Four-Star Hoops Prospect From Florida Lists UCF In Top 7
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The UCF Knights men's basketball team remains in the running for a Florida combo guard according to 247Sports' Travis Barnham.
Kayden Allen, a 6-foot-5-inch combo guard currently playing for Zephyrhills Christian Academy, cut down his possible destinations to seven schools on July 28. Alongside the Knights, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, California, Florida State, Mississippi State and Cincinnati are also vying for his commitment. He is slated to visit UCF on Sep. 20 as one of his six scheduled visits as of Wednesday.
NEWS: Kayden Allen, the No. 51 overall recruit in the 2026 class, has cut his list to seven schools and scheduled several official visits, he tells @247Sports.
— Travis Branham (@TravisBranham_) July 28, 2025
Finalists: California, Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and UCF. || VIP:… pic.twitter.com/h9cBG0npSR
247Sports rates Allen as a four-star. He is ranked as the No. 22 small forward, the No. 11 recruit out of Florida and the No. 51 recruit overall of the class of 2026.
Allen, originally from the Atlanta Metro Area, is coming off a Nike Elite Youth Basketball League season that saw him play 269 minutes across 12 games, averaging 20.8 points per game, the fifth-most in the league. He hit 75.8 percent of his free throws, 31.9 percent of his threes and shot 46.6 percent overall. He also recorded 25 assists and six steals.
Allen is about to tip off his senior high school basketball season with Zephyrhills Christian Academy after transferring in from Montverde Academy back in May.
The Knights are slated as the last of Allen's scheduled visits, which last between Aug. 23 and Sep. 20. He said to ZagsBlog that he hopes to announce his choice by December and that it will come down to his relationship with a program's coach and its system.
KNIGHTS IN THE RUNNING FOR ANOTHER TOP PLAYER
The Knights are among the Top 10 for a guard hailing from coach Johnny Dawkins' old stomping grounds according to On3's Joe Tipton.
Anthony "Ant" Brown Jr., a 6-foot-1-inch point guard from the Washington D.C. metro area, or DMV, narrowed down his destination possibilities to 10 schools on Friday. Vying for his commitment alongside the Knights are Maryland, Mississippi State, Villanova, Tennessee, Memphis, Texas Tech, VCU, Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt. He is slated to visit UCF on Sep. 13, the first of his seven scheduled visits as of Tuesday.
247Sports rates him as a four-star and the No. 14 point guard of the class of 2026. Its Director of Scouting, Adam Finkelstein, said he is "a scoring threat at all three levels who has deep shooting range when his feet are under him, can make pull-ups, and tough lay-ups at the rim with both hands." He also described Brown as physical and competitive defensively.
Brown's attention from power basketball programs comes off the heels of a "breakout" campaign in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League this season, Finkelstein said. In 15 games and over 400 minutes on the court, Brown averaged 18.9 points, 4.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds. He went 55/66 from the charity stripe, shot 29 percent from the three and shot 40.7 percent overall.
Catch up on more UCF News below:
Four-Star Guard From DC Area Has UCF In Top 10
Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics. Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation. He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
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