As the Kentucky Wildcats continue to surge on the court, there’s still a lingering concern off of it.
With no high school recruits committed for next season, the hope was that Christian Collins would eventually become Kentucky’s first pledge in the class of 2026.
But while things looked good for a while in Collins’ recruitment, the Kentucky buzz has died down significantly in recent months.
Now, one recruiting expert is ready to predict that another school will land the 5-star wing.
On Tuesday, On3 reporter
Joe Tipton flipped his prediction from Kentucky to USC for Collins.
“USC is one school that has stayed consistent with Collins and was even thought of by many as the frontrunner, before Kentucky gained ground,” wrote Tipton. “Now, Eric Musselman and the Trojans are once again in the driver’s seat and are quickly gaining momentum. With that being said, I’ve decided to flip my prediction for Collins from Kentucky to USC.”
KSR recruiting guru Jacob Polacheck also flipped his prediction from Kentucky to USC.
That would be a tough blow for the Cats, as Collins is ranked as high as No. 3 overall by Rivals in the class of 2026. Kentucky was once viewed as the heavy favorite in this recruitment, so much so that some believed he was essentially committed to the Cats, and all that was left for the school and JMI to work out an NIL contract.
Unless things change in the recruitments of Tyran Stokes, who is believed to be leaning toward Kansas, or Caleb Holt, who’s trending toward Alabama, there’s a very real chance Kentucky won’t sign a class of 2026 high school prospect.
Let’s hope Mark Pope and Co. can make some big moves in the transfer portal while retaining key players like Collin Chandler, Malachio Moreno, and Kam Williams.
