UK basketball still doesn’t have a 2026 commit. What’s next for the Wildcats?
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- Kentucky basketball is still without a commitment from a class of 2026 recruit.
- There was inactivity for the UK program during the November early signing period.
- The prospect most likely to commit to Kentucky soon is power forward Christian Collins.
The November early signing period has come and gone for college basketball recruits. And Kentucky is still on the sideline, waiting to secure its first commitment from the high school senior class.
Over the past few months, there have been plenty of moments when it looked like Mark Pope’s UK basketball program was going to get a commitment to pop.
There was speculation in October of a commitment from Tyran Stokes, a Louisville native who is the consensus top recruit in the 2026 class. In recent weeks, recruiting buzz indicated UK was the frontrunner for Christian Collins, a five-star power forward from Los Angeles.
But neither Stokes nor Collins made their college commitment. The early signing period for recruits ended Wednesday, which means prospects can’t sign paperwork tying them to schools until mid-April, after the college basketball season has ended.
Where does this leave Kentucky in the 2026 recruiting landscape? Pope still sounds confident about the Wildcats’ chances.
“I think we’re really excited about where we are,” Pope said Thursday afternoon. “I think we’re feeling incredibly optimistic about retaining players, about adding some really special high school players and being great in the transfer portal. I think we feel great about it, actually. We’re super excited.”
Christian Collins, Tyran Stokes are recruits to know for UK basketball
It’s time to reset UK basketball’s recruiting big board.
There are eight uncommitted recruits left in the 2026 class with a Kentucky scholarship offer.
UK is legitimately pursuing half of the players from this group: Jordan Smith (the No. 2 overall player in the 2026 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings), small forward Caleb Holt (No. 3) and the aforementioned Stokes (No. 1) and Collins (No. 7).
UK is also a contender for Sayon Keita, an international center from Mali who plays professionally in Spain. Keita is part of the 2027 recruiting class, but he’s considered a candidate to reclassify into the 2026 recruiting group.
Smith, a 6-foot-2 combo guard from near Washington, D.C., is down to six schools in his recruitment. Kentucky is one of those finalists, but Duke is trending for Smith.
Holt, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who is originally from Alabama, was expected to wait until after the early signing period to make his college choice. So far, he’s taken visits to Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, Houston, Kentucky and Providence. Several recruiting analysts have categorized UK as the slight favorite to land Holt.
One of the top current narratives in the recruiting world is how unlikely it would be for Holt and Stokes to play together in college. This is especially relevant to the Wildcats because Stokes — a 6-foot-7 jumbo playmaker who recently enrolled at a new high school in Seattle — is down to three schools in his recruitment. Stokes will choose between Kansas, Kentucky and Oregon.
While Kentucky was previously described as the favorite for Stokes, Bill Self’s Jayhawks have made a strong push to insert themselves into the picture. This recruiting move from Kansas, an Adidas-affiliated school, has come despite Stokes having an NIL endorsement deal with Nike, which has apparel deals with UK and Oregon.
Collins, a 6-foot-8 power forward, is also down to three schools in his recruitment. UK has been reported as having the edge over Collins’ other finalists, hometown schools Southern California and UCLA. Collins was expected to make his college decision before the end of the early signing period, although that didn’t occur.
Regardless of what happens between Kentucky and these remaining recruits, it seems highly unlikely that Pope’s program will finish the 2026 cycle with one of the top high school classes in the country.
Currently, the top spot in the 247Sports high school team recruiting rankings for next year belongs to Michigan State, a team that’s fresh in the mind of UK fans after the Spartans demolished the Wildcats on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic.
Tom Izzo has four signees in the class: five-star center Ethan Taylor and a trio of four-star recruits: point guard Carlos Medlock Jr., shooting guard Jasiah Jervis and power forward Julius Avent.
Rounding out the top five high school recruiting classes behind Michigan State are Kansas, Maryland, Purdue and Duke.
The Jayhawks’ class includes former UK recruit and Northern Kentucky native Taylen Kinney. On Wednesday night, Maryland got a commitment from another former UK recruit, five-star small forward Baba Oladotun.
Missouri, the early front-runner atop the recruiting rankings, is now sixth in 247Sports’ listing, with Texas, Oklahoma State, Florida State and Pittsburgh also in the top 10.
What is Kentucky basketball’s roster outlook for next season?
At this time last year, Pope had three high school recruits from the 2025 class signed to play at Kentucky this season. Two of them, guard Jasper Johnson and center Malachi Moreno, made it to Lexington and have emerging roles as part of Pope’s 2025-26 roster.
The other signee, guard Acaden Lewis, decommitted from UK in April and before joining Villanova in search of more playing time. Lewis has started all five games for Villanova (4-1) this season and is averaging 12.2 points and 5.4 assists in nearly 30 minutes per contest.
Pope wild have some empty roster spots to fill in the offseason. Ten of the 12 contributors on this season’s UK team will have NCAA eligibility next season. The only outliers are senior guards Denzel Aberdeen and Otega Oweh, who will be lost to graduation.
Both of Kentucky’s walk-on players, Walker Horn and Zach Tow, are also seniors.
Junior forward Reece Potter intends to redshirt this season. A redshirt season is also on the table for freshman forward Braydon Hawthorne, who was a late addition to Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting group.
The expectation is that additional roster spots will also come open.
Sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance is still expected to leave after this season for the NBA draft. Quaintance hasn’t yet been cleared for five-on-five, full-contact basketball activity as he continues to recover from a torn ACL sustained in February while he was playing for Arizona State.
The ebbs and flows of the NCAA transfer portal are also sure to determine UK’s roster outlook for next season. Two members of Pope’s first Kentucky squad — guards Kerr Kriisa and Travis Perry — left the program during the offseason via the portal. Kriisa is now a starter at Cincinnati (4-0), while Perry has struggled coming off the bench at SEC rival Ole Miss (5-0).
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
