No. 4 recruit Jason Crowe Jr. commits to Missouri basketball

Prime-five recruit Jason Crowe Jr. introduced his dedication to Missouri on Friday, turning into the Tigers‘ highest-ranked recruit in nearly a decade.

Crowe by no means launched an official faculty record, though Kentucky, USC, Texas and others had been all in pursuit of the elite scoring guard.

“Since early July, I’ve felt a robust dedication to Missouri,” Crowe advised ESPN. “And with right this moment being my birthday, I believed it was the right second to make it official.”

For a lot of the previous few months, Kentucky and USC had been believed to be the favorites for Crowe. Crowe’s father performed with Kentucky assistant Jason Hart and the 2 stay associates, and USC made him a precedence early within the cycle.

However Dennis Gates and the Tigers made a robust push over the previous six weeks after providing Crowe a scholarship in June.

“Coach Gates is an outstanding coach and particular person, and his employees are nice individuals,” Crowe mentioned. “Our first dialog occurred throughout the USA tryouts. He was actually real. We talked about household and related on a significant stage. Coach Gates is a family-first particular person. On the courtroom, he is high-energy and aggressive.”

A 6-foot-3 prospect from Inglewood Excessive Faculty (California), Crowe is taken into account the No. 1 level guard within the 2026 class and is ranked No. 4 in the ESPN 100. He turns into Missouri’s highest-ranked dedication since Michael Porter Jr. picked the Tigers within the class of 2017.

Crowe leads the Nike EYBL in scoring, averaging 23.6 factors in regular-season play — scoring greater than 30 factors on 4 separate events.

Crowe is probably the perfect scorer within the class. A left-handed scoring level guard, he thrives in transition. He has a balanced and managed jumper, whether or not he is taking pictures off the dribble or in catch-and-shoot conditions. Crowe possesses an uncanny means to blow previous defenders and enhances it with a top quality midrange recreation and succesful taking pictures from deep. He additionally converts effectively from the free throw line and will get there steadily.

His passing imaginative and prescient is noticeable off his penetration and his ball-screen reads are robust, regardless that he can get unfastened and informal with the ball at occasions.

Crowe is the primary dedication in Missouri’s 2026 class, though the Tigers are additionally in pursuit of fellow five-star prospect Toni Bryant.

“The College of Missouri is a school city that takes nice satisfaction in its sports activities groups,” Crowe mentioned. “With out an NBA workforce close by, the main target is on faculty, basketball and being a part of a close-knit neighborhood. I’m excited to go there and be an impactful participant.”