Kansas has some serious buzz for an elite five-star point guard in the 2026 class. On Friday, the Jayhawks held a commanding lead for top-flight point guard Tay Kinney, according to the Rivals Recruiting Prediction Machine. Additionally, Rivals national reporter Joe Tipton has logged a prediction in Kansas’ direction for Kinney, assigning a confidence rating of 60 percent.
Kansas Has Serious Buzz for Elite 5-Star Point Guard
On Thursday, Kinney set a commitment date of September 28. In August, the 6-foot-3 Kinney revealed a top eight of Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, Oregon and Texas. He has already taken official visits to Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville and Oregon. An official visit to Arkansas still may occur.
Per Tipton, Kinney has canceled official visits that were previously scheduled to Miami and Texas, which likely means that the Hurricanes and the Longhorns are out of the running for him. While Kansas is the rumored leader for Kinney at the moment, a lot can happen over the next 16 days or so. If other national analysts begin to log projections in the Jayhawks’ favor for him, then it’s probably safe to assume that Kansas will ultimately land the country’s No. 1 point guard, per 247Sports.
Kansas has Buzz for Overtime Elite Star
Kinney, a native of Newport, Ky., is a standout senior with Overtime Elite, a professional league based in Atlanta. In the 2024-25 campaign, as a junior, he was electric for Overtime Elite’s RWE. During the 2024-25 regular season, Kinney averaged 20.1 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. He connected on 55.6 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc and 73.7 percent from the free-throw line.
During Overtime Elite’s playoffs last season, Kinney was No. 4 in the league in points per game, at 23.0. He’s expected to be among the top players in Overtime Elite once again as a senior in the 2025-26 campaign.
This past Thursday, Overtime Elite held its annual pro day. College coaches, NBA scouts and media members were on hand to watch Overtime Elite players participate in drills and scrimmages. Per Jamie Shaw of Rivals, Kansas head coach Bill Self, along with assistants from Kentucky and Oregon, watched Kinney during this combine-style event.
Shaw spoke to several NBA scouts about Kinney at Thursday’s Overtime Elite pro day. Scouts say that Kinney has good size, court vision and ball-handling skills. He can score at all three levels and continues to improve his shooting from the perimeter.
Kansas Looking for First 2026 Pledge
Like many college basketball teams, Kansas is still in search of its first verbal commitment in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Should the Jayhawks land Kinney, it would prove huge. He’s rated the No. 1 point guard in the 2026 class, per 247Sports. The industry-generated 247Sports Composite has Kinney at No. 2 at his position. He also ranks inside the top 20 overall of the 2026 cycle, according to most recruiting services.
Besides Kinney, other top 2026 targets for Kansas include five-star forward Tyran Stokes, five-star center Ethan Taylor, four-star combo guard Ikenna Alozie, four-star center Josh Irving, five-star small forward Tajh Ariza, four-star small forward Maximo Adams, four-star wing Bo Ogden, four-star center Davion Adkins and four-star wing Trent Perry, among others.
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