Everyone wants to get the No. 1 recruit in the nation. That player can often be a sign of great things to come, someone to build your team around, or the final piece of championship puzzle.
Now, some years see the nation’s No. 1 recruit flame out when they get to the association. Other years (like 2025) are often a class tipped with all-star talent.
For example, former Kansas guard Darryn Peterson has been knocked off his pedestal by AJ Dybantsa during recent mock drafts, but both are projected to be NBA stars.
So sometimes, the ebbs and flows of each recruiting class can wrongly label talent.
That is not the case with Tyran Stokes
Stokes is all you could ask for
According to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings, Stokes is listed as Kansas’ second-highest rated recruit to ever enter Allen Fieldhouse, finishing with a 100 grade, alongside 2013’s Andrew Wiggins.
Kansas’ top-five is rounded out with Josh Jackson, who joined KU with a 99.99 grade, Peterson, who reeled in a 99.95 grade and Josh Selby, who was handed a 99.82 grade.
Stokes’ offensive skillset is everything Kansas fans could have hoped for, as he was recently compared to Portland Trail Blazer Deni Avdija by Paul Biancardi, who prototyped the two as “point forwards,” typically meaning players of that ilk excel at both playmaking and scoring.
Nearly every scouting report on Stokes seems to also point out his ability to attack the basket and draw fouls. While ringing in consistent fouls is never an easy task in today’s college basketball, the ability to get to the basket is always appreciated and can create easier opportunities.
Last year’s Melvin Council Jr. did this with ease through points of last season, being able to glide to the rim and make mid-air movements that reacted to opposition, but as the season wore on, Council’s rates slowly dropped, and during the tail-end of the season, Council’s productivity was a far cry from earlier stretches.
Who will play alongside Stokes?
Of course, having Stokes alone is not going to entirely flip the fortunes of next season. But so far, the Jayhawks have been able to bring in four stars Keanu Dawes, a Utah transfer, Toledo transfer Leroy Blyden Jr. and College of Charleston transfer Christian Reeves.
Joining Stokes as freshmen will be five-star guard Taylen Kinney, four-star center Davion Adkins, four-star wing Trent Perry, and four-star shooting guard Luke Barnett.
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