Two of the country’s best boys basketball teams reside in the Dallas area. They also play in the same classification.
Richardson (19-1) and Duncanville (17-1) have separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Both are ranked nationally by ESPN (Richardson at four, Duncanville at five) and MaxPreps (Richardson at two, Duncanville at three) and have succeeded on the national circuit. Richardson, No. 1 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches 6A rankings, beat Compass Prep (Ariz.) at the Thanksgiving Holiday Hoopfest when it was ranked No. 1 in the country (MaxPreps). Duncanville, No. 2, has wins over nationally-ranked Sierra Canyon and IMG Academy teams.
So who’s the best in Texas? Richardson, led by Kentucky signee Cason Wallace and Alabama signee Rylan Griffen, handed Duncanville its first loss of the season at the Whataburger Holiday Tournament in December.
“For us as a team and a school, this was big for us,” Richardson head coach Kevin Lawson said after the win over Duncanville. “We just play whoever is in front of us, and we just go out and play.
But Duncanville, back-to-back 6A state champions led by five-star junior Ron Holland and five-star senior Anthony Black, has the pedigree.
It’ll likely take another postseason game (Duncanville beat Richardson in the 2021 6A state semifinals) to decide the answer.
Kimball, No. 1 in 5A, can learn from difficult start to season
Last year’s 5A state runner up, Kimball’s non-district schedule was no cakewalk. It played three nationally-ranked teams — Duncanville, North Little Rock (Ak.) and Corona Centennial (Calif.) — and lost to each.
Three of those four losses were by three points or less, and they came in something close to a postseason environment.
“These kind of crowds and things like this,” Kimball coach Nick Smith said after a loss to North Little Rock. “You can’t totally mimic what the state championship feels like, being in San Antonio. But just the atmosphere, the stage, getting them used to playing. If we have a chance to get back there, those big time regional final games, they’ll be prepared.”
In 5A, Dallas-area teams will fight for supremacy
While Kimball stands atop the TABC 5A statewide rankings, five other Dallas-area teams make up the top 10.
Mansfield Timberview (20-3) is ranked third, as the senior trio of Jared Washington, Donovan O’Day and Chendall Weaver has the team looking like contenders once again. Timberview has won two state titles since 2016, and beat McKinney (ranked fourth in 6A) and Denton Guyer (ranked 14th in 6A) earlier this season.
Behind them is Frisco Memorial (18-3), ranked fifth, where four-star guard Drew Steffe is looking more and more like one of the top juniors in all of Texas.
Lancaster, which won 26 or more games in each season from 2018-20, is ranked eighth. It took some non-district lumps early, with losses to Duncanville, McKinney and Faith Family.
Four-star junior forward Isaiah Manning gives ninth-ranked Mansfield Legacy (15-5) a high-level talent in the paint.
Tenth-ranked Mansfield Summit (16-5) will battle Timberview for District 8-5A supremacy.
With six Dallas-area team in the top half of the state rankings, expect a heavy North Texas presence in the 5A postseason bracket.
Can John Paul II’s star power bring it to the top?
The top-ranked SPC program in the TABC’s 6A/Private rankings, John Paul II (18-6) has the stars to back it up.
Sophomore wing Liam McNeeley, a five-star recruit per ESPN, looks the part. Four-star junior R.J. Jones (offers from Oklahoma State and Illinois) and senior forward Gabe Warren (offers from TCU and Rice) help round out a formidable Big Three for coach Dan Lee’s squad.
Will that be enough to bring a TAPPS 6A title to Plano?
Faith Family has tools for another state title run
Faith Family (20-4), No. 1 in the TABC’s 4A rankings, looks primed to contend for its first state title since 2019. Aside from a November loss to Kimball, Faith Family is undefeated against in-state opponents (8-1, including a win over John Paul II) and has faced a gauntlet of out-of-state powers, including North Little Rock and Bishop Gorman (Nev.).
Three-star senior guard TJ Caldwell (Ole Miss pledge), senior guard Brandon Walker (UT Arlington pledge) and 6-11 sophomore Doryan Onwuchekwa (offers from SMU, Tennessee and Texas A&M) might be the right mesh to bring a basketball state title to Oak Cliff.
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