Southern California's best high school basketball freshmen to watch

Village Christian's Will Conroy Jr., and Long Beach Millikan's Quali Giran have made headlines already — and are among the best freshmen in SoCal.

Village Christian's Will Conroy Jr. (far right) is making a name for himself as a freshman. / Village Christian Athletics

This year's high school basketball freshmen class is loaded, and there are some notable last names with rich basketball bloodlines, too.

Former NBA guards Cuttino Mobley and Will Conroy have sons Myles Mobley and Will Conroy Jr. at Village Christian. Austin Acy is the son of another former NBA'r in Quincy Acy.

Then there are standouts all by themselves including Long Beach Millikan's Quali Giran and Phillip Reed of Palisades.

Here is a list of the standout 2029 basketball players in SoCal:

Austin Acy, Alemany

Austin Acy of Alemany High in Mission Hills, Calif. / Alemany Basketball

Austin Acy is the son of former NBA player Quincy Acy. Austin is averaging an impressive 18.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season through six games. The Warriors are 6-0.

Acy is listed at 6-foot-4, and recently had a 27-point, 12-rebounds performance in a win over Narbonne.

Zach Arnold, San Gabriel Academy

San Gabriel Academy's Zach Arnold (left) handles the ball against Harvard-Westlake. / Tarek Fattal

Arnold is already showing the ability to handle pressure at the point guard position. The 5-foot-11 freshman is averaging 15.5 points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game this season. He was impressive in his varsity debut against Harvard-Westlake, and tallied 22 points in a big win over Redondo Union.

Will Conroy Jr., Village Christian

Will Conroy Jr. of Village Christian / Village Christian basketball

Will Conroy Jr. has been averaging more than 25 points per game and made his big mark when he hit a game-winner over Crespi at home in a 78-77 win. He followed up that performance with 39 points in a win over Tampa Catholic.

Conroy is the son of former NBA guard Will Conroy, who is the assistant men's basketball coach at USC.

Quali Giran, LB Millikan

Long Beach Millikan freshman basketball player Quali Giran has been offered by UCLA after a breakout performance against Sierra Canyon. / Quali Giran/X

Giran created headlines on opening night. The standout freshman scored 31 points against Sierra Canyon in a narrow loss. He's been stellar since, averaging a shade over 22 points per game. He's also averaging 5.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

He was on the radar of college recruiters already, but his shot-making ability against Sierra Canyon earned him a UCLA offer less than 24 hours later.

Tariq Johnson, Servite

Tariq Johnson of Servite. / Greg Fiore

Johnson could be the best freshman in Orange County. He leads Servite in scoring with 16 points per game under new coach Matt Kanne, who has the Friars at 8-1 to start the season.

Johnson is also averaging 4.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He's proven to be clutch, too. He hit a game-winner at Pauley Pavilion to beat Loyola on November 22.

Bryshon McGee, Pacifica/Oxnard

Bryshon McGee of Pacifica/Oxnard / d.avyds/IG

This long, rangy lefty is going to be fun to watch for the next four seasons. McGee is listed at 6-foot-4 with great leaping ability. He's averaging 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 blocks for coach Bobby Tenorio's Tritons,

Phillip Reed, Palisades

Phillip Reed of Palisades. / Palisades basketball

Reed leads the Dolphins in scoring, according to MaxPreps. He's pouring in 24 points and nabbing 10 rebounds per game. He could already be one of the best players in the City Section as a 9th grader. Reed is listed at 6-foot-3, 175 pounds.

MORE FRESHMAN TO WATCH

(Alphabetical)

Kameron Augustin, Fairfax

Jakai Black, Cleveland

Nalu Clark, Heritage Christian

Jaeden Collins, Malibu

Ben Davis, St. Monica Prep

Deyshawn Deyampert, Eastvale Roosevelt

Robinson Diaz, Los Alamitos

Dean Dohrmann, Canyon/Anaheim

Jesse Edema, Rolling Hills Prep

Logan Faux, Washington Prep

Romeo Flores, Mission Bay

Landon George, Verbum Dei

Quentin Graham, Long Beach Poly

Cash Harris, San Juan Hills

Kiefer Johnson, St. Augustine

Brayden Labrot, St. Bonaventure

TJ Lazenby, Heritage Christian

Boogie McLeod, Sage Hill

Myke McQueen, St. Anthony

DJ Meekins, Mayfair

Skylar Melton, University

Nico Micelli, Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks

Austin Miller, Bellflower

Myles Mobley, Village Christian

Darrellreon Morris, St. Pius

Dakota Ray, Harvard-Westlake

Dakari Riley, LA Jordan

Bryce Shamburger, Malibu

Braylen Sherwood, Chaminade

Mateo Smith, King/Drew

Will Spurgiesz, St. Augustine

Mike Taylor, Cathedral

Jackson Thomas, Harvard-Westlake

Travis Walton Jr., Eastvale Roosevelt

Tyler Yeargyn, Windward

Hudson Zamudio, Monrovia

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