Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 player in the class of 2026, has committed to Kansas.
The five-star recruit chose the Jayhawks over Kentucky and Oregon, announcing his decision Tuesday on ESPN’s Inside the NBA.
A 6-foot-7, do-it-all forward out of Rainier Beach High School, Stokes averaged 31 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals this season to lead his team to a 29-1 record and a 3A state championship. He previously played alongside AJ Dybantsa, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, at powerhouse Prolific Prep and on the Nike EYBL circuit with the Oakland Soldiers.
Stokes, who’s likely to be selected as a preseason All-American, was one of the final top-100 recruits to commit. During the Nike Hoop Summit a few weeks ago, he told Hoops HQ that he wanted to assess the offseason changes at the schools on his list before making his final decision. “I just want to be able to lock down who’s coming in the portal, who’s staying, who’s leaving, and that stuff will help me and my decision,” he said.
Most of the Jayhawks’ roster fell apart following the 2025-26 campaign. In addition to losing Darryn Peterson to the NBA and starting wings Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White to graduation, Kansas saw seven players transfer out, including promising forward Bryson Tiller (Missouri) and reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Flory Bidunga (Louisville).
Bill Self has landed three players via the portal in recent weeks: 6-foot-9 junior forward Keanu Dawes from Utah, 6-foot-1 freshman guard Leroy Blyden Jr. from Toledo and 7-foot-2 junior center Christian Reeves from Charleston. Dawes came in at No. 19 on Hoops HQ’s ranking of the top 50 transfers after averaging 12.5 points and 8.8 rebounds for the Utes.
Kansas already had a highly rated recruiting class prior to adding Stokes. Five-star guard Taylen Kinney out of Overtime Elite committed in September, and the Jayhawks also signed four-star prospects Davion Adkins, Trent Perry and Luke Barnett.
Stokes and Kinney, the two centerpieces of Self’s new squad, are close friends and former middle school teammates.
“Coach Self, coach (Kurtis) Townsend and the rest of the staff have just been keeping me in the loop with what’s going on and who they’re looking at and players they want to put me and TK (Taylen Kinney) with if I were to go there,” Stokes told Hoops HQ in mid-April. “Just being able to talk to them and listen to conversations and see what players they’re getting, it just helps me prepare. They’re really locked in on trying to get me.”
Asked to single out the most important factors weighing into his decision, Stokes said, “Just feeling like I’m in the best situation for me, development-wise. My plan is to only be in college for eight months, so just being able to go there and having a coach put his trust in me and me put my trust in that coach to help me develop and be a great player.”
Some believed Stokes would end up choosing Kentucky because he’s a Nike-sponsored athlete and UK is a Nike school, whereas KU is partnered with Adidas.
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