LEXINGTON — Kentucky basketball didn’t land its first commitment for its 2025 recruiting class until last summer. On Aug. 16, 2024, in-state star Malachi Moreno (of Great Crossing High School in Georgetown) gave his pledge to coach Mark Pope and the Wildcats.
UK still is looking to get off the ground in the 2026 cycle, though.
As of May 19, Kentucky doesn’t have any commitments. That puts UK in line with most of the SEC, though, as 14 schools haven’t yet landed a pledge from a 2026 recruit; the only outliers are Arkansas and Mississippi State.
While UK is still waiting for its first commitment, it has offered 11 prospects in the 2026 class, per 247Sports.
Keeping that list in mind, The Courier Journal is taking a look at five of the players the Wildcats have targeted (and offered) in the Class of 2026.
One player not included below: the consensus top recruit in the class, Tyran Stokes. The all-world forward, a Louisville native, will have his pick of any school in the country when he believes the time is right. And for now, the time isn’t right to visit Lexington; he had been slated for an official visit during the weekend of May 15. That trip was postponed, with no makeup OV announced, according to Kentucky Sports Radio’s Jacob Polacheck. Stokes already has visited U of L as well as Kansas.
Stokes aside, here are five other prospects to keep an eye on with regard to Kentucky’s 2026 recruiting efforts:
Ikenna Alozie
Position: Combo guardHeight: 6-2Weight: 185 poundsHigh school: Dream City Christian (Glendale, Arizona)247Sports Composite ranking: Five stars (No. 1 position; No. 10 overall)
UK’s interest in Ikenna Alozie, a five-star combo guard, is apparent. Last month, Pope and assistant coach Cody Fueger met with Alozie. Pope also traveled to Arizona last fall for an in-person meeting with Alozie. A month after that meeting, Kentucky officially offered the talented combo guard. Pope and his staff then watched Alozie at the Nike EYBL event in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 16. Alozie, who is Nigerian, won the Most Valuable Player award during the FIBA-NBA showcase during NBA All-Star Weekend in February.
Tajh Ariza
Position: Small forwardHeight: 6-8Weight: 180 poundsHigh school: St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California)247Sports Composite ranking: Five stars (No. 2 position; No. 7 overall)
Tajh Ariza has been around basketball his whole life. That’s because of his father: Trevor Ariza played 18 seasons in the NBA, capturing a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009. Last fall, Ariza earned an offer from Kentucky. One of the top players in the 2026 cycle, the younger Ariza is hearing from numerous schools. In February, he revealed to On3 what Kentucky’s pitch has been to him. “They are talking to me (how) much I fit with their program. And they’re wanting me to get on campus soon. Their system is so different from what it was before. Coach Pope brought it over. A lot of people were doubting him, you know, but he brought in a bunch of transfers and he’s just proved himself as a coach.” In the past, Tajh has been blunt about the key factors in his final decision. “I’m trying to be one and done, so I’m looking for the program that can help develop me the fastest,” he told 247Sports in December. “The fit is important and coaches who will push me and believe in my ability. I love to win so I want a winning program.” Yet the biggest news he’s made lately has nothing to do with his college of choice, but his high school: He’s transferring from Westchester to St. John Bosco. At St. John Bosco, he’ll team up with two more five-stars in the 2026 class — both of whom also own Kentucky offers — in fellow forward Christian Collins and point guard Brandon McCoy. Tajh and Collins also play on the same AAU squad, Team Whynot (on the Nike EYBL circuit), with Pope and Fueger observing them in Memphis on May 16.
Caleb Holt
Position: Shooting guardHeight: 6-5Weight: 200 poundsHigh school: Grayson (Grayson, Georgia)247Sports Composite ranking: Five stars (No. 2 position; No. 5 overall)
Caleb Holt’s yet another 2026 prospect UK has prioritized. Last month, Pope, Fueger and another assistant, Jason Hart, paid Holt an in-home visit. Holt later posted a photo of himself alongside the trio of UK coaches on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Holt included the caption, “Appreciate yall for coming through.” Holt told 247Sports in December he and his family chat with Hart “every week” about numerous subjects. “Me and my dad will be talking to coach Jason, or sometimes it’s my dad talking,” Holt told 247Sports. “(Hart has been) seeing what I am doing, and I am seeing what he’s doing. We’re both basketball heads, so we talk about basketball and the games (that are) going on and their game. … Coach Mark Pope came to my school to talk to me, we got on a Zoom call and he wants me, he thinks I am a guy he can see at Kentucky, a guy that can win a national championship.”
Taylen Kinney
Position: Point guardHeight: 6-1Weight: 174 poundsHigh school: Overtime Elite (Atlanta)247Sports Composite ranking: Five stars (No. 4 position; No. 16 overall)
Taylen Kinney needs little introduction at this point, as he’s been on Kentucky’s radar for years — even before Pope took over the program in April 2024. That’s because UK’s previous staff, led by John Calipari, began monitoring Kinney’s progress while the young guard was starring at Newport High. After guiding the school to back-to-back Ninth Region championships for the first time since 1954 and 1955, Kinney transferred to Atlanta-based Overtime Elite, a league for 16-to-20-year-old players. He excelled last season, ending the regular season among the league’s top 10 in points (20.1; eighth), assists (5; tied for fifth) and steals (2.3; third) per game. Pope, Fueger and Hart visited Kinney in Atlanta last month. Kinney recently told The Courier Journal he has no timetable for a decision. He had an official visit with Purdue in January. And Kinney informed 247Sports on May 13 that he planned to take an OV to Oregon this fall; that visit is tentatively slated for Sept. 6. Kinney also told 247Sports he would “consider Auburn, Indiana, Kentucky and Louisville when planning additional visits.”
Jordan Smith
Position: Shooting guardHeight: 6-2Weight: 200High school: Paul VI Catholic (Fairfax, Virginia)247Sports Composite ranking: Five stars (No. 1 position; No. 4 overall)
Jordan Smith has become a prospect of great importance to Kentucky. The staff watched him in action at the Nike EYBL event in Memphis on May 16. That was mere weeks after Pope and associate head coach Alvin Brooks III visited Smith at his home. And earlier this year, Brooks and Hart crossed the state line to watch Smith suit up for his high school, St. Paul VI Catholic, in Virginia. Smith’s father told KSR on May 1 the “only visits we plan on taking after Peach Jam are Arkansas and Kentucky.” Per 247Sports, Smith “averaged 12.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 74.5% from the field and 66.7% percent from 3-point range” during last year’s Peach Jam, playing for Team Takeover. His performance impressed Travis Branham, a national basketball analyst for 247Sports. After Peach Jam ended, Branham named Smith the event’s “Top Dog,” which goes to the player he deems the event’s toughest competitor. “A guy who can dominate a game by doing the small things and dirty work. With that in mind, there’s no one more fitting of this accolade than Jordan Smith Jr.,” Branham wrote. But Branham wasn’t finished. “At Peach Jam, Smith proved multiple times that he could use his strong, wiry frame, athleticism, and toughness to impact the win column,” Branham wrote. “In fact, his presence helped his team get to the tournament’s final four. Smith oozes with winning intangibles and makes for the best perimeter defender in the country.”
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball roster 2025-26: Mark Pope recruiting targets