EYBL Scholastic Playoffs 2025: Link Academy seeks repeat championship

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. – On Thursday, Nike’s EYBL Scholastic League will have 12 teams compete at Riverview Park in North August, South Carolina, for the league’s championship. The league expanded this year to 20 teams, and only 12 qualified for this tournament. The event will run from March 12-15

The semifinals and final games, on Saturday and Sunday, will be shown on the Fox Sports platform as countless Rivals150 players from the sophomore, junior, and senior classes will be playing in the event.

East:
1. Montverde Academy 2. La Lumiere 3. Spire Academy 4. Brewster Academy 5. Long Island Lutheran

West:
1. AZ Compass, 2. Link Academy 3. Wasatch Academy 4. CIA Bella Vista 5. Faith Family

There will also be two Wildcard teams, Dream City Christian and Sunrise Christian. Arden (NC) Christ School, Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy, Boston (MA) CATS Academy, Hurricane (UT) Utah Prep, Los Angeles (CA) Vertias Academy, Springfield (VA) The St. James, Memphis (TN) Tennessee Collegiate, and Des Moines (IA) Iowa United did not make the playoff cut.

Let’s go through some of the storylines we will be tracking through the EYBL Scholastic Playoffs.

Can Link Academy Repeat as EYBL Scholastic Tournament Champions?

Last year, it was quite the run for Branson (MO) Link Academy to the championship of the EYBL Scholastic playoffs. They were led by the play of the tournament MVP, and current Houston freshman, Chris Cenac.

This season’s Link Academy team has a new roster; none of its top-tive scorers this season are returners from last year’s team. They are led by Michigan State commit CJ Medlock, who averaged 16.9 points on 44 percent shooting from three in league play. They also have top-50-ranked junior Davion Thompson, Gonzaga commit Luca Foster, Mississippi State commit Tristan Reed, Kansas commit Trent Perry, Oregon commit Tajh Ariza, and Michigan State commit Ethan Taylor.

Link Academy finished 11-3 in league play this year, earning a first-round bye. Their first game of the tournament will be on Friday against the winner of Thursday’s Bel Aire (KS) Sunrise Christian and Geneva (OH) Spire Academy game.

Who wins EYBL Scholastic Player of the Year?

This will be an interesting race for the league. There are two players, Anthony Felesi and Boyuan Zhang, who are averaging over 20 points per game in league play. Felesi, a 6-foot-5 Pittsburgh commitment at Hurricane (UT) Utah Prep, is averaging 21.6 points, and Zhang, a 6-foot-8 uncommitted prospect at Los Angeles (CA) Veritas Academy, is averaging 20.2 points.

As we understand, scoring is not everything; both Utah Prep and Veritas Academy are below .500 on the season, and neither team qualified for the tournament. The impact a player like West Virginia commit Miles Sadler (18.6 points, 5.9 assists) has on his CIA Bella Vista (11-3) team is hard to ignore. CJ Medlock had a quality year for Link Academy, same with class of 2027 prospect King Gibson for Spire Academy, among others.

If the pick were up to me, Sadler would be my choice, with Medlock giving him a push. However, the parity of this league is one thing that makes it such a “must-attend” event. The individual talent on display will be immense with any number of player capable of going nuclear and leading their team to a playoff run.

2027 class is still wide open

While we are coming up on the final ranking for the 2026 class, we are about the halfway point for the 2027 cycle. And still, there is not a sure-fire player who is taking a hold of their top spot of the class.

The 2026 EYBL Scholastic Playoffs will feature three players who are ranked among the top-10 in the the 2027 Rivals150. Long Island Lutheran is home to No. 4-ranked Moussa Kamissoko, Spire Academy is where No. 6 overall King Gibson plays, and Dream City Christian has No. 7-ranked Malachi Jordan.

It has been an up-and-down season for Kamissoko, averaging 11.5 points on 52 percent shooting this season. The 6-foot-8 wing will first play CIA Bella Vista on Thursday. Jordan and Gibson have both experienced stock-climbing seasons. The 6-foot-7 Jordan led Dream City Christian in scoring this season, averaging 17.2 points on 44 percent shooting from three. Gibson is Spire’s leading Scorer at 15.2 points, adding 4.1 assists on 48 percent shooting from three.

Will any of these players be able to take advantage of the platform and move closer to the top of the class? Dream City will play Wasatch on Thursday and Spire will play Sunrise Christian in their first-round game.

Can PG1 Josiah Rose make an EYBL Scholastic Playoff run?

In Rivals’ most recent class of 2028 ranking update, Oak Cliff (TX) Faith Family’s Josiah Rose moved into the No.1 point guard spot. The 6-foot-3 Rose is currently No. 6 overall in the class.

Rose led his team in scoring at 15.6 points, adding 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He also shot 40.0 percent from three. While the playoffs are most certainly a team game, Rose will have an interesting first-round matchup with fellow top-five 2028 point guard Michai White.

It is still very early in the 2028 cycle; we have only had two ranking updates, so there is still a long way to go. Rose puts pressure on the ball on both ends of the court. He routinely plays with two feet in the paint on offense, and he has excellent instincts, with strength and quick feet on defense.

His Faith Family team finished 7-7 in league play and earned a play-in bid for the tournament, and will kick things off on Thursday against Brewster Academy.

EYBL Scholastic Tournament Schedule

Thursday, March 12

11:00 AM – Game 1 – Long Island Lutheran vs. CIA Bella Vista
12:45 PM – Game 2 – Sunrise Christian vs. Spire Academy
2:30 PM – Game 3 – Faith Family vs. Brewster Academy
4:15 PM – Game 4 – Dream City vs. Wasatch

Friday, March 13

12:00 PM – Game 5 – Montverde vs. Winner Game 1
1:45 PM – Game 6 – Link Academy vs. Winner Game 2
3:30 PM – Game 7 – AZ Compass vs. Winner Game 3
5:15 PM – Game 8 – La Lumiere vs. Winner Game 4

Saturday, March 14

11:00 AM – Game 9 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (Fox Sports)
1:00 PM – Game 10 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 (Fox Sports)

Sunday, March 15

12:00 PM – Game 11 – Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 (Fox Sports)