2026 Men's Basketball Recruiting

DavidBenAkiva

DavidBenAkiva

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It is late July and the rising class of high school juniors are starting to receive the first offers from Duke. The first offer comes from a familiar place, St. Paul VI (PVI) Catholic High School of Virginia. PVI has sent a quartet of basketball players to Duke recently, including Jeremy Roach, Trevor Keels, and the incoming freshmen duo Darren Harris and Patrick Ngongba II. The first offer for the Class of 2026 went out to PVI's Jordan Smith, a 6'3" guard ranked in the top 10 of his class.

Highlights from Peach Jam:

The second offer went to Miikka Muurinen, a 6'10" Finnish forward from Wichita, KS playing for Compass Prep in Chandler, AZ and the Brad Beal Elite AAU Team. Muurinen is Finnish and is a high-level shooter that also likes to throw down impressive dunks. He is ranked in the Top 100 by the recruiting services (247, ESPN, On3, and Rivals) but seems poised to be rise based on his skillset and body of work.

Highlights from the AAU circuit.
 
6’3” and 6’4”??

I guess we must know they are still growing, because I thought we weren’t recruiting under 6’5” anymore.
 
Miikka Muurinen was mentioned uptrend. His mom played 2 years at UNC for Sylvia Hatchell. She only played 6 minutes a game and I can't find info on where she went after leaving UNC.
 
High schoolers from the classes of 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028 are in Colorado Springs this weekend (October 11-13) for a minicamp of the USA Basketball Junior National Team. I'm posting this in the 2026 recruiting thread because we kind of know where we stand with the 2025 class, and it's too early to say much about 2027 or 2028.

Babcock Hoops has the list of invitees. The players from the 2026 class are listed below. According to Verbal Commits (and this thread), Duke has offered guards Brandon McCoy Jr and Jordan Smith Jr.

www.babcockhoops.com

USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Minicamp Set to Showcase Top Young Talent

Previewing the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team minicamp, Oct 11-13, 2024, as 83 top prospects gather in Colorado.
www.babcockhoops.com www.babcockhoops.com

Class of 2026
  • Kayden Allen, 6-6, 190, F, Montverde Academy (FL)
  • Alijah Arenas, 6-5, 188, G, Chatsworth (CA)
  • Tajh Ariza, 6-8, 180, F, Westchester Senior (CA)
  • Toni Bryant, 6-9, 200, F, North Tampa Christian Academy (FL)
  • Christian Collins, 6-8, 200, F, St. John Bosco (CA)
  • Jason Crowe Jr., 6-1, 150, G, Inglewood (CA)
  • Caleb Holt, 6-5, 200, G/F, Grayson (GA)
  • Cameron Holmes, 6-5, 195, G/F, Millenium (AZ)
  • Brandon McCoy Jr., 6-4, 170, G, St. John Bosco (CA)
  • Dylan Mingo, 6-5, 170, G, Long Island Lutheran (NY)
  • Jalen Montonati, 6-7, 175, G/F, Owasso (OK)
  • Adam Oumiddoch, 6-5, 180, G, Overtime Elite (GA)
  • Deron Rippey Jr., 6-2, 175, G, Blair Academy (NJ)
  • Jordan Smith Jr., 6-3, 195, G, Paul VI Catholic (VA)
  • Elijah Williams, 6-6, 200, F, TMI Episcopal (TX)
Travis Branham of 247 Sports is in attendance, and he published an article about what he observed on Friday, noting a few standouts among the 2026, 2027, and 2028 classes.

247sports.com

Branham's Book from USA Basketball on Friday: Caleb Holt, Brandon McCoy and others shine

Branham's notebook from Friday at USA Basketball as Brandon McCoy, Caleb Holt and young players shine in front of NBA scouts.
247sports.com 247sports.com

Brandon McCoy | 6-4 PG | St. John Bosco | 2026

‌Brandon McCoy has already become one of the premier names in the country and is very much in contention for the No. 1 spot in the 2026 class. The 6-foot-4 point guard has always been an impressive athlete with bounce, long arms and great size for the position.

What caught my eye in particular about McCoy on Friday was how he continues to make an impact on both sides of the ball. He's quick laterally, has great instincts and uses his length to disrupt ball-handlers.

He was turning defense into offense and it looks like he's continuing to evolve as an athlete, looking like he has gained more burst and a more explosive first step to beat guys off the bounce.

