The coaching carousel was spinning this past offseason, and many of the top programs across the country have a new person in charge. Because of the movement, there’s new relationships to establish on the recruiting front for the class of 2026.
Today, we’ll go over nine of the top programs who hired a new head coach and what their recruiting efforts have looked like so far in the class of 2026.
Florida State
Luke Loucks heads to Florida State with NBA experience — he’s won two championships as a player and has experience coaching with the Kings, Suns and Warriors. He was also quite the player at FSU, helping the Seminoles to four straight NCAA Tournaments.
He’s now looking to draw elite talent to Tallahassee. The Seminoles have offered a few players since Loucks took over, including five-star wing Caleb Gaskins, five-star guard Kayden Allen, four-star guards Felipe Quinones, Jermal Jones and Brandon Bass Jr., four-star forwards Alex Egbuonu, Jacob Lanier and Kevin Thomas, four-star bigs Ethan Taylor and Hurley Brutus and three-star point guard Trey Beamer. Five-star forward Toni Bryant also revealed this week he plans to take an official visit to Florida State in August.
Under the old staff, four-star wing Collin Paul visited twice, but he hasn’t posted a re-offer from the new coaching staff. Florida natives Gaskins, Quinones and Jones, are top priorities. So is Bass, who had dinner with the new staff. With NBA ties, look for Loucks to draw top-tier talent to Tallahassee in the coming years.
2025 NBA Draft: Ranking the Top 10 Scorers in This Year’s Class
Cooper Flagg is a lock for the No. 1 pick, but it’s another freshman who takes top billing in our list of best bucket-getters in the 2025 NBA Draft
Indiana
The Hoosiers and their new head man Darian DeVries may have one of the widest-cast nets in the 2026 class. Indiana has offered several players since he took over.
Let’s start with the bigs. Indiana has extended offers to No. 1 overall center Arafan Diane as well as four-star bigs Davion Adkins, Latrell Allmond, Collins Onyejiaka and Ethan Taylor. It’s clear grabbing a quality big man is important to the new staff.
Indiana is also after several other big fish including five-stars Jordan Smith Jr., Caleb Gaskins, Anthony Thompson, Toni Bryant, Deron Rippey and Jalen Montonati. The Hoosiers have also extended offers to four-star wings Cole Cloer, Bryson Howard, four-star shooting guards Colben Landrew and Steven Reynolds and four-star forwards Trey Thompson and Jayden Johnson.
Several of the prospects listed above including Diane, Thompson, Smith Jr. and four-star guard Prince Alexander Moody all plan to take official visits in the fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if more follow. The Hoosiers are also potentially on the verge of a commitment with Sammy Jackson announcing later this month, who has Indiana listed in his top four.
Maryland
Buzz Williams established several recruiting relationships with class of 2026 prospects, with offers out to many of the top names. Since he’s moved over to Maryland, Williams has re-offered four-star wings Junior County, Billy White III, Bryson Howard and Aiden Derkack, along with four-star bigs Herly Brutus, Chase Foster and Favour Ibe and four-star point guard Anthony Brown Jr.
All of those prospects will have Maryland in the picture as the summer moves on, and the players who schedule official visits will tell us more about who Williams is after.
It’s still relatively early in the cycle, and I’d expect Williams to reach out to plenty more names. Right now, it’s a short but quality list for the Terps.
Miami
One big positive for Jai Lucas and company on the recruitment front: Miami hired a staff member with ties to the high school scene in Florida. Andrew Moran, who was added as an assistant coach in April, was previously the head coach at Christopher Columbus (FL) for the past six years along with the Nightrydas Elite Nike EYBL AAU program. At Columbus, Moran has won four straight state titles and a Chipotle Nationals title in 2025, and with Nightrydas Peach Jam at the 15, 16 and 17u level.
Moran coached the Boozer twins, Cameron and Cayden, who are headed to Duke, along with 2026 five-stars Jaxon Richardson and Caleb Gaskins at Columbus. Recruiting is a relationships game, and Moran has an obvious in. The two 5-star Florida natives will surely have Miami high on their list.
