Inside No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez's UCLA official visit

UCLA is one of five finalists for Lubbock (Texas) Monterey High School five-star point guard Aaliyah Chavez, the No. 1 women’s basketball recruit in the nation.

Over the weekend, Chavez made her way out to California to take her official visit with the Bruins, who are battling Texas, Texas Tech, South Carolina and Oklahoma for her pledge. The 5-foot-9 guard took to social media to showcase her time out in Westwood:

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. Thanks @UCLAWBB @hoopers4dayz pic.twitter.com/tctvvn91sc

— AALIYAH CHAVEZ (@AALIYAH2CHAVEZ) October 31, 2024

Head coach Cori Close and her staff are looking to lure Chavez away from multiple in-state programs as the lone West Coast option still standing in her recruitment. It won’t be an easy task, but the Bruins took the next step by delivering a jam-packed visit over the weekend.

“I’ve never been to California, so I want to take a visit there for sure. I like the way they play… They’re not slowed down. They’re recruiting me very well,” Chavez said of UCLA to On3’s Talia Goodman this summer.

Fall intel on Chavez’s recruitment

Earlier this month, Chavez logged an official visit to Oklahoma. The Sooners are also close to home, though it’s the in-state Longhorns and Red Raiders that had the momentum for the top-ranked recruit earlier this fall, according to Goodman.

“Sources previously told On3 that Texas and Texas Tech were the front-runners to land Chavez, but Oklahoma could make a late push. They also noted that NIL will likely play a significant role in her decision,” Goodman wrote.

“The most important thing is to make sure I’m in a place where I have high energy,” Chavez told On3. “I don’t want a coach that’s low energy, and I need to make sure that they’re going to be there the whole time [I am]. I don’t want a coach that’s just going to be there for two years… I want them to be there all four years. Because that’s what I’m getting recruited off of, right? I want to be there all four years.” 

Chavez talks top schools

When speaking with Goodman this summer, Chavez talked about her interest in each of her finalists:

Texas Tech: “That’s my hometown, so that has an advantage. I’d love to be a hometown hero. I love the coaching staff – they’ve recruited me really well…They have one of the highest [level] facilities I would say.” 

South Carolina: “They’re always in at least the top four [nationally] so they’re a great program. I want to be at a winning program too. Their coaching staff is recruiting me really well.”

Oklahoma: “It’s not too far from home and I love coach Jennie [Baranczyk]. She’s the head coach that I usually talk to. She’s very young, and I like how they just play basketball. They don’t try to force anything – no sets. They just go out there and play basketball.” 

LSU: “They’ve recruited me very well. I think I talk to at least an assistant coach every day. They definitely talk to my parents a lot. They’re also a winning program, and I would love to win… [The visit] was fun. It was definitely different than the other visits. They had all the girls there when I was there, so they were in my photoshoots. It was definitely a different vibe. I like their energy as well – at the photoshoot, it was so high. There was no low energy at all.” 

Texas: “They were one of my first offers too, so just keeping them in. They’re close to home. They recruit me well. I think I talk to them almost every day too and they always have high energy.”