What does it take to be the Small Town National Player of the Year? How about never losing a state playoff game.
Dale (Okla.) point guard
Denton Forsythe has that achievement on his resume, and many more, making him the choice for this year's honor.
Forsythe is joined on the Small Town All-American team by John Schaefer, the head coach of Missouri Class 4 state champion
Logan-Rogersville (Rogersville, Mo.).
The Small Town All-American team consists of players who compete at schools with fewer than 1,000 students in towns with a population under 10,000.
Small Town Coach of the Year John Schaefer and his Logan-Rogersville Wildcats will be a team to watch once again in 2026-27 with five of their top seven scorers potentially returning. (PHOTO: Richey Miller)
In leading Dale to four consecutive state championships, Forsythe went 28-0 in the postseason (Dale has won five straight state titles). The Tulsa-bound guard compiled a career record of 122-6, going 32-0 as a freshman and 30-2 each of the past three seasons.
Forsythe led every classification at the Oklahoma state tournament with 84 points in three games, including 34 in the championship game. He averaged 25.4 points per game for the season (806 total points), 9.0 rebounds (289) and 5.7 assists (178). The two-time state tournament MVP ended his career with 1,909 points, 665 career rebounds, 366 assists and 271 steals.
According to The Oklahoman, Forsythe was recently injured in a collision with another player in a Dale baseball game, suffering a laceration on his kidney. He was released from the hospital three days ago but his return to playing baseball this season is undetermined.
Schaefer took Logan-Rogersville to the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions and battled
Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) — the No. 1 team in the country — to the wire before falling 64-58. The next night, the Wildcats defeated a
Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) team that has won 10 state championships this century including five in the past seven seasons.
" We have talented players who work year-round on their skills and development, which translates to success. I am just fortunate to get the opportunity to coach guys who want to compete and win. Success breeds success, and winners win," Shaefer said in an e-mail to MaxPreps.Logan-Rogersville won its four games at the state tournament by an average of nearly 30 points per game, including 72-36 over Clayton in the final. The Wildcats knocked off six-time defending state champion
Vashon (St. Louis) in the semifinals.
The Missouri school was No. 1 team in the final Small Town Top 25 and No. 17 in the MaxPreps Top 25.
The Small Town All-American first team also includes Schaefer's top player,
Chase Branham, who was the Class 4 Player of the Year by the coaches association. A pair of Texas standouts made the team in
Sean Stanaland of
Jayton and
Kanyon Taylor of
Valley (Turkey). The fifth member of the team is
Jaidyn Coon of
Storm Lake (Iowa), named Mr. Basketball in Iowa by the state newspapers association.
Small Town All-Americans
First Team
Denton Forsythe, Dale (Okla.)Guard | 6-2 | Senior
Stats: 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists per game
Sean Stanaland, Jayton (Texas)Guard | 6-1 | Senior
Stats: 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists
Kanyon Taylor, Valley (Turkey, Texas)Center | 6-9 | Senior
Stats: 19.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Chase Branham, Logan-Rogersville (Rogersville, Mo.)Forward | 6-4 | Junior
Stats: 21.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists
Jaidyn Coon, Storm Lake (Iowa)Forward | 6-7 | Senior
Stats: 22.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists
Second Team
Court Gaylor, Lipan (Texas)Guard | 5-10 | Senior
Stats: 19.7 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds
Nathaniel Marlow, Webber (Bluford, Ill.)Guard | 6-2 | Senior
Stats: 31.3 points
Will McCrary, Jackson County (Gainesboro, Tenn.)Forward | 6-5 | Senior
Stats: 23.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists
Boston Ekart, Sterling (Kan.)Forward | 6-6 | Senior
Stats: 22.6 points, 7.4 rebounds
Jacob Spurlock, Boyd County (Ashland, Ky.)Forward | 6-4 | Senior
Stats: 27.3 points, 8.9 rebounds
Third Team
Anthony Washington, Branford (Fla.)Guard | 6-3 | Senior
Stats: 24.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists
Huey Blalock, Rabun County (Tiger, Ga.)Guard | 5-10 | Senior
Stats: 19.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 9.5 assists
Raidon Barney, South Sevier (Monroe, Utah)Center | 6-8 | Junior
Stats: 24.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists
Zeke Clyburn, Andrew Jackson (Kershaw, S.C.)Forward | 6-5 | Senior
Stats: 19.7 points, 15.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists
Ethan Martin, Belle Plaine Minn.)Forward | 6-4 | Senior
Stats: 31 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists
Fourth Team
Paul Gumbert-Mendoza, Wimberley (Texas)Guard | 6-0 | Senior
Stats: 21.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists
Cameron Elwer, St. John's (Delphos, Ohio)Guard | 6-1 | Senior
Stats: 29.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists
Jude Gibson, Ballard (Huxley, Iowa)Guard | 5-11 | Senior
Stats: 16.3 points, 4.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds
Keison Peoples, Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin (Bismarck, Ill.)Forward | 6-3 | Senior
Stats: 31.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists
Jett Mueggenborg, Okarche (Okla.)Forward | 6-3 | Senior
Stats: 28.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists
Fifth Team
Terrence Titus, Walter Northway (Northway, Alaska)Guard | 6-1 | Senior
Stats: 40 points
Miles Nelen, Cooperstown (N.Y.)Guard | 6-0 | Senior
Stats: 26.7 points, 4.0 assists, 2.7 rebounds
Adrik Jenkin, Colfax (Wash.)Forward | 6-5 | Senior
Stats: 25.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists
Wilson McDonald, Alcorn Central (Glen, Miss.)Forward | 6-2 | Senior
Stats: 26.0, points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists
Sixth Team
Grady Eklund, Pewamo-Westphalia (Pewamo, Mich.)Guard | 6-2 | Senior
Stats: 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists per game
Marvin Richard III, Pine Ridge (S.D.)Guard | 6-3 | Senior
Stats: 32.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists
Khalil Luster, Red Bay (Ala.)Center | 6-8 | Sophomore
Stats: 21.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists
Tatum Kocerha, Simla (Colo.)Forward | 6-7 | Junior
Stats: 23.5 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists
Owen Jackson, Fort Chiswell (Max Meadows, Va.)Forward | 6-5 | Sophomore
Stats: 33.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists
