Kansas Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing Taylen Kinney’s Final Schools

Taylen Kinney will announce his commitment this weekend. He will be deciding between these six schools for his college decision.

Newport's Taylen Kinney (0) brings the ball up the court during Newport's 81-50 win over Beechwood in the All 'A Classic Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Alla25 | TONY TRIBBLE FOR THE ENQUIRER / USA TODAY NETWORK

Highly touted 5-star recruit Taylen Kinney is just two days away from making his college decision on CBS Sports HQ. The Overtime Elite product is one of the most lauded recruits in the nation and is choosing between six finalists.

While many recruiting sites project the Kansas Jayhawks as the favorite, none of these schools can be written off just yet. Let's dive in and analyze each of his final choices.

Kansas

The favorite to land Kinney, Bill Self and KU appear to be in the driver's seat for the 6-foot-2, 185-pound point guard.

The program hosted him on an official visit beginning Aug. 22 and began to gain momentum with him shortly after.

This is what he had to say about Coach Self's recruiting pitch in a recent 247 Sports interview: "When I got there, Coach Self tossed me his keys, and he was basically like, 'This is yours next year,'" Kinney said. "We didn't get too much into it, but they showed highlights of other guards like Devonte Graham and Frank Mason, and he showed me how they played and other guards that they've had that he just let rock out."

Right now, Kansas is prioritizing him above all of its other recruiting targets, and the expectation is that he will put on a Jayhawk hat this Sunday.

Louisville

The Cardinals were long considered the favorite to land Kinney, partially due to his Adidas ties and his Kentucky roots as a native of Newport. They appeared to be in the lead for a long time, but that no longer seems to be the case.

Kentucky

Kentucky hosted Kinney on an official visit in June and visited him multiple times throughout the summer.

However, it doesn't seem that Mark Pope and his staff are recruiting him very hard anymore. Their focus has shifted to Deron Rippey Jr., another 5-star point guard in this class.

Arkansas

Arkansas entered Kinney's recruitment late and was the final school to host him on an official visit last week.

That raised some eyebrows, since receiving the last visit often bodes well for a program. But there hasn't been any indication that John Calipari and Co. are doing anything to rival Kansas.

Indiana

Indiana hosted Kinney on an official visit the week after his trip to Lawrence. However, it doesn't sound like the Hoosiers are recruiting him very heavily.

Oregon

Like Indiana, Oregon hosted him on an official visit in early September. But once again, Dana Altman's squad does not appear to be making a major push for Kinney.