Recruiting Roundup: Local Four-Star 2027 Guard Visits Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball

The Bearcats made some basketball recruiting waves over the past few days. We start the latest Recruiting Roundup with a visit from four-star 2027 wing Joshua Tyson out of Lakota West (Ohio).

It's another elite hometown target for Jerrod Calhoun and his staff, which has nailed down 12 of its 15 roster spots for this coming season so far. Tyson won't be joining this team, but he could be one of the first headliner high schoolers to play for Calhoun at Cincinnati.

According to 247Sports, Tyson is ranked 68th nationally and 10th among combo guards. He holds 12 offers from schools like Arizona State, Ohio State, Penn State, and Virginia Tech. Winning the in-state battle against Ohio State for recruits is huge moving forward.

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound visited campus on Monday, and UC assistant Johnny Hill was front and center for his spring circuit action in Indianapolis this past weekend.

Cincinnati is trying to be the best team in Ohio.

"This year, we went and spent $2.4 million on a roster, and we won a regular-season title. We won a conference tournament title. We won a first-round NCAA game, and we took Arizona to the final four or five minutes. Not here to say we don't need money by any means. We need a lot of it, and that's for sure, but I think what it shows you is our ability to evaluate the right people," Calhoun noted during his opening press conference at Cincinnati. "You have to have the right people. The University of Cincinnati deserves a winner in men's basketball. This city deserves to be rocking and rolling again. People need to fear us in the state of Ohio, it's the best basketball job in the state of Ohio, I think it truly is."

Princeton vs Lakota West lived up to the hype.

Lakota West outlasts the Vikings to remain undefeated in GMC play and take a two game lead at the top of the standings with just three games to play.

Josh Tyson with 19 points for West.
Kam Mercer with 16 points for Princeton. pic.twitter.com/7xFzv3yuP7
— Yanni Tragellis (@yannitragellis) February 7, 2026

Calhoun's crew also offered four-star 2027 guard Payton Jones out of Beaumont United (Texas).

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound star holds 22 offers from schools like Auburn, Houston, Kansas State, and LSU.

Either talent could end up making a mark at Cincinnati as part of Calhoun's first batch of freshman recruits. It appears to be too late in this cycle to add a Class of 2026 freshman for this fall.

Check out highlights from Jones below:

2027 4-star guard Payton Jones is getting busy at UAA Session 1 in Kansas City 😮‍💨 @Joneswrld9

Controlling the game and dictating the pace 🔥 pic.twitter.com/paUJiRkQwH
— Billy Tucker (@TheUCReport) April 19, 2026

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