Kansas Makes Huge 5-Star Splash and More 2026 Commits Coming

Kansas has made a big-time, five-star splash to get on the board with its 2026 class. On Sunday, five-star point guard Taylen Kinney verbally committed to the Jayhawks. Kinney tells analysts that he’s recruiting other top-flight high school seniors to Lawrence.

Kansas Makes Huge 5-Star Splash and More 2026 Commits Coming

The 6-foot-1 Kinney, out of the Atlanta-based professional league Overtime Elite (“OTE”), picked Kansas over other finalists Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisville and Oregon. Throughout his recruitment, the elite floor-general picked up roughly two dozen scholarship offers from a range of high-major programs.

After he revealed his pledge to the Jayhawks, Kinney said to national reporter Joe Tipton of On3/Rivals that another Kansas target may announce a commitment to Kansas soon. Kinney added that he’s recruiting 2026 five-star small forward Tyran Stokes, the country’s No. 1 prospect in this cycle. The 6-foot-7 Stokes is eyeing a possible decision in October. The unofficial top three for him appear to be Kansas, Kentucky and Oregon.

Kansas Makes Massive 2026 Splash, Targeting Other 5-Star Prospects

Besides Stokes, which high school seniors could potentially join Kinney in the Jayhawks’ 2026 class? One name to monitor is four-star center Davion Adkins out of Prolific Prep in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He has been on an official visit to Kansas this weekend, and several national analysts think the Jayhawks are the leader for Adkins. Five-star power forward/center Ethan Taylor of the Link Academy in Branson, Mo., was also visiting Lawrence this weekend.

Earlier this month, 2026 four-star small forward Maximo Adams of the Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Calif., also took an official visit to Kansas. The Jayhawks, a Big 12 Conference powerhouse, reside in Adams’ top 11. In mid-September, 2026 five-star guard/small forward Alex Constanza of the Spire Academy in Geneva, Ohio, officially visited Kansas. Constanza is a newer recruiting target for the program.

Several other Kansas recruits to keep an eye on include four-star small forward Trent Perry, four-star big man Josh Irving and four-star guard Ikenna Alozie, among others. Jayhawks head coach Bill Self and his staff are off to a fast start in securing Kinney, and Kansas should end up with one of the top 2026 classes nationally at the prep level.

Kansas Has 2026 Splash with Highly Ranked Taylen Kinney

Kinney is the No. 1 point guard in the senior cycle, according to 247Sports. The industry-generated 247Sports Composite, meanwhile, places him as the No. 2 point guard in the 2026 class. Virtually all of the main recruiting services have Kinney in the top 20 overall.

With Overtime Elite, Kinney is a standout at RWE. In the 2024-25 regular season, he averaged 20.1 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game, per the OTE Web site. He connected on an impressive 55.6 percent from the field. Overtime Elite is currently conducting its preseason games ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.

Kinney, in the preseason, is leading the league in scoring, at 20.0 points per game. He’s also tallying averages of 7.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.0 block per contest. While RWE has only played two preseason encounters to date, Kinney is hitting on 63.2 percent from the field, 71.4 percent from beyond the arc and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line.