Girls basketball player of the year: Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez embraces added attention

Attention is nothing new to Aaliyah Chavez.

The top-rated 2025 recruit had eyes on her basketball exploits long before she reached high school. Three seasons down at Monterey and that spotlight continues to grow.

No longer is Chavez's court prowess a Lubbock matter. It's gone nationwide.

Hauling in national and state awards put a bow on Chavez's junior campaign, which she ended with a 50-point outing. The 5-foot-11 guard said she feels the added attention — good and bad — and welcomes more.

"Everyone wants to see me fail," Chavez said. "Just knowing that I have to come out hard and play hard every time, it's exciting but it's stressful at the same time. Just being able to prove everybody wrong and being able to be there for those little kids (watching)."

Chavez's reach won't slow anytime soon. The MaxPreps National Player of the Year and Gatorade Texas Player of the Year has a season to go before she jumps in front of college basketball's booming audience.

That's enough time to rack up more accolades. For the third consecutive season, Chavez is the Avalanche-Journal's player of the year.

Chavez raised the bar again, averaging 37.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 3.5 steals and 0.9 blocks. The continued development was expected by Monterey coach Jill Schneider. The thought of more improvement is a chilling prospect for opponents, but that's expected, too.

"She'll keep getting better," Schneider said. "I said this since she was a freshman. … She will keep getting better because she will keep working hard. I have no doubt. She's not the best she's ever gonna be."

Schneider said Chavez is willing to contribute in any way, which meant having more presence down low. Chavez often battled opposing posts because of her height relative to the Plainsmen. She took the assignments in stride.

"She got better in every way," Schneider said. "She scored more, she rebounded more, she defended whoever she had to defend. And she's the kind of player that when you ask her to do something in a game, she doesn't look at you like, 'Why do I have to do that?' She just says OK and goes and does it."

Chavez's work toward next season began soon after the Region I-5A quarterfinal loss to Amarillo High. The AAU circuit will pick up in the coming months, continuing Chavez's busy schedule. But she said she's enjoying every step of the way.

She's got college visits on the docket as well. Chavez said she won't make a commitment until her senior year, and she hasn't narrowed her choices further than the top 10 released in October. That list included national champion South Carolina and several other squads coming off deep NCAA Tournament runs.

Chavez said she's excited to soon add to the popularity as Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins have. She's already shown that ability on a local level, with throngs of fans flocking to Monterey games. Chavez is happy to pose for pictures or sign autographs as long as it takes afterward, too.

"Aaliyah Chavez has great recognition, not just here," Schneider said. "Not just in Lubbock, but across the state and across the nation. We see people from other countries that are weighing in on Twitter and things like that. People know who she is. She's come through at an interesting time, and she'll be entering college at a very interesting time."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Monterey's Aaliyah Chavez is 2024 girls basketball player of the year