (Chino Hills); 2016 Jordan Brown (Roseville Woodcreek); 2015 Cody Riley (Chatsworth Sierra Canyon). For the complete list of all State Sophomores of the Year back to 1965, CLICK HERE.
Will Conroy Jr. had 28 points in just his fourth game of the season in helping Village Christian get a big win vs Crespi of Encino. Photo: Courtesy Village Christian.
FRESHMEN
Will Conroy Jr.
(Village Christian, Sun Valley) 6-0 PG
Despite some of the honors that Will has already received, such as MaxPreps Co-Freshman Player of the Year nationally as well as being the only freshman on the All-CIF Southern Section D1 team, it wasn’t that much of a runaway for him to be the State Freshman Player of the Year.
Long Beach Millikan’s Quali Giran, who had the rare feat of being the Player of the Year in the Moore League, also was seriously considered. In the end, Conroy Jr.’s team at Village Christian came in higher in the final state rankings at 24-7 than Millikan (No. 29 to No. 38) and he’s also already been establishing himself as a national recruit this spring at the USA Basketball mini-camp for the Junior National Team.
Conroy Jr. is the son of USC assistant coach Will Conroy Sr., who is more well-known up in Washington where he starred at the University of Washington, later played in the NBA and was an assistant coach for the Huskies before coming to USC. This is the second year that Will’s dad has been at USC and with the way college coaches move around we’re just glad at least for this year we get to put in Will Jr. into our all-time player of the year archives.
Will Jr. averaged 26.7 ppg for the Crusaders this season, who ended with a loss in the CIF Southern Section D1 quarterfinals to Crean Lutheran of Irvine and than meant the season was over. His season high of 41 points came in a win against San Ramon Valley of Danville at The Classic, which came one night after he scored 40 in a loss to Central of Phoenix. For the season, Conroy also averaged 3.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.
This is the first-ever state player of the year in any category for Village Christian. Its rival school, Heritage Christian of Northridge, had the state freshman of the year in 2021 in Isaiah Elohim. Of the past 10 state freshmen players of the year, five of them didn’t finish at the same schools. We just wish the best of luck to all of them and the same is true for Will Jr.
Recent State Freshman Players of the Year: 2025 Shalen Sheppard (Brentwood, Los Angeles); 2024 Gene Roebuck (La Mirada); 2023 Jason Crowe Jr. (Lynwood); 2022 Tounde Yessoufou (Santa Maria St. Joseph); 2021 Isaiah Elohim (Northridge Heritage Christian); 2020 Mikey Williams (San Ysidro); 2019 Aidan Mahaney (Moraga Campolindo); 2018 Malik Thomas (La Verne Damien); 2017 Kyree Walker (Hayward Moreau Catholic); 2016 Onyeka Okongwu (Chino Hills); 2015 Jordan Brown (Roseville Woodcreek). For the complete list of all State Freshmen of the Year back to 1980, CLICK HERE.
CIF DIVISION II
Parker Spees (San Joaquin Memorial, Fresno) Sr.
Back in 2023, when San Joaquin Memorial won the CIF D2 state title, the Panthers also collected the D2 Player of the Year honor with Mike Davis Jr. The same thing has happened again as Spees is the one for D2 this season and joins an impressive list of state players of the year from the school.
The list includes 2018 State Sophomore of the Year Jalen Green (now with the Phoenix Suns), 1971 Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year Roscoe Pondexter and 1972 Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year Clifton Pondexter. There also has been Quincy Pondexter for D4 in 2006, Rich Turney for D3 in 1960 and Davis for D2 in 2023. NBA players Brook and Robin Lopez were not state players of the year since they were in the same division at the time as other future NBA players who went in front of them and Quincy was their teammate.
There was a bit of confusion to clear up with Spees as he was not voted as the team’s league player of the year. That went to senior teammate Sajjin Sidhu, a fine player for sure, but Spees was called the team’s most “indispensable player” by longtime local talent evaluator Paul Hernandez and we agree. In the team’s 46-45 win over Bakersfield Christian in the CIF state final, Spees had a game-high 19 points with six rebounds and two blocks. His smart play in the final seconds in which he grabbed a long in-bounds pass and then chucked the ball high into the air (missing the big scoreboard) to kill the final seconds was something all coaches should teach their players in those situations. The West Coast Preps website also has named Spees as its Central Section player of the year (we don’t agree with the one because state No. 3 St. Joseph of Santa Maria also is in the same section but it shows consensus about SJM’s pecking order).
