Which recruits will Mark Pope and UK be watching at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball coaches are watching recruits play at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam event.
- Peach Jam is a tournament that caps the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League season.
- Some top UK recruits at Peach Jam are Tyran Stokes, Jordan Smith and Christian Collins.
Another evaluation period has arrived for college basketball coaches this summer.
And there’s one clear showcase event that they’ll all be traveling to.
Peach Jam — the season-ending tournament for the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League — is in full swing at the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta, South Carolina. Comprising several age divisions, Peach Jam is the annual grand finale for the Nike grassroots circuit.
It’s also a top setting in which the nation’s best high school basketball players compete against one another for serious summer hardware. After getting underway earlier this week with the Herald-Leader in attendance, college coaches have now descended upon North Augusta to get an in-person look at top recruits.
Starting Thursday morning, college coaches are allowed to watch high school prospects play. This evaluation period will run through Sunday.
That means Mark Pope and the assistant coaches on his UK basketball staff will be in the gym in North Augusta over the next few days watching standout players from the 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes. A total of 11 players with Kentucky scholarship offers are playing at Peach Jam, which has long been considered the premier summer event for grassroots basketball.
The talent on the respective grassroots circuits are spread out more evenly nowadays, and several other notable circuits (Adidas, Puma, Under Armour, etc.) are also holding events during this week’s evaluation period.
But Peach Jam remains the gold standard, and there will be plenty of top Kentucky recruits in action in this year’s showcase.
Here’s a look at the players at Peach Jam who have reported UK scholarship offers. Expect Kentucky to have a presence at each of these players’ games over the next few days, and be on the lookout for other games that UK coaches pop up at. That’s always an indicator that a new scholarship offer could soon be dished out.
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Class of 2026 UK basketball recruits at Peach Jam
Of the 16 players in the 2026 recruiting class who hold a Kentucky scholarship offer, eight will be in action during Peach Jam.
The Wildcats are still looking for their first commitment from the 2026 recruiting group.
Players are listed in order of their 247Sports Composite ranking.
▪ Tyran Stokes: A 6-foot-7 small forward who is originally from Louisville, Stokes is the undisputed top player in the 2026 recruiting class. His recruitment by Kentucky began under former coach John Calipari and has continued through to the Pope coaching era.
Stokes — who plays prep basketball at Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles — took a recruiting visit to Kentucky in early June.
Stokes has long been projected as the top recruit in the 2026 class, and he’s looked every bit the part of that during a decorated prep career. He plays in the EYBL for Oakland Soldiers.
In addition to his standout physical traits, Stokes’ court vision and winning mentality have solidified his spot as the recruit to know from the rising high school senior class.
Earlier this summer, Stokes was teammates with incoming Kentucky freshman guard Jasper Johnson on the United States team that won the 2025 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Switzerland. Stokes averaged 9.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game at the World Cup.
Pope worked as a court coach during a USA Basketball training camp in June that was used to determine that 12-player World Cup team. Pope also traveled to Switzerland during the tournament to watch the U.S. team.
▪ Brandon McCoy: A 6-4 guard out of California, McCoy is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the second-best recruit in the 2026 class.
Another West Coast prospect whose recruitment by Kentucky runs through UK assistant coach Jason Hart, McCoy recently returned to Nike EYBL action with the Arizona Unity program.
Like Stokes, McCoy was teammates with incoming UK freshman Johnson on the U.S. team that won the FIBA Under-19 World Cup. McCoy averaged 5.7 points, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game for the Americans at that event.
Obviously, the same connections also apply between McCoy and Pope as far as Pope’s presence around the American team at the World Cup is concerned.
▪ Jordan Smith Jr.: A 6-2 guard from Virginia, Smith is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 3 national recruit in the 2026 class.
Long known as one of the best defenders in the 2026 recruiting group, Smith’s recent development has come on offense with expanded playmaking abilities. Smith has been a catalyst for Team Takeover, which put together one of the best regular seasons on the EYBL circuit this year.
Smith averaged 19.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for Team Takeover during the EYBL regular season.
By now, you might be sensing a theme when it comes to some of the best college basketball prospects in the class of 2026. Smith was also part of the American squad that brought home the gold medal this summer at the World Cup in Switzerland. Which means that Smith got plenty of time around Johnson, the incoming UK frosh.
Smith was a starter for Team USA at the World Cup and averaged 8.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game, with Pope keeping a watchful eye on his activities.
▪ Christian Collins: A 6-8 power forward who is also from Southern California, Collins is the No. 4 recruit in the 2026 class, per the 247Sports Composite. He’s another prospect who is primarily being recruited by Hart, the UK assistant coach who was a prep star himself just outside Los Angeles.
Collins is high school teammates with McCoy at St. John Bosco High School. Tajh Ariza — another Kentucky recruit in the 2026 class who is a five-star prospect and the son of longtime NBA player Trevor Ariza — will also play for St. John Bosco as a high school senior.
Collins plays for Team Why Not on the EYBL circuit and entered Peach Jam averaging 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in regular season action.
It should be noted that Ariza also plays for Why Not in the EYBL, but he’s been ruled out of Peach Jam due to an injury.
▪ Jason Crowe Jr.: A 6-3 guard from just outside of Los Angeles, Crowe is one of the central figures taking part in this year’s Peach Jam.
Ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 6 prospect in the 2026 recruiting class, Crowe is set to make his college commitment on Friday at Peach Jam.
Despite strong ties between the Crowe family and Hart, the Kentucky assistant coach with Southern California connections, it appears that another SEC school is in the driver’s seat for Crowe’s commitment. Missouri is the school with all the buzz for Crowe, who is teammates with Stokes on the EYBL circuit with the Oakland Soldiers.
Soon, we’ll know where Crowe will be playing his college basketball next season. Crowe is set to be the first top 25 prospect in the 2026 class to make a college commitment.
Crowe, who is turning 17 years old Friday, will make his college commitment at 5:30 p.m. live on CBS Sports HQ.
Note: On Friday evening, Crowe committed to Missouri.
▪ Ikenna Alozie: A 6-foot-2 guard, Alozie is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 10 recruit in the 2026 class.
A powerful prospect who was born in Nigeria and plays prep basketball in Arizona, Alozie recently included Kentucky in his top eight list of colleges under consideration.
Alozie first picked up a Kentucky scholarship offer in October 2024.
“Coach Mark Pope has always stayed in touch with me. Keep talking. We have a very good relationship,” Alozie told the Herald-Leader this summer while at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in South Carolina.
Alozie plays for Utah Prospects on the EYBL circuit and averaged 16.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists entering this year’s Peach Jam.
▪ Qayden Samuels: A 6-5 small forward from Maryland, Samuels is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star recruit and as the No. 18 prospect in the 2026 class.
A teammate of Smith with Team Takeover on the EYBL circuit, Samuels’ UK scholarship offer arrived in June after he impressed the Kentucky coaching staff with his play during both the EYBL regular season and at the NBPA Top 100 Camp.
UK associate head coach Alvin Brooks III is the main recruiter for Samuels, who entered Peach Jam as one of the top scorers in the EYBL.
Prior to Peach Jam, Samuels was averaging 20.5 points per game for Team Takeover, while shooting a blistering 40.4% on 3-pointers.
▪ Bryson Howard: A 6-5 small forward from North Texas, Howard is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a four-star recruit and as the No. 25 player in the 2026 class.
Howard is the lowest-ranked player among the 14 prospects that UK has offered in the 2026 class. He’s the son of longtime NBA player and former league all-star Josh Howard, who was a first-round NBA draft pick in 2003 out of Wake Forest. The elder Howard was the ACC Player of the Year at Wake in 2003.
Bryson Howard’s recruitment has exploded this summer thanks to standout play with Pro Skills in the EYBL and at the NBPA Top 100 Camp. Howard can also call himself one of the top scorers on the EYBL circuit after averaging 21.1 points per game with 48.6% 3-point shooting in regular season action.
Kentucky offered Howard a scholarship in June.
Class of 2027 UK basketball recruits at Peach Jam
So far, Kentucky has only extended scholarship offers to three players from the 2027 recruiting class. But the good news for Pope and company is that all three of these rising high school juniors are in action at Peach Jam this week.
Players are listed in order of their 247Sports Composite ranking.
▪ Baba Oladotun: A 6-9 small forward from Maryland, Oladotun was the first prospect in the 2027 recruiting class to earn a Kentucky scholarship offer. That scholarship offer arrived for Oladotun last September.
Oladotun is the top-ranked player in the 2027 class, per the 247Sports Composite.
Of the players that UK has already offered in the 2027 class, Oladotun is the only one who is playing up an age level at Peach Jam. Oladotun, who plays for Team Durant on the EYBL circuit, entered Peach Jam averaging 14.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Oladotun’s father, Ibrahim, played 46 games at Virginia Tech from 1989 to 1991. Ibrahim also played college basketball at Wagner and at a Florida junior college before his time with the Hokies.
▪ CJ Rosser: A 6-9 power forward from North Carolina, Rosser is the most recent of Kentucky’s three class of 2027 recruits to get his scholarship offer from the Cats. That offer arrived in May for Rosser, who plays in the EYBL’s 16-and-under division for Team United.
Rosser averaged 17.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game with Team United during the EYBL regular season.
Rosser is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 3 prospect in the 2027 recruiting class. He’s the top ranked power forward in the rising high school junior class and he won a gold medal with USA Basketball in early June at the FIBA Under-16 Men’s AmeriCup in Mexico. UK assistant coach Mikhail McLean watched Rosser play at that event.
▪ Obinna Ekezie Jr.: A 7-foot center, Ekezie also picked up a Kentucky scholarship offer last September. Like Rosser, Ekezie is playing in the EYBL’s 16-and-under age group with Vegas Elite.
Ekezie was born in Nigeria, but he moved to Louisville as a teenager.
Ekezie is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 7 recruit in the 2027 class.
Ekezie is set to switch prep schools for his junior high school season. After playing at Prolific Prep — previously a California-based school that is moving to Florida — Ekezie will suit up later this year for Southeastern Prep, which is located in Orlando.
Ekezie’s father (of the same name) was a 6-9 big man who was a second-round selection in the 1999 NBA draft out of Maryland. The elder Ekezie played in 143 NBA games for five teams, most notably making 42 appearances and 31 starts for the Atlanta Hawks during the 2004-05 season.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 6:45 AM.
