As the 2021-2022 academic school year comes to an end and seniors are graduating throughout California, I provide the final Top 40 Player Rankings for the Class of 2022, which is updated from the last rankings compiled at the end of July, 2021. The previous rankings for the Class of 2022 were released on Silver Waves Media and can be found using the following link: https://www.silverwavesmedia.com/news_article/show/1176231.

Along with observing many of these players over the course of the past 3 years, these final rankings include recent player evaluations from the Fall individual showcase period, the recent CIF sanctioned high school season, and the Spring club season that just wrapped up, as many players on this list participated in events as unsigned seniors during the April NCAA Live Periods. The criteria for these rankings are based on a combination of potential to play at the collegiate level, as well as high school performance. I received input from coaches, media, and other members of the prep basketball scene in the Central Section on players in these rankings, but the order of the players is my own ranked order. The impact of Covid-19 and the transfer portal are evident, as there are far less players making their way to four-year programs than in previous years. In an area that is already underrecruited, it is important to produce these rankings on a platform like Nothing But Net Magazine in order to provide the needed exposure for a majority of players outside the top 5-10 prospects per class from the Central Section. Player rankings for the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025 will be released over the next few weeks. 

The Class of 2022 has been led by standout combination guard Joseph Hunter since I started doing these rankings in 2020, and nothing has changed, as the Fresno State commit remains at the top spot of these final rankings. Hunter averaged over 30 points per game his senior season, surpassed the 2000 point scoring mark, set the Panther’s single game record for scoring with 54 points, was a nominee for CalHi’s Mr. Basketball, and was arguably the best pure scorer in California for the 2021-2022 basketball season. Given all these accolades, along with the various other accomplishments over his illustrious high school career, it is a no brainer that Hunter comes in at the top spot for the Final 2022 Rankings. Although the rest of the Top 10 are relatively the same players, the order of #2 through #10 did see some changes. Jackson Tucker jumped from #5 to #2 after a stellar senior campaign, where he led the Division 1 Champions, Bakersfield Christian, in points, rebounds, and assists per game. Tucker’s high level of play garnered him a lot of attention from college coaches at the Division 2 and 3 levels, and he will be taking his game to Concordia of Irvine this upcoming academic year. Lejuan Watts of Bullard also moved up a spot to #3, as he led the Knights in points and rebounds en route to the Division 3 State Semifinals. Watts will continue his playing career at Eastern Washington, along with former Central of Fresno Grizzlies standout Cedric Coward (transferred from Willamette). The biggest move upward in the Top 10 is the Clovis West big man Tyus Parrish-Tillman, who went from #8 to #4 in the Final 2022 Rankings. After missing his entire Junior season due to injury, Tyus bounced back and was the force in the post that helped the Golden Eagles win their 1st Open Division Sectional Championship. Parrish-Tillman was a double-double machine and will continue his academic and playing career at Biola. Cameron Brown of Independence rounds out the Top 5 and will be headed to University of Redlands next school year. 

Kingsburg’s shooting guard Matthew Ruegge was the lone newcomer to the Top 10, as he set a single game scoring record for the Vikings of 47 points and set the school record for career made 3 pointers (119). Ruegge was one of the top scorers in the Section and key for Kingsburg, who graduated 4 of 5 starters from the previous year’s SoCal Regional State Championship. The Final 2022 Rankings featured 10 players that were not listed in the previous version of these rankings, with Immanuel’s Ryan Chavez making the biggest impact at #19. Some players dropped out of the Top 40 due to not playing this season for a variety of reasons. Golden Valley of Bakersfield finished with four players in the Top 40 (Markell Brooks, Jermaine Dabbs, Jlen Slaughter, and Kemonte Jackson), which was a key reason they were able to capture the school’s first Section Championship in the program’s history, winning the Division 3 Title. Division 1 Champions, Bakersfield Christian, had three players on this list, as Erick Chaney and Zach Hiebert came in at #7 and #25 to complement Tucker at #2. Although the college commitments are not what we have seen in the past, there are a lot of players in these rankings that will end up on Junior/Community College rosters by the start of next season. Included in the player rankings below are player name, height, the high school attended, player’s position, where they were previously ranked last year, and the college they will be attending next school year.

