Final 2019 Rankings: Who’s Number 1?
The final rankings for Washington’s 2019 class have been released here. The big question is who deserves to be number one and why? Unsigned senior Jaden McDaniels out of Federal Way High School has held the number one position for some time now and rightfully so. He really took his game to a new level this summer in the Nike EYBL. Every major media outlet did interviews, articles and highlights of Jaden by the day it seemed. Only one player could potentially stand in his way of being the top ranked player and that would be Gonzaga Prep’s star, Anton Watson. Let’s take a closer look at the debate between Jaden McDaniels and Anton Watson.
Background:
Both players played on varsity, since their freshman season. Jaden came into high school 6’4 and 150 pounds soaking wet and played behind many great players 3-4 years older than him. His Federal Way squad was loaded basically every year in his four years. He really came into his own during his junior year, after his older brother, Jalen, moved onto SDSU on a full ride. As a 6’6 freshman, Anton Watson was obviously strong and talented at Gonzaga Prep from early on and continued to just get better with time. He also proved himself to be one of the best players in the state by his junior year. Playing in Spokane for club ball and high school ball, Anton really began to make a name for himself in eastern Washington during the first part of his junior year (committed to Gonzaga during this time), while the long and athletic McDaniels was really starting to make noise in the western side of the state. The 2017-2018 4A State Tournament at the Tacoma Dome is when the big debate of “who’s the best 2019 in the state” was obviously between these two stars.
2017-2018 State Tourney:
Gonzaga Prep came into the state title game 25-0, while Federal Way came in at 27-1. Anton led Gonzaga Prep and Jaden led Federal Way. Throughout the tournament, my attention was automatically pulled to these two players. Anton’s intensity and motor was the first thing that stood out. I came away thinking, “This guy plays with a chip on his shoulder like no one else that I’ve seen in the tourney, but at the same time he’s level headed. Rare.” When I watched Jaden play it was almost like witnessing a young Kevin Durant. Long, perimeter skills and smooth as they come. Of course, the championship game was the perfect setup for a growing rivalry. Anton and company played with a little more physicality and attacked the boards hard, resulting in a 54-52 victory for the Bullpups. Anton was named State Tournament MVP and led the game in scoring at 22 points. Jaden would score 14 and grab 6 rebounds in the losing effort. After the great battle, everyone was just talking about “who is better!?”
2018-2019 season:
As mentioned above, Jaden blew up in the summer playing with Rotary’s EYBL team. He quickly rose up the rankings to #5 in some media outlets. Anton played with his local club, the Griffins, coached by John Stockton. The Griffins played on more of a local circuit and not in front of every media scout possible, compared to the EYBL. Already committed to Gonzaga University, Anton has never been too worried about rankings or collecting countless offers. Meanwhile, Slam, Ball is life and Overtime followed Jaden McDaniels religiously. It was interesting to see the state tournament MVP and Champion receive less praise, but everyone in Washington and obviously the Gonzaga coaches knew exactly how good Anton was. Jaden grew to 6’10 and his versatility became more lethal than ever before. As the high school season went by, Gonzaga Prep and Federal Way ran through local competition in Washington with everyone anticipating the dream matchup once again. Federal Way had only lost two players from the season before and also benefited from a 4-star 6’8 transfer among others. Gonzaga Prep graduated some muscle inside, including football star Devin Culp and lost a key returner to a knee injury. Many felt that Federal Way had too much fire power with the Kentucky offered McDaniels and lots of athleticism and talent surrounding him. When it came down to it, Gonzaga Prep had other plans in the 4A state semis. The Bullpups defeated the Eagles for the second year in a row. Jaden would foul out on some questionable calls and Anton was quiet scoring wise, but he helped lead his team to victory in multiple different ways. Gonzaga Prep would go on to blowout Mt. Si in the state championship and Anton was named the State Tourney MVP for the second year in a row.
Jaden had an extremely successful senior season in his own right and was even named a McDonald’s All American in the process. Let’s take a look below to compare who is more deserving of being number one in Washington:
Jaden McDaniels: 6’10, 190 pound, Small Forward
- McDonald’s All American, BBB All American, Jordan Brand All American, Allen Iverson Round Ball Classic
- 5-star recruit
- #4 ranked player nationally by Prep Hoops
- Kentucky, UW, SDSU, UCLA and Texas in final 5
- 1 win vs Gonzaga Prep (freshman season), 2 losses (Junior and senior season)
- Gatorade State POY
- 1 state title (Freshman season)
- 107-9 in high school career
- Best player out of Federal Way since Michael Dickerson (’94)
Anton Watson: 6’8, 210 pounds, Power Forward
- Mr. Basketball in Washington
- 4-star recruit
- Gonzaga University signee
- 2 wins at state vs Federal Way, 1 loss (Freshman season)
- 2-time State Tournament MVP
- Back to back 4A State Championships (Junior and senior year)
- 101-6 in high school career
- Best player out of Spokane since Adam Morrison (’02)
So, who’s number 1?
Both players are very talented and anyone could make the argument for who should be number one. They are both different players and fun to watch. A common theme I heard around the state tournament was “Anton Watson is better right now, but Jaden’s ceiling is higher.” You could ask 50 different people around Washington and get split answers. Jaden McDaniels has held the number one position for some time, but Anton Watson will take the number one slot in our final 2019 rankings. Anton’s showing at the 2019 state tournament and beating Federal Way in back to back seasons, while winning two state titles and MVP’s put the debate to rest, for high school.
One More Dream Matchup?
As mentioned above, UW is in McDaniels’ final 5. Anton is obviously headed to GU. Not that a UW and GU game would need anymore story lines, but we can dream for one more matchup before these two move onto the professional ranks, right?