More young Bay Area sports stars everyone should know
Mykolas Alekna: A Lithuanian discus thrower who earned Pac-12 Men's Field Athlete of the Year honor as a freshman at Cal, Alekna is the son of an Olympic champion who set the NCAA all-time discus throw record this season before finishing as the runner-up at the NCAA Championships. Dylan Beavers: The Cal slugger is a fivetool talent who hit 18home runs and posted a .630 slugging percentage for the Bears this year and could be taken in the first round of this year's MLB draft.
Blake Burke: After earning 2021 Bay Area News Group Player of the Year honors, Burke tied the Tennessee Volunteers' freshman home run record with 14 for a team that spent much of 2022 as the No. 1 squad in the country.
Jurrion Dickey: The Valley Christian (San Jose) wide receiver is one of the top 100 recruits in the Class of 2023and has committed to Oregon.
Elise Evans: The Woodside High forward was the No. 1recruit in the country according to Top Drawer Soccer, scoring 18 goals in just 12games this year, earned Gatorade California Player of the Year honors and will play at Stanford this fall.
Megan Grant: The No. 2 softball recruit in the Class of 2022according to Extra Innings Softball, the UCLA-bound Grant competed for the USA U18national team last summer before earning Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division co-player of the year honors at Aragon this spring.
Brock Jones: Originally a dual-sport athlete at Stanford, Jones dropped football in favor of baseball and after hitting 21home runs with a team-best 1.115OPS, could be a top-15pick in the upcoming MLB draft, much like Cardinal standout teammate Braden Montgomery could be in 2024. Sophie Jones: A two-time All-ACC selection as a midfielder at Duke, the former Menlo School standout was named to the U.S. Under-23national team roster this spring.
Javon Kinlaw: The heir apparent to DeForest Buckner on the 49ers' defensive line, knee injuries have disrupted the first-round draft pick's progress in the NFL.
Jackson Koivun: The Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) golfer is the No. 3 ranked junior golfer in the country and is committed to play at Auburn University after his 2023 graduation.
Elle Ladine: The Bay Area News Group Player of the Year and University of Washington signee averaged 23.4 points, 4.6 assists and 14.7rebounds for Pinewood as a senior.
Timothy Lam: The Los Altos High product participated in the Tokyo Olympics as Lam is the 112th-ranked men's badminton player in the world and the highest-ranked men's player in the United States.
Alysa Liu: The youngest-ever U.S. women's national champion in figure skating, Liu would have cracked our top 25 if not for her surprising retirement announcement in April at age 16.
Brody Malone: A 2021bronze medalist on the horizontal bar at the world championships, the Stanford gymnast won 10gold medals at three separate NCAA championship meets.
Nicole May: May went 24-0 with a 0.32 ERA as a junior at Foothill High (Pleasanton) in 2019 and since arriving at Oklahoma, she's won two softball national titles and posted a 1.30ERA en route to hoisting this year's trophy.
Cruz Medina: At 15 years old, the San Jose native signed a Homegrown Player contract with the San Jose Earthquakes last month, becoming the third-youngest player in club history.
Moses Moody: A 2021lottery pick, the shooting guard out of Arkansas played key minutes for the Warriors this season and scored a season-high 30 points on March 7 against Denver.
Nina O'Brien: The San Francisco native competed for the United States in the giant slalom at the 2022 Olympics and was in sixth place before crashing on her second run.
Natasha Oon: One of the best golfers in San Jose State history, Oon was the 2022 individual runner-up at the NCAA tournament and recorded 22 career top-10 finishes before turning pro this summer.
Natalie Pasco: The Bay Area News Group 2021 Girls Basketball Player of the Year at San Ramon Valley, Pasco signed to play at Boise State and finished her high school career with what is believed to be a schoolrecord 1,463 points.
Jaden Rashada: The No. 22 recruit in the Class of 2023according to ESPN, the Pittsburg High quarterback is the highestrated passer to commit to Miami since Miramonte's (Orinda) Ken Dorsey did so 25 years ago.
Jaylen Thompson: The Oakland native left St. Joseph's (Alameda) to finish his high school career at Southern California Academy, but will return to the Bay Area to play college hoops as the top-100 recruit in the Class of 2022signed with Stanford. James Wiseman: The No. 2 overall pick in the 2020NBA draft, the Warriors center has All-Star potential but knee injuries have limited him to just 39career games. Could he lead a future core alongside 2022firstround pick Patrick Baldwin Jr.?
Jordan Woolery: The No. 3-ranked softball recruit in the Class of 2022and composite No. 1 according to MaxPreps, the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division MVP and UCLA commit hit .652(45-for-69) for Clayton Valley Charter this year.
Noah Woolsey: The Amador Valley (Pleasanton) grad won the 2022 Pac-12 men's golf individual title before turning pro this year.