Rivals Rankings Week: Storylines surrounding 2025 Rivals150 update

The 2025 rankings have been refreshed for the first time since January and the moves were plentiful to say the least. Rivals pushed the list from 85 names to 130, adding newcomers and shifting familiar faces around in the process.

Below, national analyst Rob Cassidy has a look at some of the most notable news and notes to come out of the update.

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RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK

Previews: Five who will enter 2025 rankings

Monday: 2024 Top 10 Countdown

Tuesday: New 2024 Rivals150 unveiled | Cassidy's thoughts on new Rivals150

Wednesday: New 2024 position rankings

Thursday: New 2025 Rivals150 unveiled

Friday: Rivals Rankings Roundtable

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Truth be told, there isn’t much to separate new No. 1 Cooper Flagg and previous No. 1 Cameron Boozer. Flagg probably boasts a higher ceiling because of his length and versatility. The steps he’s made toward reaching that ceiling this season have been undeniable.

Considered a Duke lean, Flagg averaged a mind-bending 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per contest in 17 16U EYBL games while shooting 55 percent from the floor and blocking 77 shots. He posted a 52-point game and a 45-point game. He also secured double-digit rebounds in all but three contests.

Sure, it would have been more helpful to see Flagg play up an age group at the 17U level, but he dominated the schedule he played in the manner you’d expect from the top prospect in the country. It’s his almost can’t-miss pro potential that sets him apart, however, as the 6-foot-8 Flagg is a Swiss Army Knife forward who fits the modern game in every imaginable way.

Boozer is obviously still an elite prospect that would be No. 1 in a lot of other classes and he remains in the mix to regain the top spot by the end of the cycle. His play could help him overtake Flagg in the Rivals150 or Flagg, who has been surrounded by reclassification rumors recently, vacates the top spot by moving to 2024.

Anthony will be one of the most written about prospects in the class, due to his standing as the son of NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, and his ranking journey starts just outside the top 50. Anthony already holds offers from Syracuse, Illinois, Florida State, Seton Hall, Memphis and others. He figures to be a major part of a loaded Long Island Lutheran squad this year and play a national schedule with the Crusaders.

North Carolina-based center Jayden Quaintance made one of the biggest jumps in the updated Rivals150, going from No. 35 all the way up to No. 7. Quaintance, who attends Arizona's Hillcrest Prep and runs with Team Thad on the grassroots circuit, is all of 6-foot-9, can handle the ball on the perimeter and is an aggressive finisher around the basket.

He’s made a mark with USA Basketball this spring as a mobile big man and could move further up the rankings this year as he continues to diversify this offensive game.

The top-10 prospect is being pursued by schools such as Baylor, NC State, Kansas, Cincinnati, Ohio State and others.

One of the more notable performers of the spring, Darius Acuff went from unranked to the No. 15 prospect in his class on the back of an EYBL season that saw him explode onto the scene as a hyper-prolific scorer. Acuff averaged just better than 20 PPG and also recorded a near 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

His lack of elite length limits him a bit from a defensive perspective, but Acuff is clearly one of the more gifted scorers in the class and has proven able to be an efficient scorer on his best days.

His next battle will be with consistency of shot selection, but he’s earned every bit of his lofty initial ranking by shining against top-flight competition, even if his game still needs a bit of polish.

The Detroit-based Acuff holds offers from schools such as Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky, Michigan State, Pitt and others.