Spees, who also carries a 4.43 GPA, plays for the Jalen Green Elite AAU program and developed a strong reputation in recent summers as a 6-foot-9 player who also can shoot three-pointers successfully. That is why he received multiple D1 college offers and signed with UC Irvine last fall. Sidhu was the team’s leading scorer for the season at more than 16 ppg. Spees ended with averages of 12.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
The final D2 player of the year selection also involved twin standouts O.J. and E.J. Popoola of CIF L.A. City Section Open Division champion Palisades along with players from Bakersfield Christian, which beat Palisades in the SoCal D2 final and beat San Joaquin Memorial twice earlier in the season. O.J. was the L.A. City Player of the Year but missed too many games (12) to be D2 state player of the year. We’ll be sure that Sidhu, the Popoola twins and Bakersfield Christian’s team are represented on upcoming all-state teams.
Recent State D2 Players of the Year: 2025 Alijah Arenas (Chatsworth); 2024 ArDarius Grayson (Oakland Tech); 2023 Mike Davis Jr. (Fresno San Joaquin Memorial); 2022 Ameere Britton (Elk Grove); 2021 Brenton Knapper (Ontario Colony); 2020 Andre Henry (La Canada St. Francis); 2019 Jaime Jaquez (Camarillo); 2018 Shareef O’Neal (Santa Monica Crossroads); 2017 Kezie Okpala (Anaheim Esperanza); 2016 Solomon Young (Sacramento); 2015 T.J. Leaf (El Cajon Foothills Christian). For the complete list of all State D2 Players of the Year back to 1945, CLICK HERE.
Cornerstone Christian junior Ben Lukacs gets interviewed after his huge outing in CIF D3 state final. Photo: Greg Stein / madehoops.com.
DIVISION III
Ben Lukacs (Cornerstone Christian, Antioch) Jr.
For what he did in the biggest games of the season in Cornerstone Christian’s successful quest to win the CIF D3 state title, Lukacs has earned a divisional state player of the year honor. It quickly needs to be mentioned, though, that junior teammate James Perry Jr. had a higher scoring average overall for the season and we probably would have gone for a co-player of the year situation if we ever considered doing co-players of the year (we never have).
After Ben scored a game-high 21 points (17 in the first half) when the Cougars went to top seed Willow Glen of San Jose and won the NorCal regional crown, Cornerstone Christian head coach Michael Thomasson told the Bay Area News Group: “Lukacs put it in another gear.”
That gear continued to be revved up to a higher level in the state final against Birmingham of Lake Balboa, Lukacs, a good-sized point guard who can score from the outside or inside, had a game-high 26 points to lead the Cougars past the Patriots, 74-64. Ben also had eight assists, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a impressive outing that had many on press row talking about him.
In another regional playoff game vs St. Francis of Mountain View, Lukacs had 20 points in a win for his team. He averaged 14.7 points, 3.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game for the season and there has been at least one reported D1 college offer we know of so far (from Sacramento State).
Lukacs is just fourth ever D3 state player of the year from the East Bay area of the CIF North Coast Section or Oakland Section. The other three on the all-time list are Money Williams of Oakland for 2023, Ivan Rabb of Oakland Bishop O’Dowd for 2015 and Erwin Mueller of Livermore for 1961.
Recent State D3 Players of the Year: 2025 Mamamadou Diop (San Gabriel Academy); 2024 Jason Crowe Jr. (Lynwood); 2023 Money Williams (Oakland); 2022 Giovanni Goree (Calabasas Viewpoint); 2021 Sheldon Grant (San Bernardino Aquinas); 2020 Austin Patterson (Sonora); 2019 Ryan Langborg (La Jolla Country Day); 2018 Kevin Kremer (Chico Pleasant Valley); 2017 Jules Bernard (Los Angeles Windward); 2016 Jaelen Ragsdale (Stockton Weston Ranch); 2015 Ivan Rabb (Oakland Bishop O’Dowd). For the complete list of all State D3 Players of the Year back to 1945, CLICK HERE.
Alex Osterloh was Mr. March for the CIF D4 state champion Sacred Heart Prep Gators. Photo: Instagram.com.
DIVISION IV
Alex Osterloh (Sacred Heart Prep, Atherton) Sr.
