Travel basketball already began last weekend, shifting the focus to the start of a new high school basketball season.
So, here’s our annual way-too-early list of the top players to watch in the Peoria area for the 2026-27 high school boys and girls basketball campaigns. These current juniors, sophomores and freshmen will be the seniors, juniors and sophomores making an impact this winter.
This list is largely based on 2026 all-conference, all-area and all-state honors. All players are listed alphabetically with their current school and graduation year. Transfers aren’t taken into account.
Here are those 131 boys and girls players to watch ahead of the 2026-27 season:
Top Peoria-area boys basketball players for 2026-27
LARGE SCHOOL
SMALL SCHOOL
Top Peoria-area girls basketball players to watch for 2026-27
LARGE SCHOOL
SMALL SCHOOL
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Our way-too-early list of 131 IHSA basketball players to watch around Peoria for 2026
Reporting by Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