The only other offers extended by the new staff include four-star guard Austin Goosby, four-star wings Cole Cloer, Alex Constanza, Taylen Kinney and Kohl Rosario. Rosario will be officially visiting this month and is mulling a decision between reclassifying up to 2025 or staying put in 2026. Lucas is known as one of the most elite recruiters in the game. Five-star talent is sure to follow him to Miami.
NC State
When Will Wade is at a high-major, he can be a menace on the recruiting trail. Just look to some of the prospects he grabbed while at LSU like Naz Reid and Cameron Thomas.
Wade showed this transfer portal season he can attract top talent, and that trend will likely translate to the high school space. And it already has with Wade picking up 2025 five-star guard Matthew Able.
At the moment, NC State has offered five players in the 2026 class with the new staff: five-star forward Toni Bryant, five-star guard Deron Rippey, four-star guards Tarris Bouie and Jasiah Jervis and three-star power forward Justin Caldwell, who just visited unofficially. Latrell Allmond, Cody Peck and Yohance Connor all previously visited under old staff, but have yet to announce a re-offer.
Texas
Similar to Indiana, Sean Miller has gotten involved with a plethora of prospects since moving to one of the biggest brands in college sports.
Texas has offered and is in the mix with several five-star players: Dylan Mingo, Christisn Collins, Caleb Gaskins, Cameron Holmes, Deron Rippey, Qayden Samuels and Toni Bryant.
The Longhorns are also involved with Texas natives Davion Adkins, DK Spear, Austin Goosby, Bo Ogden, Bryson Howard and Billy White III. It’s a safe bet that Texas will be among all of those prospects’ top schools. Others Texas has offered with the new staff include Junior County, Adonis and Darius Ratliff, Colben Landrew, Ethan Taylor and Alex Egbuonu. Texas is also one of four finalists for jumbo guard Sammy Jackson.
Holmes, Adkins, Spear, Goosby, Ogden, Howard and White have all expressed interest in taking an official visit to Austin in the fall.
Texas A&M
Bucky McMillan is officially in the big leagues after previously coaching at Samford. With that move, he’s now recruiting big time talent.
Since moving over, five-star wing Abdou Toure, DK Spear, Austin Goosby, Billy White III, four-star wing Aidan Chronister, four-star forward Neiko Mundey, Bryson Howard, Colben Landrew, Steven Reynolds and four-star guard Ethan Mgbako have received offers.
The player to watch closely here is Mgbako. He’s had a great spring with Team Melo on the EYBL circuit and will be a stock riser in the rankings. His brother, Mackenzie, was recruited by McMillan in the transfer portal and will suit up for the Aggies next season.
Villanova
Kevin Willard has made strong relationships in the DMV area, and the move to Villanova should only help his recruiting efforts.
So far, five-star wing Jaxon Richardson, Cole Cloer, Neiko Mundey, four-star wing Anthony Felesi, Jasiah Jervis, four-star shooting guard Luke Barnett, Anthony Brown Jr., Trey Thompson and Favour Ibe have reported offers from the new staff.
Brown Jr. plans to visit at some point, and I would expect the others listed above to follow suit and visit this fall. Willard was also involved with several prospects at Maryland, but those players haven’t posted a re-offer since his move, besides four-star forward Chase Foster.
Virginia
Ryan Odom is another coach who will be coaching at the power conference level next season after having success in the mid-major ranks.
Once again, a step up for Odom means a step up in his recruiting. Since moving over, Odom has offered Arafan Diane, Cameron Holmes, Deron Rippey, Davion Adkins, Cole Cloer, four-star wing Luca Foster, Junior County, Billy White III, four-star guard Christian Gibson, Bo Ogden, Cody Peck and Trey Thompson.
Holmes is a top priority and plans to visit Virginia sometime over the fall. Whoever else schedules and official visit will tell us who Odom is serious about in the class. Odom also had offers extended to Latrell Allmond and Tarris Bouie while he was at VCU.
