Alijah Arenas, son of Gilbert Arenas, continues to shine for Chatsworth High School. With his father in attendance, Alijah scored a season-high 53 points for the Chancellors in their 74-69 win over Washington Prep in the CIF Division IV state semifinals on Saturday. Some highlights of his epic performance went viral on social media.
Alijah scored 23 points in the first half and then 30 in the second. The sophomore was 17-31 from the field and a 60-point outing was very much on the cards, but he went just 17-26 from the free throw line.
Still, 53 isn’t too shabby and it was the second-highest scoring game of his high school career, having recorded 56 points in a 97-48 victory over Canoga Park last season. For reference, his father’s career high in high school was reportedly 50.
Alijah, who is listed at 6’4″, also hauled in 11 rebounds on Saturday night and his stock just continues to rise. For the 2023-24 season, he is now averaging 33.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game for the Chancellors.
With all that in mind, it should be no surprise that Arenas is a five-star prospect in the class of 2026. ESPN has him ranked fifth in his class and he already has offers from Arizona, Kansas, and UCLA.
Provided he keeps this up, Alijah could very well enter the NBA in 2027. Usually, children of NBA stars don’t end up being as good as their fathers, but he might well turn out to be as good or even better than Gilbert, who was a three-time All-Star.
For now, though, Alijah would be focused on leading Chatsworth to victory over Cleveland High in the regional final. They have already lost twice to them this season and the stakes are incredibly high here, as the winner heads to the Division IV state championship final.
NBA Fans React To Alijah Arenas’ Highlights
NBA fans were very impressed by what they saw from the younger Arenas, and they showered him with praise.
One said Alijah is going to be a problem when he enters the NBA, “He is gonna be a problem when he gets to the league.”
A fan was left stunned by the layup, “Baseline 360 lay was crazy!”
One said Gilbert created a demon of a player, “Gil created a demon.”
A fan joked that Alijah is more skilled than most players Michael Jordan played against, “More athletic and skilled than 99% of guards MJ ever played against.”
One said Alijah is going to be a great player, “Great support, great game, great genetics, going to make a great player.”
We can’t say for sure that Alijah is going to be great in the NBA but he has the potential to be. His father has put a lot of effort into his development and Gilbert shared his insane workout plan for Alijah.
He revealed there are no days off and that his son shoots about 400 shots a day. In the mornings, Alijah has a practice session of an hour and a half, where he works on his dribbling and shooting. He then goes to school after which he lifts and then gets to work again on his dribbling and shooting.
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