In the upcoming 2025-26 season, North Carolina will have new classifications for NCHSAA ranging from 1A to 8A. Many high schools all over the state will change from their original classification based on how many students attend. This realignment will have a major impact on every sport.
Green Level will be in the 8A classification for 2025-26, with 2292 students enrolled. In the Southern Wake Athletic Conference (SWAC), Multiple teams will be in 8A with Green Level, Including Apex Friendship, Panther Creek, Green Hope, and Apex will all be officially 8A in the 2025-26 season. Cary and Holly Springs will be in 7A while Middle Creek will be in 6A.
Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Green is excited about the new realignment, “change can always be exciting,”. The men’s basketball team will be facing even tougher opponents in 8A. Luckily they return some key players such as Isaac Ericksen, Trevor Manhertz, Garrett Midkiff, and Israel Eatman.
Garrett Midkiff will be a senior when this realignment takes place, but game preparation will still be the same.
“ We are going to watch a lot of film before the game and go over their plays and what they run and who their main guys are”, says Midkiff.
Women’s Basketball Head Coach Ben Woolf is also excited to see what is in store for this new change. While all of these coaches are ready for the new teams and competition, they are trying to focus on their team as a whole. “Excited to see how everyone improves jumping from junior to senior year.” Talking to Woolf he is very excited just to see how his team develops, trying to focus on his team and not the new changes.
We asked Coach Woolf how he was going to plan for teams that they’ve never seen or played before, he explained, “It won’t affect us too much. We already play most teams in the conference; we only lose Holly Springs, Cary, and Middle Creek.”
Claire Barber, a current Junior on the Women’s Basketball team, is excited about the new change in the reclassification for the 2025-26 season as they are expected to play tougher teams and adjust to their opponents that they might not have played in recent seasons.
“Watching film and seeing how they play and adjusting to how they play and scrimmaging.”, Barber shares when asked about their plan for next season.
“The question becomes if you become a conference champion but you’re a 7A school in an 8A conference, so now does the conference championship hold the same exact weight”, Athletic Director Colin Fegeley said.
Every school that is in 8A will be guaranteed to make the playoffs. But if you win a conference and they don’t hold any weight will they still be ranked a higher seed because of their conference win?
Colin Fegeley is ready for this new change, It is stated that Jordan High School may be joining the conference. He also believes that the realignment will give us better chances at winning state championships in a lot of sports.
“For sports like lacrosse, this new realignment will work in our favor. With teams like Middle Creek and Cardinal Gibbons leaving, who is going to beat us?”
The change from a 4A to an 8A school will change the landscape of Green Level athletics completely. From schedule changes to new contenders, the program will see a lot of differences and we have yet to see if it will be a positive or negative change.
