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.

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

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