Caleb Holt | 6-5 SG | Grayson | 2026
Deron Rippey Jr. | 6-2 PG | Blair Academy | 2026

Devin Cleveland | 6-1 CG | Kenwood Academy | 2027
Josh Leonard | 6-6 SF | Wilson HS | 2027

Benton Lusakueno | 6-8 PF | Pace Academy | 2028
Quinton Wilson | 6-3 SG | Victory Christian Academy | 2028
Click to expand...
 
247's Brandon Jenkins is also in Colorado Springs for the USA Basketball minicamp, and he filed this article about what he saw Friday, singling out Jordan Smith Jr.

A 6-foot-3 guard out of Fairfax (Va.) Paul IV Catholic who is ranked the No. 8 national recruit in the junior class, Smith has long arms, great bounce, and plays the game with a never-ending motor. When watching him compete, it is clear that he is not out there to make friends as his mind is constantly set on getting the most out of possessions on both ends of the floor.

Offensively, he plays the game as if he were six inches taller with his will to never giving up on a play. His jumper also continues to come along as he seems to gain more confidence in each of our viewings of him.

Defensively is where he plays as if his life is on the line. He bullies opponents and is dead set on getting stops in any way possible.

Smith is up there with the best in his class when it comes to impacting a game. He completed an unofficial visit to Syracuse last month and has another visit scheduled with Duke for November 1st.
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brevity said:
  • Christian Collins, 6-8, 200, F, St. John Bosco (CA)
  • Brandon McCoy Jr., 6-4, 170, G, St. John Bosco (CA)]
Click to expand...

MChambers said:
Seems like Christian Collins would be a good fit, based on his name.
Click to expand...

Also based on the school. Would teammates Christian Collins and Brandon McCoy want to stay teammates in college? Duke could keep the streak going.

2024: Darren Harris and Patrick Ngongba, St. Paul VI (Fairfax, VA)
2025: Cameron Boozer and Cayden Boozer, Columbus (Miami, FL)
2026: ??
 
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Travis Branham wraps up the weekend with this article, offering praise for 9 players, including Brandon McCoy and Jordan Smith.

247sports.com

Branham's book from Sunday at USA Basketball: Jason Crowe, Caleb Holt & More

It was a highly competitive final day at USA Basketball October MiniCamp with several of the nation's best rising to the occasion.
247sports.com 247sports.com

Brandon McCoy wreaks havoc on defense

If you look up Brandon McCoy highlights you're going to find a lot of dunks and buckets being made from around the court. However, scoring isn't what he even does best. In fact, his best skill and strength on the court is his defense.

While his teammate at camp Darius Acuff took on ball-handling responsibilities, McCoy took it upon himself to contend with Jordan Smith as the best defender and made a case that he belongs in the same conversation.

McCoy was picking up full court, generating steals and deflections all day long leading to easy buckets and some exciting dunks on the other end.

McCoy just has elite instincts, great hands and a nose for the ball which also showed up in his rebounding on both ends of the court.
Click to expand...

Jordan Smith is the definition of a winner

One of the biggest standouts all weekend long was 2026 guard Jordan Smith. The guy is just an absolute menace and dog on the court that is the last person you want to see matched up against you as a ball-handler.

His length, strength, instincts and toughness are second to none and he came up with winning play after winning play.

What makes 'Smitty' special is his ability to dominate a game without ever touching the ball.

His defense and positional rebounding are elite but he has also been putting in some real work behind the scenes.

The biggest area for improvement with Smith has been his jumper and at USAB he made the most out of his shot opportunities, making jumpers from both mid-range and three throughout the weekend.
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"I'm 6'5", 220, and there's two of me." (Name that movie.)

If you've ever wondered, "What if Duke just recruited all the twin sons of NBA players?" then Adam Zagoria has news for you.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1848451657236914328

They're both much taller than 6-5, actually. Adonis Ratliff is a 6-10 power forward, and Darius Ratliff is a 6-11 center. They attend Archbishop Stepinac High School (White Plains, NY), where AJ Griffin and Jordan Tucker also went to school. Their father, Theo Ratliff, had a 16-year NBA career.
 
The irony being, of course, that in the movie, there was truly only one Winklevi, Armie Hammer made into 2 via movie magic. (Phredd beat me to it!)

Coach Pat Massaroni has it rolling at Stepinac, which has become a national power. Many kids who would have played in NYC public or Catholic high schools now flock to the private and catholic high schools of Northern NJ and Suburban NY.

I notice you didn't mention RJ Davis as a Step grad, well played.
 
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