KU’s recruiting class praised by analysts: ‘That’s great. I love hearing that’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU's 2026 recruiting class ranks top three nationally across major outlets.
- KU has signed four prospects, secured a verbal future reclassifying commit.
- Coach Self plans potential spring portal activity and evaluates roster returns.
The Kansas Jayhawks’ four-player men’s basketball recruiting class of 2026 has been deemed No. 1 in the country by 247sports.com, No. 2 by ESPN.com and No. 3 by Rivals/On3.com.
That was music to the ears of 23rd-year KU head coach Bill Self.
“That’s great. I love hearing that,” Self said. “I think if things fell right, then I certainly think this could be a class that could rank up there with one of the best that we’ve had.
“I will say this, there are a lot of things that can still develop that will elevate us, or whoever, if they’re able to have a good November (in recruiting).”
Kansas on Saturday plays host to Princeton of the Ivy League in a non-conference game against Princeton. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. inside Allen Fieldhouse.
It’s obviously been a busy week off the court, too: KU has signed four players thus far in the early seven-day recruiting period that started Wednesday of this week and runs through Wednesday of next week.
Looking to next season and beyond, Self has signed point guard Taylen Kinney (6-foot-2, Overtime Elite), guard Trent Perry (6-5, Link Academy), forward Davion Adkins (6-9, Prolific Prep) and guard Luke Barnett (6-3, Mater Dei High, California) for 2026. KU also has received a verbal commitment from class of 2027 player Javon Bardwell, a 6-6, 175-pound junior forward from Overtime Elite (originally from Scottsdale, Arizona). He is considering reclassifying to the class of 2026.
On3.com’s Joe Tipton on Friday said KU and North Carolina are recruiting Amadou Seini, a 7-foot-1, 233-pound center from Cameroon who has a 7-5 wingspan and 9-3 standing reach. He’s enrolled at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona. The 18-year-old Seini most recently played with Varese Academy, the youth development program of the professional Italian team, Pallacanestro Varese, a club team in Italy’s top league.
Self said the Jayhawks could still recruit the transfer portal this spring for additional players.
“You are asking questions that we don’t know the answers to, because how do you know who’s going to return on your team?” the coach said. “The way I look at it … how many guys do you know you’re going to lose? Those can be freshmen. How many guys will you unexpectedly lose? Those can be portal guys, meaning guys that that could return and don’t. So I imagine we’ll have space to still enter the portal when the time’s right.”
Of five-star lead guard Kinney, who is originally from Newport, Kentucky, Self said: “One thing we did need, we needed a point guard.”
Kinney chose KU over Kentucky, Louisville, Arkansas, Indiana and Oregon.
Asked for a player comparison to Kinney, Self said: “Mario (Chalmers) maybe. He’s a scoring point and I think that’s what Mario was as much as anything. He’s kind of built like Mario, a little bit moreso than Sherron (Collins) or any of the guys or Devonté (Graham). But he’s a scoring point. Could he be a Devonté type or Mario type? I think he could be.”
Adkins, who is originally from Arlington, Texas, chose KU over Houston and Rutgers among other programs.
“Offensively he’s certainly not ‘Shady’ yet,” Self said of former KU forward Darrell Arthur, “but Shady was also arguably as good a freshman as there was in the country. The only one that comes to mind (as a comparison) right now … he probably doesn’t shoot it as well as Markieff (Morris, former KU forward), but he’s a more athletic, bouncier player like Markieff. He’s a skilled guy that doesn’t really shoot it as well, but he’s got both hands passing ability. He’s really long. He’s got a lot of game, but he doesn’t stretch it as consistently as what probably Kieff did at the same age.”
As far as Perry, who chose KU over TCU and Maryland, the Mokan Elite guard was recommended by one of Self’s former players.
“I heard from his coaches that they can’t take him off the floor. And there’s one other guy I heard it from through Mokan named Christian Braun,” Self said. “Christian told me, because I said, ‘Have you seen him?’ He said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I love him. He’s my favorite player to play with when I play pickup because he just knows how to play.’ He’s a big guard, defends 1 through 4. He’s athletic. He’s got to get more consistent shooting the ball, but if you have shooters around him that’s fine, but you probably need to have some shooting around him.”
KU isn’t the only team in the region that has impressed recruiting analysts. The Missouri Tigers’ 2026 class of Jason Crowe, Toni Bryant and Aiden Chronister is ranked No. 1 in the country by ESPN.com, No. 2 by Rivals/On3.com and No. 3 by 247sports.com.
