While college basketball continues to trend more toward the transfer portal, more experienced rosters and international prospects, July is still the month for high school recruiting.
The summer evaluation periods have taken on a different level of importance since the addition of evaluation periods in June — one for the NBPA Top 100 camp, two for scholastic events. But with coaches focused on short-term roster construction all spring, July is still one of the few times they will have seen their top targets in a high-level, competitive environment.
So, for the next two weeks, college coaches will travel all over the country to watch the future of college basketball and the NBA. Here are some of the key storylines to monitor.
See the player rankings:
2026 ESPN 100 |
2027 ESPN 60 |
2028 ESPN 25
Can anyone close the gap on Tyran Stokes for the No. 1 spot?
While the 2026 class as a whole is not considered nearly as strong as 2025 at the top of the rankings — the top three of A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer are tough to beat — Tyran Stokes has a pretty strong grip on the No. 1 spot.
Stokes, a 6-foot-7 forward who teamed up with Dybantsa on the EYBL circuit last summer and went to the Peach Jam title game, was the top-ranked prospect entering the spring. He then went out and averaged 21.8 points and 10.0 rebounds for the Oakland Soldiers, with both averages ranking third overall in the EYBL. Stokes was also a key piece of USA Basketball’s gold medal run at the FIBA U19 World Cup, where he averaged 9.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists as one of four high schoolers on the team.
There’s a gap between Stokes and the rest of the competition for No. 1, but a couple of elite prospects are pushing up the rankings. Jordan Smith is now No. 3 in the ESPN 100, but he has played the fourth-most minutes on the U19 team and is a terrific defender and transition playmaker. Second-ranked Christian Collins has the frame and physical tools to continue generating momentum, while Jason Crowe (No. 4) led the EYBL in scoring. Brandon McCoy (No. 6) dropped a couple of spots recently, but he’s still right there in the tier behind Stokes.
Where are all the commitments?
As things stand, just one five-star prospect is off the board, and only nine players in the ESPN 100 are committed entering the first live period. Things were also moving slowly at this time a year ago, but 17 ESPN 100 prospects were committed and several top-15 recruits were on the verge of making decisions. It’s even slower this cycle. Why?
The primary reason is programs are prioritizing the transfer portal — and in some cases, international prospects — over high schoolers. Rosters for next season have taken precedence over rosters in two or three years, when high school players would have entered college.
A decade ago, most programs would have their recruiting boards pretty much set heading into July and just needed to monitor their targets at events and wait out the decision-making process. Now, schools are still formulating their target lists and, unlike several years ago, they no longer know exactly what they’re going to need a year from now for the 2026-27 campaign due to consistent roster attrition.
The second factor has been the introduction of revenue sharing. Most industry sources are expecting roster budgets to drop in the new era, but it’s entirely unclear what the real salary caps will look like in many cases. And after an offseason that featured a long list of players receiving multiple millions of dollars, expectations on player values need adjusting.
“No one’s going to pay a freshman $1.5 million anymore,” one high-major coach said. “You can’t have a third of your cap going to a guy who’s never played in college.”
“You have to manage expectations for later on. It’s just not the reality for a freshman in the rev share era,” another added. “The last cycle, money was flowing. A kid that might have gotten $500,000 last cycle, he now might not get $200,000.”
Which programs are off to a strong start in 2026?
With so few needle-moving commitments up to this point, it’s hard to predict which schools will have staying power in the 2026 cycle. For example, there are zero programs with multiple ESPN 100 commitments entering the live periods.
That said, Arkansas is in a good position early, with coach John Calipari having landed the lone five-star pledge of the cycle: in-state product JaShawn Andrews. The top-ranked player in the state of Arkansas, Andrews’ father, Shawn, played football for the Razorbacks, so Calipari also had a leg up on the competition.
Iowa State doesn’t have a top-100 commit yet, but coach T.J. Otzelberger does have three pledges — which is in line with the program’s recent trend of getting their high school recruiting work done early. Marquette (No. 37 Sheek Pearson), Baylor (No. 21 Elijah Williams) and Ohio State (No. 25 Marcus Johnson) followed suit as well.
Who will be the next five-star prospect to commit?
