This week’s FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com is not defined by the newcomers, but by teams that move up, even if the midst of a loss. The playoffs are set to begin in some selected states and there is plenty at stake, especially for No. 1 Columbus (Miami, Fla.). Among the teams making a move up are No. 12 Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and No. 17 St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) with four newcomers led by No. 39 Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.)
By Ronnie Flores
Sometimes a team can lose a game and still turn heads with its performance. Once in a while, a team can even take a los and move up in the latest FAB 50 National Team Rankings powered by Ballislife.com. Such is the case with Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), which looked to compete with some of the best teams in the county at the Montverde Academy Invitational (MAIT) last weekend. The Eagles opened up with previous No. 5 AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) and came away with a 58-49 victory.
In the semifinals, the Eagles took their first loss of 2024-25 to eventual MAIT champion and No. 5 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), 62-55, before defeating No. 13 Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah) for third place, 64-57. Cincinnati recruit Shon Abaev went for 32 points, three steals and two blocks in the third place game and the recently named McDonald’s All-American was named all-tournament after averaging 18.7 ppg, as Calvary Christian is now up 10 spots to No. 12. Next up for Calvary Christian is the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) District 12-3A playoffs.
Another team with a McDonald’s All-American who has team on the move up is Baylor-bound Tounde Yessoufou of St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.), as St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.) moved up six spots to No. 23 and in front of the St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) club in the Cal-Hi Sports State Top 30 that took a second loss in Trinity League play to a lower ranked team (in this case bubble club Santa Margarita of Orange County). Calvary Christian’s fine play benefits the Knights, who suffered their only loss in the semifinals of The Classic at Tennessee High School in Bristol, Tenn. (formerly known as the Arby’s Classic) to the eventual champion Eagles.
It was a festive week for St. Joseph as Yessoufou eyed the all-time California state record of former Duke guard DeMarcus Nelson, who scored 3,462 points between 2001 and 2004 at Vallejo (Calif.) and Sheldon (Sacramento, Calif.), according to the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book. Last week, Yessoufou scored 36 points in a 103-43 win over San Luis Obispo (Calif.), 29 points in a 86-34 win over Atascadero (Calif.) and 30 points in Saturday’s 93-62 victory over Weston Ranch (Stockton, Calif.) in which the school and program anticipated its star player breaking the 21-year old state record. It put on a well-done celebration of the historic moment after the game. Nelson even sent a congratulatory video wishing Yessoufou good luck. He broke the mark with a conventional 3-point play down the stretch as was mobbed by teammates immediately afterwards. He now has 3,467 career points with three regular season games left, plus the CIF Central Section D1 playoffs and a likely berth in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) regional tournament.
The big question is whether St. Joe will be placed in the NorCal or SoCal regional tournament, as the placement will affect their chances of capturing the coveted CIF state open title on March 15. Currently there are two other SoCal FAB 50 ranked teams besides No. 23 St. John Bosco: No. 2 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) and No. 11 Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.), both of which will look to capture league tournament titles this week. There currently are zero NorCal teams in the FAB 50, with St. Joe’s in the unique situation to be slotted in either region.
Another team looking to capture in district title this week is No. 1 Columbus (Miami, Fla.). Unfortunately, there is no where up for the Explorers to go, but if a top-ranked team could ever move up it would be this week after Columbus dismantled then No. 17 Link Academy (Branson, Mo.), 70-47. The result avenged one of Columbus’ earlier losses, as it looks to stay focused this week in the FHSAA District 15-7A tournament. The Explorers are eyeing a fourth consecutive FHSAA Class 7A state title.
Should they win a fourth consecutive Florida state crown, the Explorers would assuredly receive an invite to CHIPOTLE High School Nationals, set for April 3-5 in Fishers, Ind.
Two night earlier, Columbus stars and brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer will join Abaev, Yessoufou and 20 other standouts in the 2025 McDonald’s All-American Game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Tip-off for the boys game is set for April 1 at 9 pm ET.
Before the nation’s elite players can think about post-season national all-star games, they will look to take care of business in district, regional and state playoffs. That’s where the real competition is and you can bet there will be some upsets that shift around the nation’s longest-running consecutive weekly rankings.
