Another top college basketball prospect has passed on the opportunity to play for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats.
On Tuesday afternoon, Bryson Howard — a 6-foot-5 small forward in the 2026 recruiting class from Texas — committed to Duke from a final shortlist of three programs that also included North Carolina and UK.
Howard is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star recruit and the No. 12 overall recruit in the 2026 class. He made his college choice during a commitment ceremony that was livestreamed on the CBS Sports College Basketball YouTube channel.
“It felt like home, really. And how I fit into their play system,” Howard said after committing to the Blue Devils. “Just like, off ball screens, backdoor cuts, getting up and down defensively... It’s really great, and it made the most sense to play in.’
Howard’s rapid rise up the recruiting rankings was a major storyline during the 2025 grassroots basketball season. Known as a lengthy, left-handed wing, Howard turned heads this summer with his play on the Nike travel circuit. He averaged nearly 21 points per game in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League while shooting better than 46% from 3-point range on five attempts per game.
“A whole lot of energy. I’m on the way,” Howard said of his message to Duke fans.
Unranked by major recruiting services earlier this year, Howard is now set to begin his senior season at Heritage High School in Frisco, Texas, as one of the most talked-about recruits in the nation.
“Howard has proven himself to be able to operate in a system that involves short touches, quick decisions and constant random movement,” Zach Welch, an analyst for Pro Insight Basketball, said in a message to the Herald-Leader. “While this is not the only context in which he could provide value at the next level, he could certainly fit right into a team that operates in this way. In general, however, his feel and adaptability on both ends make him fit to operate a variety of schemes and identities on both ends.”
Howard — the son of former Wake Forest standout and longtime NBA player Josh Howard — took recruiting visits to Duke and North Carolina in September, and to Kentucky earlier this month. His official visit to UK in early October was the final visit of his recruitment.
Howard now joins a growing list of prospects from the high school senior class who have passed on the chance to play for Pope at UK. Guards Jason Crowe Jr. (Missouri) and Taylen Kinney (Kansas), along with small forwards Tajh Ariza (Oregon), Cole Cloer (North Carolina State) and Anthony Thompson (Ohio State) are other class of 2026 recruits with a Kentucky scholarship offer who have committed elsewhere.
Thompson announced his commitment to Ohio State on Tuesday morning.
Howard is the first class of 2026 commitment for head coach Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils. Duke is ranked sixth in the preseason AP Poll for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
North Carolina is also still without a commitment from a member of the high school senior class.
UK remains one of three SEC schools, along with Auburn and Georgia, yet to secure a commitment from a 2026 recruit. The early signing period for high school seniors begins Nov. 12 and runs through Nov. 19.
Elsewhere in the SEC, several schools have gotten off to strong starts when it comes to recruiting the high school senior class. Missouri (No. 1), Vanderbilt (No. 8), Tennessee (No. 9) and LSU (No. 10) are all ranked among the top 10 recruiting classes in the country, according to 247Sports.
What’s next for Kentucky basketball recruiting?
There’s still minimal concern regarding what Kentucky basketball’s 2026 recruiting class will ultimately be. That’s largely because of the positive recruiting buzz UK has received for Tyran Stokes, the top ranked player in the class.
Stokes is a 6-foot-7 playmaker who is originally from Louisville and plays prep basketball in California. He’s down to a final five group of schools in his recruitment that includes the Wildcats.
While there’s been plenty of smoke surrounding a potential UK pledge by Stokes, no commitment date for him has been announced. It’s noteworthy that Stokes recently announced an endorsement deal with Nike, but Adidas-backed Kansas is mounting a stiff challenge to UK in Stokes’ recruitment.
In addition to Stokes, the consensus best player in the high school senior class, UK remains in contention for a number of other top recruits in the 2026 recruiting group. This includes guards Deron Rippey Jr. and Jordan Smith, small forwards Baba Oladotun and Caleb Holt, power forward Christian Collins and centers Arafan Diane and Josh Irving.
Oladotun took an official visit to Kentucky last weekend. Irving is down to a final list of three schools that includes Kentucky, and his commitment could be the next major recruiting moment for the Wildcats.
Currently, UK has 15 scholarship offers out to uncommitted prospects in the 2026 class, although the Wildcats aren’t in the running for all of these players.
“I think the process is even more fun than it’s ever been. I’ll continue to say that the most important part of this process for us is not finding the best, highest-ranked player,” Pope said earlier this month about UK’s high school recruiting outlook. “You’d be shocked at how many times we end up mutually walking away because we know what Kentucky is, and finding the right player here … It doesn’t amount to the sum of just going to find whoever someone is ranking the highest player.”