NBA Opening Night: Florida high schools lead state-by-state breakdown of league rosters

California, Florida, North Carolina and Texas schools combine to produce more than a quarter of players in the league.

Looking back at the prep career of Christian Braun at Blue Valley Northwest (Overland Park, KS).

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California, Florida, North Carolina and Texas are high school basketball hotbeds ripe with future professional talent. Headlined by superstars like Joel Embiid of The Rock (Gainesville, Fla.), Paul George of Knight (Palmdale, Calif.), De'Aaron Fox of Cypress Lakes (Katy, Texas) and Steph Curry of Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.), these four states combine to represent more than a quarter of the 526 active NBA players.

Using roster data from NBA.com, we mapped out where every one of those players went to high school when the teams finalized opening night rosters. While transfers cloud things a bit, we connected players to the high school where they finished their prep career.

Florida led the way with 53 former players in the league while 42 played their high school ball in California. Texas finished third with 29 players and North Carolina was right behind with 24 guys getting ready to tip off their seasons.

Georgia (20), Illinois (20), Pennsylvania (19), Indiana (18) and Virginia (15) all had at least 15.

In total, 40 states are represented with a player on a NBA roster along with Washington D.C. See the map for a full breakdown below.

Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) has enough players to field a complete NBA team, with 16 alumni playing in the NBA including Cade Cunningham of the Detroits Pistons, R.J. Barrett of the New York Knicks and Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors.

Another Florida school, IMG Academy (Bradenton) is second with 14 players led by Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers and rookies Jett Howard of the Orlando Magic, Jarace Walker of the Indiana Pacers and Keyonte George of the Utah Jazz.

Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) also hit double digits with 10, while DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.), Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), Huntington Prep (Huntington, W.Va.), La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.), Patrick School (Hillside, N.J.), Prolific Prep of Napa Christian (Napa, Calif.), Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.), St. Thomas More (Oakdale, Conn.) and Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) all have at least four alums in uniform for opening night.

Florida on top

Sunshine State leads the way in terms of producing NBA players heading into the 2023-24 season.

1. Florida - 53
2. California - 42
3. Texas - 29
4. North Carolina - 24
T5. Georgia - 20
T5. Illinois - 20
7. Pennsylvania - 19
8. Indiana - 18
9. Virginia - 15
T10. Maryland - 14
T10. Nevada - 14
T10. New York - 14
13. Ohio - 12
T14. Arizona - 11
T14. New Jersey - 11
T14. South Carolina - 11
T14. Washington - 11
T18. Michigan - 10
T18. Missouri - 10
T20. Minnesota - 9
T20. Tennessee - 9
T20. Wisconsin - 9
T23. Arkansas - 7
T23. New Hampshire - 7
T25. Alabama - 6
T25. Kansas - 6
T25. Louisiana - 6
T28. Connecticut - 5
T28. Massachusetts - 5
T28. West Virginia - 5
31. Oklahoma - 4
T32. Iowa - 3
T32. Oregon - 3
T32. Washington, D.C. - 3
T35. Colorado - 2
T35. Delaware - 2
T35. Kentucky - 2
T35. Vermont - 2
T39. Mississippi - 1
T39. Rhode Island - 1
T39. Utah - 1

NBA Opening Night: Florida high schools lead state-by-state breakdown of league rosters

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