It should be noted that not all state championships are created equal. While most state associations have a playoff system with multiple enrollment or competitive levels, not all schools belong to a state-level governing body. There are multiple independent school associations of varying size that also hold "state" championships. Some of those associations have hundreds of schools (like TAPPS in Texas) while others may have only about a dozen schools (Like the Inter-AC in Pennsylvania).
Originally published in 2021, the list includes both types of state championships while striving to point out the differences. Check out the MaxPreps National High School Basketball Record Book for
our updated list of nearly 800 schools that have won five or more state championships.
DeMatha leads the list of state championship winners with 41. The Stags participate in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, a group of 13 schools from the Washington D.C. area. While some of the schools in the WCAC are from Virginia and Maryland, not all of them participate in the playoffs for those states. Thus a WCAC "state" championship is limited to the competition between those schools.
St. Anthony players celebrate the school's last NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title in 2016. The Friars won 28 state championships under head coach Bob Hurley prior to the school closing in 2017. (PHOTO: John Jones)
Led by legendary coach Morgan Wootten, the Stags won 33 WCAC titles during his tenure and have added another eight since he retired in 2002.
Benedictine participates in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association but only since the late 1990s. Previously, Benedictine participated in the Virginia Catholic state tournament, an annual event that began in the 1940s to choose a state champion among the state's catholic schools.
Under coach Warren Rutledge, Benedictine won 26 Catholic state championships during his 43-year tenure from 1958 to 2000. The Cadets also won six Catholic championships prior to Rutledge's time at Benedictine and they have won six Catholic and VISAA championships since he retired for a total of 38.
William Penn Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.) is third on the list with 36 state titles. The Quakers participate in the Inter-Academic League (Inter-AC), which has been around since 1887. The Inter-AC is not a member of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, which formed in 1913, and does not participate in the PIAA state playoffs. Thus "state" titles in the Inter-AC involve only competition between the 10 member schools. Multiple schools in the Inter-AC have won over a dozen championships in their history with the Quakers winning the most.
Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.) is next on the list with 34 state championships, however only 17 of those titles were won in the current Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA). Under coach Seymour Williams, BTW won 17 more state championships during segregation at the state tournament for all-Black schools. The Hornets moved up on the list after winning a state championship this year.
Like Benedictine,
Wheeling Central Catholic (W.Va.) has a mixture of state
Catholic championships mixed in with championships won as a member of
the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission (WVSSAC). The
Maroon Knights won 21 state Catholic titles and 13 WVSSAC championships,
most recently this past season at the AAA level.
Madison-Ridgeland Academy (Madison, Miss.) is No. 6 with 33 state championships. All of those have been as a member of the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools. The MSAIS, formed in 1968, is a group of independent schools from Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi. The MSAIS includes 135 schools that participate in six enrollment classifications.
The Patriots have won all of their state championships under the guidance of coach Richard Duease, who ranks No. 4 on the list of all-time coaching wins with 1,257.
St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) has 28 state championships and is the highest-ranking school whose state titles have been won solely as a member of a National Federation of State High School Associations governing body. Under coach Bob Hurley, the Friars won five Non-Public C championships and 23 Non-Public B titles. Although not counted as part of their state championship total, St. Anthony also won 13 Tournament of Champions crowns, which was a tournament comprised of all group champions. The TOC has since been discontinued and St. Anthony closed its doors in 2017.
