Kansas Snags Top Recruit Tyran Stokes

0:00On April 2-8, Topper crew T-Ran Stokes, the number one player in the class of 2026, just committed to Kansas. This six-foot-seven small-forward picked the J-Hawks over finalists, Kentucky and Oregon. He made the announcement Tuesday night on Inside the NBA after months of hype. Stokes hails from Louisville, right in Wildcat's territory, and he's a Nike guy choosing the Adidas squad in Lawrence. He's coach Mark Pope even tried hiring one of Stokes' high school assistants, Jamal Crawford, to sway him, but it didn't work out. For Kentucky fans, this thing's hard. Stokes would have been their star next season, potentially vaulting them into top 10 pre-season talks. Pope had been recruiting him since day one at UK, so it's a real setback in the talent chase. Kentucky did land James Madison transfer just to McBride just before the news, giving them 11 players for 2026-2027. They've got promising guards like zoomed the allow from Washington and Alex Wilkins

1:01from Furman, plus maybe Malachai Marano back from the draft process. The off-season's still rolling, but Kansas lands the prize while Kentucky rebuilds the back court and front court punch needed for a title run.