Bruins Have Been in Contact With 2026 Five-Star Point Guard

UCLA men's basketball is targeting one of the top prospects in the class of 2026.

Dec 17, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin reacts in the first half against the Prairie View A&M Panthers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The UCLA Bruins have assembled their current team largely through the transfer portal but are currently in the hunt for one of the nation's top high school players in the country.

UCLA is one of seven schools that have been in contact with 2026 five-star point guard Jason Crowe Jr., per Joe Tipton of On3.

5⭐️ Jason Crowe Jr., a top-10 recruit in the 2026 class, tells me he’s hearing from these schools:

Kentucky, Arkansas, Michigan, Miami, USC, UCLA, and Washington. https://t.co/tXqpcfj7al pic.twitter.com/xmhdUzLUXp

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) January 9, 2025

There are several high-profile programs that are making a run at Crowe. The Bruins offered the five-star just over two years ago, showing him an interest in early January of 2023. He has been the number one recruit that the Bruins want to land in the last few high school classes.

As Tipton mentioned, there are six other schools that seem to be drawing interest from Crowe's camp. Only one other in-state school has extended an offer, being the Bruins' bitter rival in the USC Trojans. Other high-profile schools include Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan and several others.

In total, Crowe has garnered 12 offers across the country but has seemingly narrowed his search down to the select group of six teams shown above. The Bruins have as good of a chance as any program to grab Crowe as a California recruit along with UCLA's illustrious history as a program.

Crowe is an in-state prospect, hailing from Inglewood, California, and currently attends local Inglewood High School as a junior. Per the 247Sports Composite rankings, Crowe is the No. 9 player in the nation in his class, is the No. 2 point guard in his class and the No. 6 class of 2026 prospect in California.

At the end of December, Crowe matched up against the son of former All-NBA legend Gilbert Arenas with him in attendance. Crowe dropped 55 points against Alijah Arenas for the Inglewood Sentinels and stole the show in a game that featured a few of the nation's best players.

There is not a strong prediction as to where Crowe may choose to ball his college ball, but the Bruins are definitely at the top of the list. With a current 11-4 record and 2-2 mark in Big Ten play, UCLA needs a strong finish to the season to help impress Crowe to make Westwood his home in 2026.

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