Every year, countless basketball teams that struggled to make the playoffs the prior season rebound in impressive fashion to either contend for the district or make waves as a playoff surprise.
For whatever reason — youth and inexperience, coaching changes or injury — below is a list of teams that went through some rough patches last season, but are positioning themselves this time around to earn a spot in the playoffs.
Boys BasketballAnna
2024-25: 12-21, 5-8
2025-26: 19-6, 7-0
Anna’s crop of young talent that missed the playoffs last year has grown up and flourished into a district favorite. Senior Keyshawn Myles was a standout at Prosper Rock Hill before transferring to Anna and now he’s leading the program in points and rebounds with 16.5 points and 7.9 boards per game. But junior Karson Jones’ development has played a key role too, leading the team in assists with 3.5 assists and five rebounds per game.
Farmersville
2024-25: 12-16, 1-9
2025-26: 22-2, 2-1
One of the more resurgent stories in the D-FW area this season has been Farmersville who, at one point, went winless in district from 2021 to 2023. The team already has more wins than the previous two seasons combined and are led by the junior guard combo of Koby Chavez and Christian Smith. Farmersville hasn’t won district since 2012-13.
High School Sports
Frisco Reedy
2024-25: 13-21, 7-7
2025-26: 17-8, 6-1
Frisco Reedy is in the thick of a District 12-5A title race after missing the playoffs last season with wins over three of the four teams that finished ahead of them. Kai and Joshua Johnson lead the team in scoring with over 16 and 15 points per game respectively.
Mansfield
2024-25: 13-17, 4-8
2025-26: 20-5, 5-1
A year after another Mansfield school, Lake Ridge, beat powerhouse North Crowley for the district crown, Mansfield High School is in the midst of giving them another challenging run. Tuesday night, North Crowley beat them 81-67 on the first go-around but Mansfield has already matched last season’s district win total with four.
Girls Basketball:Flower Mound Marcus
2024-25: 15-16, 6-8
2025-26: 22-7, 6-3
Flower Mound Marcus has already matched last season’s District 5-6A win total and are in good position to make the playoffs after finishing sixth a year ago. They’re in the midst of their winningest season since 2013-14 when they finished with 28 wins.
Keller
2024-25: 14-16, 5-11
2025-26: 19-7, 9-3
Keller is in a good position to earn a playoff spot currently sitting second in District 4-6A. Lila Russell, Mia Arnold and Mia Russell currently lead the team in scoring, all averaging double figures.
McKinney Boyd
2024-25: 14-16, 6-10
2025-26: 18-6, 6-5
McKinney Boyd is currently experiencing its best season in over 10 years. The program at one point went three straight seasons without winning a conference game and are vying for a playoff spot, which would only be the program’s second since 2014. In three years, head coach Kellen Hearn has brought more district wins (14) than the previous 11 combined (12).
Prosper Richland
2024-25: Non-varsity
2025-26: 26-4, 9-0
It’s only Prosper Richland’s first season in UIL competition and the program is already ranked in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 coming in at 14th in Class 4A. The team’s led by breakout sophomore Lauryn Williams averaging over 15 points per game.
UIL realignment predictions: How Dallas-area 6A, 5A districts could be split for 2026-2028
The UIL will announce its realignment for 2026-2028 on Feb. 2.
With UIL realignment looming, what could District 11-6A look like without DeSoto?
All eyes around the state will be on DeSoto as schools wait to see if the national powerhouse will drop from 6A to 5A.
Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
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