2025 Prep RedZone Player of the Year: The Finalists

The season-long process of evaluating the best of the very best South Carolina has to offer has reached its next stage.

Prep RedZone is pleased to announce the 10 finalists for our Player of the Year Award. 

These players were among our 30 Semifinalists, which we released on October 30. Now, after seeing their impacts during the first four rounds of the playoffs and weighing that against their regular-season bodies of work, we're prepared to trim that list.

We'll announce the overall winner after Weekend of Champions in conjunction with the fourth year of our Fab 50 team, the most exclusive All-State team around.

Let's first get you more familiar with the 10 finalists.

ABOUT THE FINALISTS

Tre Aiken Tre Aiken 6'5" | 275 lbs | OL Clinton | 2026 State SC | Clinton OL

The big left tackle was the starting point for a Red Devil offense that rushed for 4,400 yards and 62 touchdowns in 13 games. He knew how to use his size to leverage bigger opposing lineman and his reach to neutralize linebackers and edge rushers. The result was another big rushing year for Javen Cook Javen Cook 5'5" | 155 lbs | RB Clinton | 2026 State SC (1,828 yards, 34 touchdowns) and an October stretch in which Clinton was extremely dangerous. Aiken verbally committed to North Carolina State in mid-July and having the recruiting decision out of the way allowed him to put everything he had into the tail end of his storied high school career. 

J’Zavien Currence J’Zavien Currence South Pointe | 2026 SC | South Pointe QB/DB

Currence has possessed a freakish ability to impact games in numerous ways since his sophomore season, when he went from a pretty good freshman to stellar second-year guy. But what he's done this year makes his first three look like appetizers. After being thrust into the starting quarterback job as an audible, Currence has thrown for 2,764 yards and 24 touchdowns while rushing for another 1,497 yards and 18 scores. All the while, his defensive production has increased, too. Heading into this weekend's Class 4A state championship game against South Florence, Currence has 81 tackles, four interceptions.

Connor Dantzler Connor Dantzler 6'1" | 195 lbs | QB James Island | 2026 State SC  | James Island QB

Dantzler started to exhibit signs last fall that he could make a major jump in his senior season, and he didn't disappoint. The quarterback finished the season with 3,495 passing yards and 41 touchdowns while completing 62 percent of his attempts and a QBR better than 120. He also rushed for north of 300 yards and another six scores. In the Trojans' four playoff games alone, Dantzler accounted for 17 touchdowns (14 passing, three rushing), and his performances putting up big points in narrow victories over Sumter in the second round and Stratford in the third will be remembered for some time. 

Zyon Guiles Zyon Guiles 6'5" | 280 lbs | OL Carvers Bay | 2026 State SC | Carvers Bay OL

An offensive tackle during much of his time with the Bears, Guiles showed excellent flexibility and mobility during a senior season in which senior tailback Kenard Heyward Kenard Heyward 5'9" | 190 lbs | RB Carvers Bay | 2026 State SC rushed for more than 2,000 yards. Guiles was not only agile and persistent, but nearly unbeatable, especially in one-on-one situations. He's able to pull across the middle of the line or get down field, and in both scenarios, the defender opposite him was giving up at least 50 pounds, if not more. Guiles is traditionally projected as an interior linemen at the next levels, and his mobility and hand-to-hand skills back up those projections. 

Jaiden Kelly-Murray Jaiden Kelly-Murray 5'11" | 185 lbs | ATH Oceanside Collegiate Academy | 2027 State SC | Summerville WR/DB

As the season has progressed and the moments get bigger, Summerville started to merge what we saw out of Kelly-Murray during his freshman season (when he recorded triple digits in tackles as a starting safety) and the 1,200-yard receiver he was as a sophomore. Take Friday's win over James Island, for instance. The now-junior played both all three phases the entire game, putting up nine tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass break-up on defense, catching two passes for 44 yards and a score on offense and returning three punts for a total of 45 yards on special teams. Kelly-Murray went over 1,000 receiving yards on the season in that victory, and he's got another matchup with Dutch Fork in the state title game ahead of him.

Triston Lewis Triston Lewis 6'3" | 195 lbs | QB Greenwood | 2026 State SC | Greenwood QB

After Lewis verbally committed to South Carolina in July, he hit another level as a quarterback. Even though he's expected to move to the defensive secondary in college, he spent his senior year at Greenwood accounting for 2,301 yards and 18 touchdowns through the air while rushing for another 1,059 yards and 17 touchdowns. Lewis broke eight school records along the way and has a load of postseason awards coming his way, likely by the time he participates in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas in Spartanburg later this month. A region player of the year and all-state nod both feel like an inevitability.

Aiden Manavian Aiden Manavian 5'11" | 210 lbs | QB Oceanside Collegiate Academy | 2027 State SC | Oceanside Collegiate QB

Manavian threw for 3,469 yards and 42 touchdowns as a sophomore, his first full season as a high school starter. So he was clearly coming into his junior campaign with massive expectations, many of which felt unreasonable. Regardless, he's exceeded them all and has led the Landsharks to another state championship game. Heading into Friday's title game rematch with Belton-Honea Path, Manavian has thrown for 3,906 yards and 40 touchdowns. He's eclipsed 250 yards in a game nine times, including Friday's Lower State win over Loris, when he finished with 307. After taking over the starting job for the playoff opener of his freshman season, all Manavian has done in that stretch is go a perfect 14-0 in the postseason.

Sequel Patterson Sequel Patterson 6'0" Indian Land | 2027 SC | Indian Land WR/DB

One of the best seasons in Indian Land program history came to an end Friday at Northwestern, but not before Patterson backed up his decision to reclassify to the Class of 2026 with one more huge production campaign. Patterson hauled in 76 receptions for 1,006 yards and 10 touchdowns. He added three rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns, one each of those coming in the third-round win at TL Hanna that pushed the Warriors to the Upper State title game. Defensively, he picked off four passes, broke up nine more, forced a fumble and recorded 26 total tackles. He also had varying roles on special teams, from punter to returner, and he even took a kickoff back to the house early in the year. 

Caden Ramsey Caden Ramsey 6'5" | 205 lbs | DB Cross | 2026 State SC | Cross DB/WR

Like many of the others on this list, Ramsey was arguably the most talented player on just about any field he played on, especially over the last two seasons. As a senior, despite everyone trying to contain him on both sides of the ball, his final production line looked this: 54 receptions for 783 yards and nine touchdowns; six rushing touchdowns and 12 two-point conversion runs; 54 tackles and seven interceptions; more than 500 kickoff and punt return yards. The South Carolina verbal commitment could play any number of positions at the next level, but with 21 career interceptions, safety is very much a starting spot if he's not moved to the edge.

Jaylen Singletary Jaylen Singletary 6'0" | 160 lbs | ATH Hampton County | 2026 State SC | Hampton County RB/DB

Singletary has been nothing short of spectacular as a senior. After losing his primary backfield mate from the 2024 season, he took the bulk of the workload on his shoulders and ran wild with them. Heading into Saturday's Class 2A state championship game against Strom Thurmond, the senior has rushed for 2,482 yards and 42 touchdowns while averaging 10.5 yards per carry. If that wasn't enough, he's got five additional touchdowns already this season. He's returned two of his four interceptions for scores, taken two kickoff returns to the house and added an 86-yard touchdown on his lone reception. The fact that he's also racked up 52 tackles and a forced fumble on defense only extends his impact for the Hurricanes.