The ESPN SC Next rankings are widely considered the standard for national prospect lists in girls basketball.
Today, the rankings updated, which included expanding the 2027 class to a Top 100, the 2028 class to a Super 60, and a first-time Terrific 25 list for the 2029 class.
Shane Laflin oversees the rankings as an ESPN analyst and director of Premier Basketball, along with Jason Key and additional contributors. Their work has not only given us a glimpse at future basketball stars, but it also puts in context the best New England has to offer against the rest of the country.
Here's what to know from the June batch update of SC Next rankings, which you can find in full here.
1. Bella Owumi, Ella Peper maintain elite status
The two best prospects in New England right now remain highly regarded in national eyes.
Owumi (Lynn, Mass.) slots into the 2027 Top 100 at No. 32, moving up slightly from her previous spot at No. 34. She's been a mainstay in the top 40 of 2027 since last summer and is still the highest-ranked New England prospect in the class. The 6-foot Tilton wing also paces our Best of New England 2027 rankings (which will be updated after the end of the grassroots season).
Peper (Newton, Mass.) slipped just a bit, from No. 4 to No. 7, in the 2028 national rankings but remains firmly in a stellar top tier. The 6-4 wing is the highest-ranked New England high-schooler across all current boys and girls basketball classes, and she's still the highest-ranked local girl since Caroline Ducharme finished No. 5 in her 2021 class.
Peper attended Team USA tryouts in May and just announced her partnership with Under Armour as part of the brand's first "Up Next" class. USC, Wisconsin and Notre Dame are the most recent additions to her boatload of offers.
BEST OF NEW ENGLAND RANKINGS: 2027 | 2028 | 2029
2. Anna Moser and Corinne Lomax are on the board
Two of the region's elite prospects have more evidence of their fast-rising stardom following the expansion of the 2027 rankings to 100 players.
Moser makes her rankings debut at No. 79, continuing a dominant 2026 calendar year. The Rutland, Vt., native (who currently lives in Clifton Park, N.Y.) won our NEPSAC Class AAA Player of the Year award following Hoosac's championship season, and we also named her a first-half stock-riser from the grassroots season so far.
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Lomax, who joins at No. 90, has similarly catapulted herself with a breakout prep season at Tabor that resulted in All-NEPSAC AAA first team honors. The athletic forward from Watertown, Conn., has collected six high-major scholarship offers this spring, most recently adding Illinois.
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3. Just how good is the top 2027 trio?
It's been a few years since three New England natives in the same class landed on ESPN's national rankings lists.
The last trio to make the cut came in 2023: Oluchi Okananwa (No. 27), Carys Baker (No. 58) and Mackenzie Nelson (No. 65). That's a great sign. Okananwa (now at Maryland) and Baker (Louisville) are arguably the two best active New England women's basketball players right now, and Nelson (Clemson) has emerged as a leading talent herself.
Aliyah Boston moved to New England from the U.S. Virgin Islands at age 12, so if you're inclined to include the former Worcester Academy star, she would lead the next trio in the 2019 high school class. That includes two current WNBA veterans — Boston (ranked No. 3 in her class) and Gorham, Maine's Mackenzie Holmes (No. 53) — along with Silke Milliman (No. 70) of Hanover, N.H., and Northfield Mount Hermon.
If those two groups are any indication, Owumi, Moser and Lomax could be in special territory.
4. Outside names to watch
Making the cut in the SC Next rankings list is a major milestone in itself because it's so hard to do. Only 100 players make up the rising senior class, 60 in the junior class and 25 rising sophomores. Here's who I imagine is in the conversation on the outside looking in.
2027 — The top three have separated themselves from the rest of New England. Ava Bryant (Tilton/Rye, N.Y.) is not a New England native, but the 6-foot-5 center has a local tie via Tilton and would be the only other player I could see in the mix.
2028 — Again, a 60-player cutoff makes this super selective. I'd speculate that Alannah Morantus (Nobles/North Attleboro, Mass.) would be in contention when the rankings expand to 100 athletes. That might be it after Morantus, though 6-4 center Hillary Simo (Newman/Hockley, Cameroon) is worth monitoring.
2029 — It's still extremely early, but Avery Bollin (Dexter Southfield/Raynham, Mass.) and Reese Jeamel (MacDuffie/Coventry, Conn.) seem to have the best shot at eventually landing on the rankings given their platforms and college interest so far.
5. Notable nationwide changes
We're focused on New England here, but I've gotten to see a good amount of the national superstars at grassroots events and January's Hoophall Classic. Here are three names flying up the rankings who I can attest to being future stars to know.
Ashley MacCalla (St. James/Middletown, N.Y.) — MacCalla was ranked 46th when I watched her at the Hoophall Classic. The 2027 guard has now flown up to No. 16 behind her ridiculous hops, defensive impact and improving offensive game.
Jaylah King (Bishop McNamara/Baltimore, Md.) — King wasn't on the 25-player 2028 rankings when I watched her at Hoophall. But based on King's 21 points in a massive victory against Ontario Christian, big things were to come. She plays super hard and is a crafty scorer off the dribble who's now ranked 12th in the 2028 class.
Mila Bissett (St. Mary's/Manhasset, N.Y.) — I'm glad Bissett snuck in at No. 59 in the 2028 class. I watched her torch multiple of our New England programs at the Atlantic City Showcase. Bissett is only 5-4, but she can get to and score from pretty much anywhere she wants on the floor, and she's a particularly gifted perimeter scorer on and off the ball.
