The Times Free Press takes a look at the five best current basketball players that have Chattanooga ties:
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: The 6-foot-5 point guard moved from Canada to powerhouse Hamilton Heights as a two-star prospect in 2015, but quickly emerged as an elite player in his two seasons there. He had committed to Florida before backing out of that pledge and flipping to Kentucky a year later where, after one season with the Wildcats, he was a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Clippers before being traded to Oklahoma City a year later. He has the Thunder as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and is a leading Most Valuable Player candidate, averaging 30.1 points and 6.2 assists per game.
2. Rhyne Howard: The 2018 Bradley Central graduate had an incredible career at the University of Kentucky, earning first-team All-America honors three times before being selected as the No. 1 pick in the Women's National Basketball Association draft. The 6-foot-2 point guard has been a WNBA All-Star both seasons she has been in the league and was the 2022 Kia Rookie of the Year.
3. Kamilla Cardoso: Cardoso was most recently the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four for South Carolina, the undefeated national champions. But before that, the 6-foot-7 Cardoso was a standout at Hamilton Heights, where she was ranked as the No. 5 player in her class. She signed with Syracuse and became the highest-rated recruit in program history before transferring to the Gamecocks, where after three seasons she was selected as the No. 3 pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday by the Chicago Sky.
4. Madison Hayes: Hayes was a two-time Class AAA Miss Basketball award winner at East Hamilton before signing with Mississippi State out of high school. After a season there, she transferred to North Carolina State, where she has become a valuable player in her three seasons for the Wolfpack, starting 38 games in 2023-24 and averaging 10.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in helping the program led by former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head coach Wes Moore to the Final Four.
5. Ace Bailey: The 6-foot-8 Chattanooga native has played at McEachern High School in the Atlanta area and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Georgia. The McDonald's All-American is currently ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the country for the Class of 2024 and has signed to play collegiately at Rutgers, where he could potentially become an NBA lottery pick next season.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.