Instant Impact – Freshmen Forwards
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Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! On October 1st, basketball practices opened up all across the state of Oklahoma. And in November, scrimmages opened up and for some of the smaller schools,…
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On October 1st, basketball practices opened up all across the state of Oklahoma. And in November, scrimmages opened up and for some of the smaller schools, they’ve started playing regular season games! We’ve been taking an in-depth look at some of the top teams in the state over the last month. But in this post, we’re looking at some of the freshmen that you need to know about coming into this season. This post will feature some of the top forwards that can make an impact this season as freshmen. If you want to check out some of the top freshman guards coming into this season, you can check that out RIGHT HERE.
There is a lot of excitement at Inola this year as the Longhorns look to be a dark horse in an absolutely loaded Class 4A this year. They have a lot of experience returning but a new face will be freshman forward Aidan Clark Aidan Clark 6’6″ | SF Inola | 2026 State OK . The freshman has already made an impact for the Longhorns as he had a really good offseason and has been shining so far in the scrimmages. We’re looking forward to seeing Clark early this year as Inola hosts their annual tournament in the first week in December. Clark has already shown a lot of the tools it takes to be a top five overall prospect in this class. It is going to be interesting to see how the Longhorns use Clark this season. Because you can make the argument that he might be the best player on the floor, but he’s surrounded by experienced upperclassmen.
Highlights
So we’re cheating a little bit here with this next spotlight. But we wanted to have at least five players so what can you do? But we do think that Deer Creek freshman Caison Robinson will end up being one of the better wings in the state’s 2026 class. We mentioned Robinson as one of the top performers from our freshman showcase back in August. There’s a few other of those standouts on this breakdown. And when we watched Robinson in person a few months ago, the thing that really stood out to us was his current game, along with his ceiling in terms of growth. Based on his length, he could still grow a few more inches and blossom into a strong wing prospect. And with the legit skills of a guard already, if he continues growing, he is going to be a match-up nightmare for a lot of opponents in the future.
Highlights
There are no 2026 rankings on our website right now because the high school season hasn’t gotten in full swing yet, but if there were, here’s who would be sitting in the number one spot. Owasso forward Jalen Montonati Jalen Montonati 6’7″ | SF Owasso | 2026 State OK is not only already on the radars of schools around Oklahoma, he’s quickly becoming one of the better 2026 prospects in this region. He comes into this winter with some lofty expectations after he’s already earned multiple D1 offers before the Rams ever tip off a game. The Rams have several freshmen that are on our radar and Montonati leads the group. He had an outstanding offseason playing with Team Griffin, as he teamed up with several other guys who are on this breakdown. It seems like all of them are going to be battling for the top spot when it comes to 2026 forwards for the next few years.
One of the 2026 forwards that we’ve already gotten a chance to watch in person this month has been Union big man Miles Flemons Miles Flemons 6’8″ | PF Union | 2026 State OK . He was really impressive at the Broken Arrow scrimmage in early November and he combines with 2024 center Erik Madrid Erik Madrid 7’1″ | C Union | 2024 State OK to give Union a massive front court combination. Flemons certainly has the build and the potential to be a very physical player in the paint. But when we watched him, what really stood out was his touch around the basket. And then his ability to move around the floor and get his shot up from a variety of spots. Putting Flemons into the lineup, along with Madrid, is going to give Union a size advantage in a lot of games. We’re very curious to see how Flemons continues to improve his game over the next few months as he works his way into a lineup of a Union team hungry to make it back to state.
Right behind Montonati is Crossings Christian forward Phoenix Woodson Phoenix Woodson 6’8″ | SF Crossings Christian | 2026 State OK . Just like Montonati and Robinson, Woodson was one of the main standouts at our Freshman Showcase back in August. In fact, not only was he a standout, he would be considered by the kids these days as a “cheat code” with the way he dominated throughout the day. This isn’t breaking news but Crossings Christian is set up for being one of the best teams in the state over the next few years. They have some exceptional talent in the 2025 and 2026 class and despite losing some key seniors and being in a loaded Class 4A, we don’t expect Crossings to take any step back this winter. Woodson is similar to Montonati where he is a special talent with advanced skills on the floor to go along with size that is going to be hard to match up with.