Two 2026 In-State Prospects Ranked in Top 30 Nationally

Arkansas continues to develop high level prep school players, national ranking shows

Author:
Jacob Davis
Publish date:
Sep 5, 2023 11:10 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The explosion of high school basketball talent in the Natural State continues to be on the rise with two current sophomores being ranked in the top 50 nationally, according to On3 Sports.

One of those is Little Rock Christian Academy point guard JJ Andrews. The 6-foot-5 195 pounder received an offer from the Hogs on May 21. He is ranked as the no. 13 overall prospect in the class of 2026 with a rating of 96. Does the last name sound familiar? It should since his father, Shawn, played for the Hogs football team and was drafted in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft.

After leading his Warriors squad to a 27-7 overall record and first state title in school history, Andrews continues to climb the recruiting rankings this offseason. He did all that as a true freshman averaging 16.6 points, six rebounds, two assists and just over one block per game.

Playing for one of the more prestigious Nike EYBL teams, Bradley Beal Elite, it shouldn't take long for other elite programs around the country to take notice of his talent. During the 13 game stretch in April and May, Andrews was electric scoring 15 points while shooting over 42% from three.

Missouri, Ole Miss and Illinois are the only other three schools to reportedly offer the budding central Arkansas star.

Ranked just inside the top 30 in the 2026 class is Jacob Lanier of Maumelle, (Ark.) High School. The 6-foot-4, 175 pound shooting guard sits at no. 29 with a rating of 95. He is the 10th ranked shooting guard in the class overall and was one of the top performers overall at the EYBL Peach Jam this summer. He was awarded as the top offensive performer during the second session in Phoenix by stuffing the stat sheet by averaging just shy of 20 points per game, 8.3 rebounds, 3 steals and 2.7 assists per game.

While the Hogs have offered so have Texas Tech, California, Arizona State, TCU and Ole Miss. Lanier is a solid shooter beyond the arc connecting on 37.1-percent of his attempts and shot 74-percent from the free throw line.

One piece of his game that might intrigue Hogs' coach Eric Musselman is Lanier's ability to finish at the rim and above-average midrange game shooting 42-percent.

The streak which Arkansas is on in developing high school talent has been on the rise since 2020. There have been six prospects receive a four-star ranking while two others were given five-star status and that's just off the players that have made it to college.

Starting with the 2024 class (rising seniors), the state has two prospects ranked in the top 70. The 2025 class shows to be trending up as well with two more prospects ranked in the top 100 including Terrian Burgess (Benton, Ark.) who is a 6-foot-8 forward and ranked in the top 25, according to 247sports.