RELATED: Preseason 2024-25 Mr. Basketball USA Tracker | “In The Paint” Podcast (Spotify) | “In The Paint” Podcast (YouTube)
Updated FAB 50 National Team RankingsPowered by Ballislife.com
(6th poll of 2024-25 regular season; Through games played on Monday, January 26; *Indicates forfeit wins, forfeit losses not included; **Indicates forfeits and defaults not included)
No. Prev. High School (City)Record
11Columbus (Miami, Fla.)20-3
22Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.)25-1
33Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)21-2
44Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.)20-3
56Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)15-4
67CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.)17-3
78Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.)22-5
89Perry (Gilbert, Ariz.)19-2
910Brennan (San Antonio, Texas)26-2
1011Allen (Allen, Texas)27-1
1112Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.)26-2
1222Calvary Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)15-1
1313Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah)17-7
145AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.)11-6
1514Wasatch Academy (Mt. Pleasant, Utah)17-4
1616IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)13-4
1723St. Joseph (Santa Maria, Calif.)25-1
1820Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.)12-4
1919Hoover (Hoover, Ala.) 29-0
2017Link Academy (Branson, Mo.)14-6
2121Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.)15-5
2226Fishers (Fishers, Ind.)18-0
2318St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.)23-4
2427Owasso (Owasso, Okla.)16-3
2515Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.)17-5
2625DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.)18-5
2732Huntsville (Huntsville, Ala.)29-1
2833U of D Jesuit (Detroit, Mich.)15-1**
2934John Marshall (Richmond, Va.)16-1
3042Patrick School (Hackettstown, N.J.)21-3
3129DME Academy (Daytona Beach, Fla.)15-9
3228Winston-Salem Christian (Winston-Salem, N.C.)27-4
3344Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.)18-0
3431Christ School (Arden, N.C.)21-2
3537Grayson (Loganville, Ga.)21-2
3638Combine Academy (Lincolnton, N.C.)21-7
3739Reidsville (Reidsville, N.C.)19-0
3841Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.)20-3
39NRBishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.)18-5
4024St. John’s (Washington, D.C.)16-8
4143Highland (Warrenton, Va.)26-5
4230Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz.)19-6
4345Lake Ridge (Mansfield, Texas)29-2
4446Oak Park (Kansas City, Mo.)16-1
4547Webb (Knoxville, Md.)25-2
46NRArchbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.)18-3
4748Kenwood (Chicago, Ill.)23-1
4849Catholic (Baton Rouge, La.)26-1
49NRLake Norman (Mooresville, N.C.)19-1
50NRWisconsin Lutheran (Milwaukee, Wis.)15-1
Dropped Out: Previous No. 35 Reynoldsburg (Reynoldsburg, Ohio), No. 36 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), No. 40 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), No. 50 Crown Point (Crown Point, Ind.).
Bubble Teams: Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco, Calif.) 18-1; Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 15-3; Blue Ridge (St. George, Va.) 22-2; Bolingbrook (Bolingbrook, Ill.) 23-3; Brother Rice (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) 15-1; Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.) 22-0; Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.) 11-7; Crown Point (Crown Point, Ind.) 13-1; De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 21-3; DePaul College Prep (Chicago, Ill.) 22-3; De Pere (De Pere, Wis.) 15-1; DeSmet (St. Louis, Mo.) 18-2; East Lansing (East Lansing, Mich.) 15-1**; Ft. Bend Marshall (Missouri City, Texas) 30-2; Greater Johnstown (Johnstown, Pa.) 17-0; Greenfield Central (Greenfield, Ind.) 15-2; Gibbs (St. Petersburg, Fla.) 21-4; Homewood Flossmor (Flossmor, Ill.) 22-2; Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) 17-1; JSerra (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) 21-6; La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) 15-10; La Mirada (La Mirada, Calif.) 22-4; Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) 20-5; Notre Dame (West Haven, Conn.) 13-2; Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 14-7; Olentangy Orange (Lewis Center, Ohio) 16-2; Orem (Provo, Utah) 16-3; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Baltimore, Md.) 24-3; Pace Academy (Atlanta, Ga.) 20-4; Quincy (Quincy, Ill.) 22-2; Rangeview (Aurora, Col.) 16-0; Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 23-2; Reynoldsburg (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) 17-1; Richland (Richland, Wash.) 17-0; Rockford (Rockford, Mich.) 15-1; Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) 21-2; Santa Margarita (Rancho SM, Calif.) 20-5; Shadow Creek (Pearland, Texas) 26-2; Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 20-4; St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia, Pa.) 14-4; St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) 15-3; St. Mary Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.) 10-6; St. Michael’s (Austin, Texas) 26-4; St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) 23-2; Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 23-1; Timpview (Provo, Utah) 15-4; Tri-Cities (East Point, Ga.) 18-4; Upper Dublin (Ft. Washington, Pa.) 20-1; Vashon (St. Louis, Mo.) 15-2; Veritas Prep (Corona, Calif.) 8-7**; Veterans Memorial (Corpus Christi, Texas) 32-0; Weatherford (Weatherford, Okla.) 19-1; Woodside (Newport News, Va.) 16-1; Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.) 18-4.
Note: The FAB 50 powered by Ballislife.com is a continuation of the National Sports News Service ratings that began in 1952. These were the first national high school rankings and the late Art Johlfs of Minnesota compiled them. They were compiled for many years by the late Barry Sollenberger of Phoenix, who merged them into the FAB 50 25 years ago.
Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores
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