Texas Turbo Tate Taylor shatters 100 mark; Darius Acuff stars at Iverson: Top high school sports stories (5/5/2025)

High School On SI National High 5: Junior from Harlan (San Antonio) wins 6A-1 crown in 9.92 seconds; Arkansas recruit Acuff tops final All-Star basketball event

Northside Harlan’s Tate Taylor is interviewed by reporters during the Class 6A UIL State track and field meet on May 3, 2025, at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. This after breaking the national 100 meter record in 9.92 seconds. / Angela Piazza/Caller-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Welcome to the National High 5 from High School on SI, a daily look at five of the country's top, most talked about high school sports stories.

When applicable, we'll offer texture, context and even a little opinion. This from a busy last week in April.

1. Texas Lightning: Tate Taylor sets 100-meter national record

Northside Harlan’s Tate Taylor is interviewed by reporters during the Class 6A UIL State track and field meet on May 3, 2025, at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin after he broke the national 100-meter record.. / Angela Piazza/Caller-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

They will be talking about Tate Taylor's 100-meter title for the 2025 Texas UIL 6A state championship for some time. The junior from Harlan (San Antonio) won a blistering final from lane five in a wind-legal 9.92 seconds to not only win the state crown but puts him at the top of all sprinters in U.S. history. Remarkably, he's no ranked the No. 2 U20 sprinter in world history. That deserve a wow. The rest of the field wasn't too shabby as Duncanville's Brayden Dashun Williams was second in 10.01 and Dickinson's Richard Lee at 10.16.

2. The triangle offense: Shaq, Mike Bibby, Mikey Williams

Mikey Williams during his senior high school season at San Ysidro / Photo by Justin Fine

The convergence of Shaquille O'Neal, Mike Bibby and Mikey Williams to Sacramento State last week isn't exactly a high school story, but all three are such lightning rods on social media, most high school-aged sports fans are of interest. We took a quick pulse of California prep players and coaches to see if they will now consider one of the nation's least attractive programs — the Hornets have had three winning seasons since 1991 — now that this triangle offense is in place.

3. SoCal wildfire victims seek interim baseball home

Bulldozers plow through Palisades Charter High's baseball field to create a flat surface where temporary classrooms can be placed while are rebuild of the campus takes place from the wildfires. / Courtesy of Palisades baseball

Roughly three months after High School on SI's Tarek Fattal drove his bycyle into Palasades High School to access the damage, he reported over the weekend that the baseball field that had survived the horrific Southern California wildfires is no longer accessible. It is now being used for land to build on other destructed parts of the campus. In this hearty, informative, painstaking piece, Fattal revisited the new challenges for the school's baseball program which remarkably has gone 15-9 and 12-4 (Western League play) heading into the week.

4. Darius Acuff earns MVP of Iverson Classic

Darius Acuff Jr. from IMG Academy dunks against Oak Ridge at the City of Palms Classic at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. / Andrew West/The News-Press / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There's been some humdingers: McDonald's, Jordan-Brand, The 'Summit. All-star boys basketball showcases flaunting the nation's best, tallest, most athletic/skills players in the land, many likely hitting the NBA hardwood in the next two to three years. On Saturday, we believe, was the last of the bunch and Arkansas bound Darius Acuff, of IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), put on the best show of a busy bunch, scoring 32 points and dishing 11 assists — leading 16 players (yes 16) in double-figure scoring — as Team Loyality outlasted Team Honor 164-151 at the ninth Iverson Classic in Hampton, Va.

5 'Hazing on steroids' act leads to reflection, canceled season

Westhill's lacrosse season was cancelled after a hazing incident last month. / Daniel DeLoach/Utica Observer-Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The nightmarish "prank" gone way wrong at Westhill High School was covered, followed by High School on SI East Coast Managing Editor Gary Adornato, including the ABC interview of victim Gage Talucci, who said "I think this was a mistake that was made by good people that I had known for many years." A district attorney working the case call it a "hazing on steroids."

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