Rank (Previous Rank)Player NameHeightPositionHigh SchoolCollege Commitment
1 (1)Joseph Hunter6'5"CGSan Joaquin Memorial (Fresno CA)Fresno State
2 (5)Jackson Tucker6'4"WGBakersfield Christian H.S. (CA)Concordia of Irvine
3 (4)Lejuan Watts6'5"WFBullard (Fresno CA)Eastern Washington
4 (8)Tyus Parrish-Tillman6'8"PFClovis West (Fresno CA)Biola
5 (3)Cameron Brown 6'5"CGIndependence (Bakersfield CA)Redlands
6 (2)Dre Roman6'3"CGSt. Joseph (Santa Maria CA)Northfield Mount Hermon (Gill MA)-Postgrad
7 (10)Erick Chaney 6'0"SGBakersfield Christian H.S. (CA)Lewis-Clarke State
8 (7)Jaylan Walton 6'1"PGHoover (Fresno CA)
9 (9)Camden Thompson 6'0"CGClovis East (Clovis CA)
10 (16)Matthew Ruegge6'1"SGKingsburg H.S. (CA)College of Sequoias
11 (23)Markell Brooks6'6"PFGolden Valley (Bakersfield CA)Bakersfield College
12 (13)Tyric Herod6'2"SGBullard (Fresno CA)
13 (24)Marquise Green6'7"WFCentral (Fresno CA)
14 (11)Orion Tomlinson 6'1"PGFresno Christian (CA)Graceland University
15 (20)Jermaine Dabbs6'2"CGGolden Valley (Bakersfield CA)Reedley College
16 (17)Tyler Silva6'0"PGFrontier (Bakersfield CA)
17 (19)Dae'Shaun Bias6'2"WFSunnyside (Fresno CA)
18 (27)Diego Celaya6'1SGClovis H.S. (CA)
19 (NR)Ryan Chavez6'2" PGImmanuel (Reedley CA)
20 (6)Louis DiModica6'5"WFNipomo H.S. (CA)
21 (30)Blake Dibble6'2"SGCentennial (Bakersfield CA)
22 (15)Jonathon Dillon6'6"PFSanger H.S. (CA)
23 (12)Niko Jones 5'11"PGClovis North (Fresno CA)
24 (18)Stephon Brooks6'1CGWest High (Bakersfield CA)
25 (29)Zach Hiebert 6'2"SGBakersfield Christian H.S. (CA)Tabor College
26 (31)Kemonte Jackson6'5WGGolden Valley (Bakersfield CA)Bakersfield College
27 (NR)Noah Wright6'4"WFNorth (Bakersfield CA)
28 (37)Ruben Singh 6'2"SGRidgeview (Bakersfield CA)Bakersfield College
29 (NR)Charles Bailey III6'1"CGEdison (Fresno CA)
30 (NR)Kyriaun Davis6'7"WFIndependence (Bakersfield CA)Westcliff
31 (NR)Dane Odsather6'6"WGPorterville H.S. (CA)IMG (FL)-Postgrad
32 (NR)Nathan Jaureguizar6'6"WFHanford H.S. (CA)
33 (28)Jlen Slaughter 5'11"PGGolden Valley (Bakersfield CA)
34 (NR)Malachi Hogg-Madden6'2"WFCentennial (Bakersfield CA)
35 (NR)Amerion Pruitt5'10"CGMcLane (Fresno CA)
36 (NR)Adeola Adekoba6'3"PFStockdale (Bakersfield CA)
37 (21)Terik Streets6'1"CGCentral (Fresno CA)
38 (22)Anthony Swillis6'6"PFHoover (Fresno CA)
39 (38)Arnold Ochoa5'11PGBakersfield H.S. (CA)
40 (NR)Stevie Waiters6'0"PGAtascadero H.S. (CA)
Honorable Mention (NR)Grant Callahan6'3WFMission Prep (San Luis Obispo CA)
Honorable Mention (NR)Carter Glick6'2"SGMt. Whitney (Visalia CA)
Honorable Mention (NR)Ivan Hayden6'0"CGHighland (Bakersfield CA)
Honorable Mention (NR)Jamison Cowings6'4"WFClovis East H.S. (CA)
Honorable Mention (NR)Aaron Ramos6'4"WFEast (Bakersfield CA)