Bill Self and Kansas Must Go All in To Land Tyran Stokes

The Kansas basketball recruiting class for 2026 picked up its first two commitments of the cycle in the past few days, landing lauded point guard Taylen Kinney and under-the-radar wing Trent Perry.

Both players are considered significant gets for Bill Self on the recruiting trail and should play massive roles on the team next season. However, one year after landing No. 1 overall recruit Darryn Peterson, KU might be looking to reel in back-to-back consensus top recruits.

The Jayhawks continue to stay in contact with superstar forward Tyran Stokes, even after talks between him and KU seemed to cool down over the summer. If Self truly wants to assemble an all-time recruiting class for Kansas, bringing Stokes on board is a must.

Tyran Stokes Is on Another Level

While Stokes may not be the generational prospect that Peterson is at the guard position, he is almost unquestionably the top overall talent in his class. At 6-foot-7, he is one of the most gifted athletes in recent recruiting history.

A rising senior at Notre Dame High School in California, Stokes boasts a freakish vertical that lets him soar above the rim for highlight dunks. He is dominant with the ball in his hands and nearly impossible to stop once he builds up speed and gets to the basket.

Stokes took an official visit to KU's campus in mid-April, which had the recruiting world buzzing, but it seemed that the Jayhawks slowed their pursuit of him in the later months, shifting their priorities to players like Kinney, Tajh Ariza, and others.

But in a recent interview, Kinney openly admitted that he was recruiting Stokes to Lawrence and wanted him to follow him to the program.

"Shoot, I already know one [player] that’s coming [to Kansas]," Kinney said last week. "Right when I said I was going, I put that call in. I ain’t going to say his name, but he going to announce. And then I'm trying to get Tyran [Stokes]."