While much of the focus is on preparations for the new college basketball season, coaches are still hard at work out on the recruiting trail and Kansas had a major breakthrough over the weekend. The efforts of head coach Bill Self and assistant Jacque Vaughn did not go in vain as the Jayhawks landed a commitment from Taylen Kinney, a 5-star point guard and one of the top athletes in the Class of 2026.
With the current state of the sport, it’s far too soon to look ahead with a concrete idea of Kansas’s roster, but Kinney becomes a very important piece of the future puzzle. The Jayhawks enter this upcoming season without Dajuan Harris Jr., their longtime point guard who exhausted his eligibility this past year. They added Melvin Council Jr. from the transfer portal to run the point, but he’ll be in Lawrence for just a single season before Kinney gets his time to shine.
NEWS: Five-star senior Taylen Kinney, one of the best point guards in the country, has announced his commitment to Kansas.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) September 28, 2025
“It felt like family from the time I got there until I left,” Kinney told @PaulBiancardi, also highlighting his relationship with Bill Self & Jacque Vaughn. pic.twitter.com/YKmxtwaKOx
A 6-1 point guard originally from Atlanta, Kinney grew to fame as part of Overtime Elite and is considered by many as the top available point guard in this upcoming recruiting class. Kinney’s decision comes after considering offers from Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, and several other schools and his services will certainly be appreciated by Self’s crew.
The work he’s done already at the high school level has been outstanding, establishing himself as someone who can not only lead the offense but score and create. Kinney has great athleticism and on-ball skills but even projects as a significant scoring type of guard. It’s all about balance and rhythm in his game and Kansas is hoping he can grew into a top-level shooter and ball distributor.
What the Jayhawks will also like to hear is that Kinney has shown potential as a defender as well. It’s not just that he’s a creative scorer who can make things happen all over the court, he’s also shown promise as a rebounder and has had decent steals numbers recently. He has the potential to bring a whole bag of tricks to town and should be seen already as one of Kansas’s most important players for the 2026-27 season.
Self and his staff pulled off a major victory by landing this 5-star point guard. Even though he’ll be a true freshman next season, you can expect Kinney to shoulder a lot of the load for the Jayhawks based on the explosiveness we’ve seen from him with Overtime Elite. He still has another year to keep evolving his game, but he’s doing it as a future Jayhawk that will have those crowds energized one day soon.