They weren’t type of game-winning shots you’re going to see on Sports Center, but Osterloh’s game-winning plays in the closing seconds of the CIF NorCal and state D4 title games will be talked about on the Sacred Heart Prep campus for years to come.
Playing a Half Moon Bay squad in the regional final that was a familiar foe that the Gators had to go to overtime to beat for a CIF Central Coast Section title, they were tied 51-51 but did not have the ball for a last possession. That’s when Alex and younger brother, sophomore Matthew Osterloh, forced a turnover. Alex then drew a foul with less than one second left and made both free throws for a 53-51 win.
In the state final vs San Juan Hills of SJ Capistrano, Osterloh and his teammates were in more dire straits with a four-point deficit at 45-41 win two minutes left. With the score tied 45-45, the Gators came up with another turnover and were looking to take the final shot when Osterloh was fouled beyond the three-point line with an amazing 0.03 seconds on the clock. He only needed to make one free throw, but he made two and that was it for a 47-45 win.
In addition to the clutch plays, Osterloh was the leading scorer for SHP in the state final with 15 points. The NCAA D3 commit to Claremont McKenna College in Southern California also was the team’s leader in every statistical category for the season. He averaged 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Osterloh also is the second straight D4 state player of the year from the CIF Central Coast Section following DeMarco Hunter of Santa Cruz after last season. There hadn’t been one from the CCS ever before that. Alex also is the first-ever state player of the year in hoops from SHP in any division, although the Gators have had several on the girls side.
Recent State D4 Players of the Year: 2025 DeMarco Hunter (Santa Cruz); 2024 Alijah Arenas (Chatsworth); 2023 Mikah Ballew (Valencia); 2022 Johny Dan (Valley Village Valley Torah); 2021 Wayne McKinney (Coronado); 2020 Mikey Williams (San Ysidro); 2019 Ben Knight (San Francisco Mission); 2018 Ryan Turell (Valley Village Valley Torah); 2017 Matt Bradley (San Bernardino); 2016 Colin Slater IV (Reedley Immanuel); 2015 Tyler Dorsey (Sierra Madre Maranatha). For the complete list of all State D4 Players of the Year back to 1950, CLICK HERE.
Coalinga’s Damyen Tamayo ended his career with more than 2,200 points. Photo: Coalinga HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
DIVISION V
Damyen Tamayo (Coalinga) Sr.
There are times when a player who’s become known to us for our state record book compilations can benefit as a player of the year selection. That is the case for Tamayo, who gained the D5 honor for this season despite his team not being in the CIF state final.
It’s not like Coalinga wasn’t far removed from that game, however. The Horned Toads were the top seed in the SoCal D5 bracket, but lost in the regional final to Sylmar. Tamayo had 28 points in that 66-58 loss and he had 31 in the previous regional game vs Rowland of Rowland Heights.
For the season, Damyen had the highest scoring average among others we considered for D5 by a lot at 26.1 ppg. For his career, he finished with 2,258 points in four years, which does not make the state record book but it is among the highest in CIF Central Section history. Tamayo will go down in the top 10 for the all-time state list, however, for career three-pointers with 429. He made 17 three-pointers in one game as a junior for a section record and a state record listing. He had 55 points in that game. His single-game high for this season was 42 points vs Avenal.
Tamayo is only the third state player of the year in boys hoops in D5 from the Central Section since the first selection on the list in 1949. The only other two are Edward Turner of Bakersfield Foothill for 2019 and Shaun Floyd of Lindsay for 1965.
Recent State D5 Players of the Year: 2025 Conor Maguire (San Francisco International); 2024 Evan Lucas (Danville Athenian); 2023 Jason Crowe Jr. (Lynwood); 2022 Brandon Lum (San Francisco Stuart Hall); 2021 Wayne Hampton (San Diego Hoover); 2020 Grant Tull (Gridley); 2019 Edward Turner (Bakersfield Foothill); 2018 Jordan Starr (Canyon Country Santa Clarita Christian); 2017 Jimmy Beltz (Lodi Elliot Christian); 2016 Jade’ Smith (Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame); 2015 Cody Riley (Chatsworth Sierra Canyon) For the complete list of all State D5 Players of the Year back to 1955, CLICK HERE.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle.
Ronnie Flores is the managing editor of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at ronlocc1977@yahoo.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
