Kansas Basketball Lands Commitment from 5-Star PG Taylen Kinney

The Kansas Jayhawks landed their first recruit of the 2026 high school recruiting class on Sunday afternoon when five-star point guard Taylen (Tay) Kinney announced that he would be taking his talents to Lawrence.

In front of a live audience of family and friends streamed on CBS Sports HQ (despite some technical difficulties), Kinney picked the Jayhawks over a group of finalists that included Kentucky, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisville, and Oregon.

Kinney – a 6-foot-1 native of Newport, Kentucky – was long thought to be a lean towards the local schools Kentucky and Louisville, but KU head coach Bill Self was able to pull off the steal.

“It felt like family from the time I got there until I left,” Kinney said.

Kinney is rated as the No. 1 point guard in the 2026 class and the No. 13 player overall, according to 247Sports. In addition to his other finalists, Kinney held offers from some of the top programs in the country, including Alabama, Tennessee, UConn, and others.

Kinney is known as playmaking guard with a high basketball IQ who has the ability to create his own shot while facilitating the offense for teammates.

Playing for Overtime Elite in Atlanta, Georgia, Kinney averaged 20.1 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds per game while shooting 55.6% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range last season as he cemented himself as one of the best prospects in the country.

5 STAR TAYLEN KINNEY JUST COMMITTED TO KANSAS 🚨 @Taylen_0 pic.twitter.com/z65LnQJFzb
— Overtime (@overtime) September 28, 2025

His addition to KU’s recruiting class should catapult them into one of the top 10 classes in the country – with more commitments likely to come in the months ahead as Kinney said he's already recruiting other players to join him.

The Kansas coaching staff is hot on the heels of several other five-star prospects including the No. 1 overall player Tyran Stokes (SF), shooting guard Caleb Holt (No. 5 player overall), small forward Tahj Ariza (No. 14 overall), and others.

Expect Kinney to get a lot of early playing time and likely be a starter for this KU team next season. With a host of upperclassmen on this year’s roster, the Jayhawks are expected to lose several guards heading into next season, along with freshman Darryn Peterson who is slated to be a top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Kinney’s commitment is a huge win for Jayhawk fans and the future of Kansas basketball.