Nation’s No. 1 prospect leads list of 11 girls basketball players to watch
Here are 11 elite Georgia girls basketball players to watch ahead of Friday’s opening games this season.
Most are consensus top-50 senior or junior prospects nationally. They include Marist’s Kate Harpring, the No. 1 senior, according to 247Sports. She is committed to North Carolina.
Others with top-50 rankings are Mill Creek’s Bella Ragone (No. 19 senior in 247Sports), Hebron Christian’s Gabby Minus (No. 43 senior in On3), Monroe’s Kie’Aundria Acree (No. 25 junior in 247Sports), River Ridge’s Finley Parker (No. 26 junior in 247Sports and On3), Creekside’s Cece Dennis (No. 29 junior in 247Sports) and Holy Innocents’ Nakhai Worthy (No. 32 junior in On3).
Kie’Aundria Acree, Monroe
Acree, a 6-foot-1 wing player, averaged 31.1 points, 15.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.7 blocked shots as a sophomore on a Class 3A quarterfinal team last season. She was the AJC’s 3A player of the year. She’s made 54 3-pointers in 30 games. Acree has more than 30 Division I offers. Her mother, Jennifer Acree, has been Monroe’s coach the past 11 seasons.
C’India “Cece” Dennis, Creekside
Dennis is a 5-4 point guard on the defending Class 4A championship team. Dennis had 22 points, six assists and five rebounds in the 4A final against Maynard Jackson. She made first-team 4A all-state last season. A starter since she was a freshman, Dennis has averaged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 4.1 steals for her career. She has made 142 3-pointers in 61 career games. Florida, Tennessee, Florida State and Georgia Tech are among many who have offered.
Kate Harpring, Marist
Harpring, a 5-10 point guard, was the 2025 Gatorade Georgia player of the year, the AJC’s 2025 Class 4A player of the year and the AJC’s 2024 Class 6A player of the year. She led Marist to a state title as a sophomore and semifinals as a junior. In 2025, she averaged 32.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.1 steals and 3.7 assists. Harpring is the daughter of former Georgia Tech and NBA player Matt Harpring. She committed to North Carolina in August. Earlier this year, she signed an NIL deal with Adidas.
Lydia Ledford, Buford
Ledford averaged 22 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists as a junior last season for a 25-3 team that reached the Class 6A quarterfinals. She made second-team AJC all-state. She’s a consensus top-100 senior prospect, according to 247Sports. She committed to Chattanooga in August.
Gabby Minus, Hebron Christian
Minus, a consensus top-50 national player, committed to Tennessee on Saturday. She is a 6-foot power forward. Minus made first-team all-state as a sophomore at Veterans in 2024 but suffered a season-ending injury in December of her junior season at Hebron Christian. Minus was averaging 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds at the time. Baylor, Florida and Tennessee are among her finalists.
Finley Parker, River Ridge
Parker, a 6-3 guard/forward, led River Ridge to the Class 5A championship last season as a sophomore. She averaged 14.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. She was the only non-senior to make first-team all state in 5A and joined teammate Kayla Cleaveland, now at Georgia Southern, on the team. Georgia and Georgia Tech have made offers.
Bella Ragone, Mill Creek
Ragone was first-team all-state as a junior and second-team all-state as a sophomore, both in the highest classification. As a junior, she averaged 23.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals. She’s a 6-2 wing/forward who committed to Notre Dame in May.
Za’Rihanna “Coco” Rudolph, Grayson
Rudolph, a 5-9 combo guard, was a first-team AJC all-state player in Class 6A last season as a junior, when she averaged 17.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.1 steals for a 30-2 team that made top-10 national rankings before losing in an upset in the 6A championship game to Newton, an opponent that Grayson had beaten three previous times. Rudolph committed to Kennesaw State in July.
London Smith, Newton
Smith was first-team all-state as a sophomore last year after leading Newton to an upset victory over nationally ranked Grayson in the Class 6A final. Smith averaged 17.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. In the final, a 59-56 Newton victory, she finished with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds along with three assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Smith has recent offers from Elon, Gardner-Webb, James Madison and St. John’s.
Taryn Thompson, Galloway
Thompson, a 5-8 guard, averaged 19 points, four assists, four rebounds and four assists last season for a Class 3A-A Private semifinal team. She made second-team all-state. Thompson committed to Gardner-Webb in September.
Nakhai Worthy, Holy Innocents’
Worthy is a 6-foot-2 wing who averaged 12.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.2 steals for a team that won Class 3A-A Private last season. That team was led by AJC all-class player of the year Hailee Swain, now at Stanford. Both were first-team all-state. Worthy is the sister of Khalid Worthy, a Division I prospect in basketball and football. Nakhai has offers from a school in each of the Power 4 conferences.
About the Author
Todd Holcomb covers high school sports across the state. He rejoined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2025 and has worked with the AJC in varying capacities since 1985. He is a co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.
