2026 Phenom Ethan Taylor Down to Six Schools; Schedules Kansas Visit

The Kansas Jayhawks have been starting to narrow down their top recruits for the 2026 class lately.

Head coach Bill Self is entering the late stages of recruiting some of the nation’s best prospects. Perhaps the program's biggest frontcourt target just made a big decision on Saturday as the summer winds down.

5-star center Ethan Taylor cut his list to six schools, including Kansas, Michigan State, Kentucky, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Oregon. Taylor has also scheduled visits to all six programs.

The high school phenom is ranked No. 22 overall and is the No. 1 center in the 247 Sports Composite rankings. He has been one of the top players on the AAU circuit this summer with the Mokan EYBL 17U team.

Taylor is a local Kansas City native who previously attended Shawnee Mission Northwest. He earned second-team all-state honors as a junior before transferring to Link Academy in Missouri this offseason.

Standing at 7-feet and weighing 240 pounds, Taylor has tremendous length and upside on both ends of the floor.

He is an exceptional shot-blocker and post scorer who is still working to refine his touch around the rim.

The Jayhawks offered Taylor back in early June when he was hardly a top-50 prospect, but since then, he has skyrocketed in the rankings to become a consensus top one or two center in his class.

Taylor’s upcoming Kansas visit will be the fourth stop on his six-school tour, as he is scheduled to be in Lawrence from Sept. 26-28. It is worth noting that it will not be his first time on campus — he reportedly took an unofficial trip on June 24.

He will wrap up his visit schedule with an October trip to Kentucky, which just extended an offer to him two weeks ago.

The battle to land the services of Taylor could come down to a chess match between a pair of blue-blood programs.

Taylor joins fellow big men Josh Irving (Sept. 12) and Davion Adkins (Sept. 16), who are visiting KU a couple of weeks before Taylor.

MORE: Kansas Basketball Visit Primer: Recruits Planning to Take Trips to KU

KU is clearly focused on adding size to the frontcourt with potentially NBA-bound Flory Bidunga likely to leave after this season. Therefore, a frontcourt piece is a priority for the Jayhawks, and Taylor currently stands as the top center target on Coach Self’s radar.

Considering his final visit is still more than two months away, Jayhawk fans should not expect a commitment soon, but Taylor could become one of the coaching staff’s most valued recruits of the cycle.