Barring a surprise decision, it looks like it’ll be newly minted top-five prospect Jason Crowe. He has set a commitment date for July 18.
Kentucky and USC were previously most linked to the 6-3 guard from California: Crowe has a strong relationship with Kentucky assistant Jason Hart, who played with Crowe’s father in high school and remains close to the family, while USC has hosted Crowe for on-campus visits on multiple occasions.
But Missouri has emerged as a late contender, offering him last month and potentially providing him ample opportunity to have the ball in his hands from day one. Texas also remains an option.
Landing Crowe’s commitment before the live periods are even finished would be a huge coup for any of the programs involved.
Are coach Jon Scheyer and Duke on track for their third straight No. 1 class?
Duke’s recruiting hasn’t skipped a beat under Scheyer — in fact, it has perhaps raised its level as one of the few programs willing to still rely heavily on freshmen in the portal era. The Blue Devils had the No. 1 class in 2024, with Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel leading them to the Final Four before all were taken in the top 10 of the 2025 NBA draft.
Duke is once again the No. 1 recruiting class — headlined by ultra-productive forward Cameron Boozer and two other freshmen projected in the 2026 lottery — and likely to enter the 2025-26 season as a Final Four contender.
What does Duke’s 2026 class look like? The Blue Devils don’t have any commitments right now but are, unsurprisingly, in the mix for several elite prospects. Jordan Smith (No. 3), Miikka Muurinen (No. 11) and Brandon McCoy (No. 6) received offers last summer, while Christian Collins (No. 2) emerged as a target in the spring. Scheyer then added four more players to the board last month, with offers to Cameron Williams (No. 7), Bryson Howard (No. 28), Deron Rippey Jr. (No. 18) and Austin Goosby (No. 19).
It’s early, but Jordan Smith and Cameron Williams appear to be the ones most worth watching moving forward.
Will spring breakouts continue into the summer?
Four players who were unranked entering the spring are now in the top 50 of the ESPN 100: Bryson Howard (No. 28), Arafane Diane (No. 34), Maximo Adams (No. 44) and Quinn Costello (No. 50).
Howard was one of the best scorers on the EYBL circuit, averaging 20.9 points and shooting 45.5% from 3-point range. Diane’s offer list grew dramatically after he dominated on the interior for Iowa United on the 3SSB circuit, averaging 16.8 points and 9.4 rebounds. Adams was incredibly productive, too, leading the EYBL in rebounds (11.6), double-doubles (5) and ranking fourth in scoring (21.2 PPG) while shooting better than 40% from 3. Then there’s Costello, arguably the biggest breakout performer on the Under Armour circuit. The 6-10 stretch big from Boston averaged around 11 points and six boards, but made more than two 3s per game at a 31% clip.
Two other notable risers are Cameron Williams, who went from No. 37 all the way up to No. 7, and Vaughn Karvala, who moved from No. 64 to No. 26. The 6-10 Williams demonstrated high-level two-way ability on the Adidas 3SSB circuit this spring, averaging 17.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.1 blocks, while also showing some outside range via 46.2% shooting from 3 on 26 attempts. Karvala is one of the best shooters in the class, making 28 3s in 11 EYBL games at a 36.4% clip.
Where will college coaches be this month?
With no NCAA College Basketball Academy this summer, there are only two evaluation periods for coaches to attend in July. The first is July 10-13, and the second is July 17-20.
The preeminent event every summer is the Nike Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina, featuring the best Nike grassroots teams during the second live period. Before that, Nike will hold its final Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) session in the first live period, also in North Augusta. This typically draws the largest crowds of coaches.
Adidas will also hold events during both live periods, with the final 3SSB session taking place in Rock Hill, South Carolina, from July 9 to 13, and the 3SSB Championships happening in California in the second period. College coaches will make the drive from Rock Hill to North Augusta frequently during the first period.
Under Armour and Puma’s Pro16 Circuit are also going on in both periods, with UA taking place in Georgia and Illinois and Puma in Virginia and Texas.
Aside from the shoe company circuits, coaches will also attend plenty of independent events, including Hoop Group in the Northeast, Pangos out west and others.
There’s also the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta during the first period, an event that featured the likes of Johnny Furphy, Khaman Maluach and Dash Daniels the last couple of years.
