Chris Cenac is an interesting prospect. The 6-foot-10 power forward played his high school ball at New Orleans (LA) Isadore Newman this season. He is playing this summer with the YGC program on the Puma Pro16 Circuit. Here at On3, we are higher than the industry on the Louisiana-based power forward, ranking him as the No. 6 overall player in On3’s updated 2025 ratings.
On3 leaves nothing to question when we talk about the objective of our rankings. The goal is to assess a prospect’s long-term potential, ultimately manifested by the NBA Draft. Our ranking does not assess who had the best high school career or who will be the best college player. This is why we will shoot to end each cycle with 14 five-star prospects. We follow the lead of the NBA Draft Lottery. This can be a different methodology from others, but our vision when creating our rankings is draft night.
On3 has Cenac ranked No. 6. He is ranked No. 49 by 247 Sports, No. 36 by ESPN, and No. 38 by Rivals. Criteria can be different across the industry when it comes to players and the order they are ranked. So let’s break down why On3 is higher on Chris Cenac than the industry.
Cenac’s frame and fluidity
While the numbers are in place and they are impressive, what first pops with Chris Cenac is his physical presence. Cenac is listed at 6-foot-10, he carries a plus-five (7-foot-3) wing span with broad shoulders and big hands. He also has a strong physical base that has consistently developed over the past six to eight months.
While he will need to continue adding strength to his core and upper body, his frame checks a lot of boxes as he continues to progress. Along with that frame, and gaining strength, Cenac also carries natural athletic fluidity. He is able to open his hips, change direction, and slide his feet. You can see a switchability factor in his game as he continues to learn the finer nuances of angles and defensive footwork.
With Cenac’s length and size, he is already a good rim protector and an excellent rebounder. He high-points the ball and collects control. From there Cenac is comfortable getting it to the guard and following the play or pushing the break and getting his team into a set. When he pushes the break, he is under control and rarely holds on to the ball for too long oftentimes getting rid of the ball by mid-court and getting it back to finish at the rim.
To that end, Cenac runs the floor very smoothly. He quickly switches ends as a long-strider and he attacks the front of the rim. It is unique to find a player both big and fluid with an athletic burst, Cenac naturally carries each of those traits, which starts the conversation for him.
He is already producing
While there is a lot of talk about what Chris Ceanc could become with his frame and his natural athleticism, the 6-foot-10 power forward is already consistently producing double-double stat lines. This high school season, Cenac averaged 13.9 points and 10.2 rebounds in 27 games played.
He is a presence around the basket, comfortable within a system of getting over his left shoulder. He is developing counters, and while inconsistent at this point, Cenac sets a considerable target on the block for his would-be passer establishing a solid base.
Cenac also shows touch, finishing through contact with both hands. At a lengthy 6-foot-10, he can also step out and comfortably knock down a three off the catch. While he was not asked to do that much during the high school season, he does with his travel team. On the Puma Pro16 Circuit, he is shooting 35.7 percent from three, the shot load and release look clean and he knocked down multiple threes in each of the games I watched live. He is also adding 14.1 points and 9.8 rebounds.
Cenac also shot 58 percent from the field this high school season while adding 1.9 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. He plays comfortably within himself while continuing to add to his game. The counting stats clearly show a big forward with versatility who is already producing where he is at.
Chris Cenac’s considerable upside
In the class of 2025, Chris Cenac is young. For example, No. 3 overall Caleb Wilson, On3’s No. 2 ranked power forward in the 2025 class, has a July 2006 birthday. Cenac’s birthday is February 2007. While the long-armed, 6-foot-10 forward is already producing numbers when he steps on the floor, he has a lot of room for continued growth.
While recently playing at the USA Basketball Junior National Team Final Four Minicamp, Cenac was the best rebounder in the field of sixty-six players. In the invite-only event that spanned across multiple age groups, Cenac’s motor was impressive, but so was his ability to read the ball off the rim. He consistently secured traffic rebounds with two hands and corralled them to end the possession and start the play.
He is still learning the finer nuances on the defensive end of the floor. While his natural ability gets him into passing lanes and affecting things around the rim, he is still developing his footwork and his help-side rotations. With his averaging 1.9 steals and 1.3 blocks this high school season, much of that was based on natural ability. His ability to change direction and slide his feet makes his defensive ceiling interesting in the world of versatile and mobile defensive schemes.
Cenac also carries a natural touch. When watching him play recently, Cenac comfortably knocked down threes off the catch in pick-and-pop situations and he stepped into them off the bounce. He will need to continue working on his footwork and balance within the shot, but the ability to stretch the floor and add spacing is continuing to develop and currently looks like something that could develop into a weapon within his game.
He needs added strength and see continued growth, and even with already routinely producing double-doubles, Cenac still has a lot of growth potential to still reach his considerable ceiling.
Projecting Cenac moving forward
There are a lot of buzzwords surrounding what is important in basketball today. You consistently hear words like switchability, processing, shooting, positional size, etc. when talking about players at the highest levels. Rarely do players possess all of the tools, which is one of the reasons why 98 percent of NBA players are role players.
Chris Cenac naturally carries a few of those tools. At 6-foot-10 with good length, he has the positional size to play at the highest level. What makes that interesting is the switchability and fluidity. With his size, he also has a loose and fluid athleticism. The defensive upside is very intriguing as he continues to progress his game. Being able to wall up on the block and slide his feet with perimeter-based forwards is very attractive at the highest levels of basketball.
There is also the shooting touch. While he was not asked to do it much during the high school season, Cenac has range that extends beyond the three-point arc. He is confidently taking that shot. He is adding mid-post work and can score on the block. The necessary polish is obvious, and he needs continued game reps.
Projecting players is an imperfect science. Individual player’s growth can be fluid. There are a lot of indicators and data points to track to see how a player is trending. There is also the good old-fashioned eye test. Chris Cenac naturally has a lot of the indicators that are very trendy at the highest levels of today’s game and he has a skill set that continues to get better.
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