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Jeff Borzello
There are 18 five-stars atop the ESPN 100 participant rankings for the boys’s school basketball class of 2026. Coming into the July reside interval, only one participant (JaShawn “JJ” Andrews) had dedicated, however now there’s another becoming a member of the combination: ESPN 100 No. 4 Jason Crowe announced Friday he was committing to Missouri, giving the Tigers their highest ranked recruit since Michael Porter Jr. in 2017.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello can be monitoring each five-star dedication announcement because it occurs this season, and break down the way it occurred, the match and extra.
Discover the total participant rankings right here:
2026 ESPN 100 | 2027 ESPN 60 | 2028 ESPN 25
2026 ESPN 100 rating: 4
Dedicated to: Missouri Tigers
Background: Crowe did not wait till the tip of the July reside interval to make his dedication, setting a date for mid-July upfront. He additionally by no means introduced an official faculty record. For a lot of his recruitment, although, Kentucky and USC had been thought-about the first contenders: Crowe’s father performed with Kentucky assistant Jason Hart and the 2 stay buddies, whereas the Trojans made him a precedence all through the method. However over the ultimate few weeks, Missouri emerged as the favourite and was in a position to land the top-five scorer.
How he matches: Crowe is without doubt one of the elite scorers in highschool basketball, averaging higher than 23 factors per recreation on the Nike EYBL circuit. He is explosive with the ball in his palms, and is an adept playmaker who can get others concerned. At Missouri, Crowe will doubtless turn into the group’s finest offensive participant early, though level guard Anthony Robinson and UCLA switch Sebastian Mack might return to Columbia in 2026-27 and take the stress off Crowe. It is also value noting that Dennis Gates and Co. have made some actual headway with fellow five-star Toni Bryant (No. 13).
What’s subsequent for Kentucky and USC? Crowe would have been the perfect begin of the 2026-27 roster for both Kentucky or USC, however each packages have gifted prospects remaining on the high of their boards. The Wildcats are in pursuit of No. 1 prospect Tyran Stokes, No. 5 Caleb Holt, five-star level guards Taylen Kinney (No. 17) and Deron Rippey Jr. (No. 18), amongst others. USC is eyeing Christian Collins (No. 2), Brandon McCoy (No. 6) and Tajh Ariza (No. 20) on the high.
2026 ESPN 100 rating: 12
Dedicated to: Arkansas Razorbacks
Background: Whereas highly-ranked prospects from the state of Arkansas have usually stayed house for faculty — mockingly, Malik Monk selecting John Calipari’s Kentucky over Arkansas was one of many high-profile exceptions — the Razorbacks needed to do some work to land Andrews. He had LSU and Missouri amongst his last three, with Dennis Gates’ Tigers showing to be in a robust place down the stretch. However Calipari has proved he nonetheless has juice with five-stars.
JJ Andrews is a BEAST 🔥 24 factors and 10 boards for the Arkansas commit as Brad Beal Elite beats Oakland Troopers 94-78 @NikeEYB pic.twitter.com/HF6yxctCer
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) July 17, 2025
How he matches: The No. 1 participant within the state of Arkansas, Andrews has been on the radar of high packages for a number of years. He has large bodily instruments and is aggressive going to the basket on the offensive finish. Whereas he is not a prolific perimeter shooter, he did shoot 40% from 3-point vary through the EYBL common season with nearly one make per recreation. It is at all times unclear who will return to a Calipari-coached roster, however Andrews ought to have an early position when he arrives in fall 2026. Unsurprisingly, the Razorbacks are in pursuit of a slew of different five-stars in 2026.