Over the past couple of days, the buzz around Kansas’ potential class of 2026 commits has reached an all-time high, as the Jayhawks have been heavily linked to the No. 1 prospect Tyran Stokes.
Kansas has already confirmed the addition of five-star guard Taylen Kinney, who currently ranks as the nation’s No. 14 player and No. 1 point guard, along with No. 34 Davion Adkins at center, No. 118 Trent Perry at small forward, and No. 134, shooting guard Luke Barnett.
If Kansas can bring Stokes to Lawrence, it would be the first time since 2018 that Kansas has reeled in two five-stars when Devin Dotson and Quentin Grimes both joined KU.
National Basketball Director of 247 Sports, Eric Bossi, joined CBS Sports last week, where Stokes was a major topic at hand.
I think it is for real…There's been a huge talk that they've (Kansas) made a big run. I think a lot of that can be from the fact that he's at Rainier Beach, a place where assistant Kurt Townsend has tremendously strong relationships. He recruited Jamal Crawford, an assistant coach there, to Michigan and is very close to him,” quoted Bossi.
"It's a situation where people really feel like for Tyran to reach the most success he can in college and beyond, you really need someone who's not going to be afraid to get on his case and really demand excellence out of him. And Bill Self certainly is somebody who is not gonna kowtow to a freshman."
Bossi then stated that even though the deal is not done, he thinks it is fair to say that Kansas has a “slight” lead on Stokes.
Townsend has been an assistant for Kansas since 2004 and has served as the longest-running assistant coach in school history. According to Kansas Athletics, Townsend has played a role in recruiting the likes of Josh Jackson, Andrew Wiggins, Ben McLemore, Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur, Julian Wright, Josh Selby, Sherron Collins, Frank Mason III, and Devonte’ Graham.
So far this season, the Jayhawks have had an up-and-down campaign that was offered a fresh start when Big 12 play began. However, a 1-2 record in conference, combined with an overall 11-5 mark, has seen the Jayhawks sit behind the benchmark.
Earlier today, the Jayhawks dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the second time this season, after Kansas fell to the West Virginia Mountaineers in an 86-75 win for first-year Mountaineer head coach Ross Hodge who hails from North Texas where Hodge led the Mean Green to a 46-24 record over two season, including a 27-9 mark from last season.
This is the second time this season that Kansas has fallen out of the Top 25. When Kansas fell to the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils in a 78-66 loss to start the Jayhawks off on a wonky 3-2 start, Self's team was dropped, and after a 1-1 last week which saw the Jayhawks be moved to 10-4 and to No. 22 in the nation, there was little room for last Saturday's error-ridden loss.
However, in the Big 12, for better or for worse, every game is important, and the Jayhawks will know if they can settle themselves down and set a good conference record up, the faults of the early season will be far behind them.
Kansas will next take the court against the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones, who hold an undefeated 16-0 mark to start their season. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT Tuesday night, with streaming available on ESPN.
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