Talented 2026 Recruit Visited Houston Over the Weekend
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Houston men’s basketball put together their best recruiting class in history with the 2025 class.
The Cougars' class ranked No. 3 in the country behind Duke and Arizona, and includes three of the top 20 recruits nationally.
Coach Kelvin Sampson and staff have built one of the best basketball programs in the nation, and Houston is an attractive destination for several top recruits.
Ralph Scott's Journey to a Top Recruit
Ralph Scott made an official visit to Houston this weekend and is one of the top players in the state of Florida.
He is a 6-foot-7 shooting forward and attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
The sharpshooter is a four-star recruit and ranks No. 44 nationally and No. 8 in the state.
Scott had a long journey to becoming a highly rated recruit. He was born in Connecticut, but his family moved to Bermuda, a British overseas territory in the Atlantic Ocean, when he was a child.
Scott made waves at several camps around the country. He received his first significant recognition for his performances at the Basketball Without Borders Americas camp in San Salvador, El Salvador, and was named MVP.
Doug Reed, the founder of Scott’s team back in Bermuda, Team Hurricane, talked very highly about the 2026 recruit in an interview with Neil Adler, a journalist for Inside the Loud House.
“The kid is really talented,” Reed said via phone call with Adler. “He can score on all three levels. Great temperament, polite, just a wonderful kid.”
Scott first played his high school ball at Lakeland Christian School, but later transferred to IMG Academy, where he continues to attend.
Moving back to the US has brought the young forward into a different realm in the basketball world.
“It definitely took me a game or two to get used to seeing all of those coaches in the stands and playing against high-level guys,” Scott said via the Islandstats podcast.
Now, it is normal for Scott to be in a sellout crowd with college coaches filling the stands.
As a junior, he was a standout on IMG Academy’s gold team. With his strong campaign, he has received offers from major basketball programs, including Houston, LSU, Tennessee, and Texas, with many more to come.
Continuing the Culture
Sampson and staff have built a winning culture at Houston that can't be denied. Since moving to the Big 12, the Cougars are back-to-back conference champions and just made their first National Championship game since 1984.
A big part of their success is recruiting guys who will fit the culture at UH. Houston recruits guys who work hard, have great character, are committed to their work on the court and in the classroom and are in it for the team's success.
"If you don't want problems... don't recruit them," Sampson said via Kickin' It With Kunkel. "I don't recruit entitlement kids."
Scott fits Houston's culture and that is why the young star received an offer in the first place. He grew up with no stars and worked his way up into a top-50 recruit.
Scott embodies what being a Cougar is all about and would be a huge addition to Houston's 2026 class.
Ashton Grissom is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He is currently a senior at the University of Houston and majoring in Sports Media Production with a minor in Marketing and Spanish. He also works for two student organizations: The Cougar and CoogTV. You can find Grissom on his Instagram (@ashtonagrissom8) or Twitter (@ashtongrissom8).