Another top high school senior passes on the chance to play for UK basketball
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- Class of 2026 college basketball recruit Christian Collins commits to Southern California.
- Collins was a top recruiting target for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats.
- Kentucky is still without a commitment from a member of the 2026 recruiting class.
Another top college basketball prospect from the 2026 recruiting class has passed on the chance to play for Mark Pope and Kentucky.
On Wednesday afternoon, five-star power forward Christian Collins announced his commitment to Southern California. Collins, who is from the Los Angeles area, committed Southern Cal over his two other recruiting finalists, Kentucky and Louisville.
UK is still without a commitment from a high school prospect in the 2026 recruiting class.
Collins is a 6-foot-8 recruit who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 6 overall player in the 2026 class. In a recent interview with ESPN, Collins discussed his journey to becoming a standout basketball player while battling cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition that affects Collins’ lungs and pancreas.
As recently as last fall, Kentucky was viewed as the recruiting leader for Collins. Reports at that time indicated a commitment to UK was imminent, but a pledge from Collins to the Cats never came.
Last summer, Collins received on-court instruction from Pope at a USA Basketball training camp that also featured current UK freshmen Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno. Collins took a recruiting visit to Kentucky in September.
“It was a great experience being coached by him. He taught me a lot of things,” Collins told the Herald-Leader last summer about Pope. “I got a little glimpse of what it would be like to be coached under him. He’s a really happy guy. He’s funny as well. He’s like a proud dad. (That’s) what he reminds me of.”
Collins’ primary recruiter to UK was assistant coach Jason Hart, who holds deep basketball ties in California. Collins previously played basketball with Hart’s son.
In December, Collins opted to reopen his college recruitment. At the time, Collins was down to just Kentucky, Southern Cal and UCLA in the recruiting process. Illinois and Vanderbilt then extended offers to Collins and became part of the recruiting picture.
Ultimately, Collins kept Southern Cal near the front of his recruitment, which culminated with Wednesday’s commitment to the Trojans.
Collins — who was honored as a McDonald’s All-American earlier this year — is the third player from the 2026 class to commit to Eric Musselman’s Trojans, along with five-star power forward Adonis Ratliff and five-star center Darius Ratliff. Southern Cal went 18-14 this season and lost its final eight games. The Trojans last made the NCAA Tournament in 2023.
Pope’s UK program has now missed out on another high school senior who was a top priority on the recruiting trail.
In April, UK offered a scholarship to Collins, who was a late bloomer in the recruiting world. He spent part of his high school career on the junior varsity team and underwent knee surgery before his rise up the recruiting rankings.
Collins’ desire to play in a spread offense at the college level was working in Kentucky’s favor. It reflected Collins’ ability as a big man to operate on the perimeter and in the post, as well as the way Pope uses big men as an offensive hub.
“He’s flexible enough in terms of his skill to take advantage of bigger guys on the perimeter and to take advantage of smaller guys on the block,” Matt Dunn, Collins’ coach at St. John Bosco High School, told the Herald-Leader. “He’s growing in his IQ of understanding when to use all of his vast game. ... I think he’s done a good job, and that’s still his greatest room for growth. Where I know he’s going to continue to really improve is just kind of when and where to use each of his skills.”
But this wasn’t enough to sway Collins to Lexington.
As has been repeated for months now, Kentucky remains without a commitment from a high school senior. Georgia is the only other SEC program yet to land a commitment from a 2026 recruit.
Dating back to at least 2010, this is the latest UK has gone in a recruiting cycle without a commitment from a high school prospect.
The options still left on the table for the Cats are dwindling.
Among players in the 2026 recruiting group who have reported a UK scholarship offer, the only prospects still in play are top recruit Tyran Stokes and four-star prospect Miikka Muurinen.
Stokes, a 6-foot-7 small forward who is originally from Louisville, was also considered last fall to be a likely Kentucky commit. Those days have come and gone, though, with Kansas now leading Stokes’ recruitment.
But that doesn’t mean UK is completely out of the picture for Stokes, who took a recruiting visit to Kentucky in June. Earlier this month, Stokes’ high school coach told ESPN that Stokes is in the process of setting up another visit to Lexington.
There is less recruiting intel available about Muurinen, a 6-foot-10 power forward who spent the past season with Serbian team Partizan in Europe.
This story was originally published March 18, 2026 at 3:04 PM.
