We’ve got a NEW GOLDEN EAGLE ALERT!
On Thursday, Class of 2026 prospect Alex Egbuonu took command of the CBS Sports College Basketball YouTube channel and announced his commitment to Marquette and head
coach Shaka Smart. Egbuonu chose the Golden Eagles out of a final five that included Auburn, Boston College, Stanford, and Villanova.
Egbuonu is now the third prospect set to join Marquette in one year’s time, joining Ethan Johnston and Nash Walker. Egbuonu will also be joined in the eligibility class by Sheek Pearson and Ian Miletic, presuming neither one of them ends up burning their redshirt during the 2025-26 season for the Golden Eagles.
247 Sports lists Egbuonu as a 6’6”, 220 pound small forward. They have him ranked at #74 in the country in their internal list and at #75 in their Composite System. On3 sorts him at #71 in the country in their Industry Ranking. ESPN rounds out the list to call Egbuonu a consensus top 100 prospect, and they really like him, putting the Lawrence Academy senior at #51 in the country. All of those are mostly speaking right where he was when he announced his top five back in mid-October.
Can I interest you in a scouting report from 247’s Adam Finkelstein?
What makes Egbuonu almost unique is his overlap of physical strength, length, and basketball skill. He’s built like a football player with a super powerful upper body, long arms, and good hands. He’s capable of going right through contact off the dribble, can navigate the lane with good footwork, but has the high release point to shoot over top of contesting defenders. His range also extends out to the three-point line, making him a three-range threat.
The consistency of his shooting is a major swing-skill and key to opening up a lot of his playmaking opportunities. He shot 27% from behind the arc in 3SSB play and looks more comfortable off a rhythm dribble. He’s a solid vertical athlete, with a second bounce, but not as quick with his first-step or laterally. He’s sometimes best defending opposing fours, but has no problem matching up with bigger guys, and is also a good rebounder (6.4).
Overall, Egbuonu is a combo-forward capable of creating mismatches with his length, strength, and versatile skill, but needs to keep working on his foot speed and the consistency of his shooting.
The Marquette 247 Sports subsite published a Q&A with Egbuonu on Wednesday afternoon, which includes a pronunciation guide on his name — “E-bwan-oo” — and this is what he had to say about why Marquette made his final five:
“Just the way they go about everything. I like how the coaching staff is always involved. They stay connected. Obviously, they don’t take transfers which is pretty cool given the way college basketball has changed. Those were the things that really stood out for me.”
Phenom Hoops talked to Egbuonu back in January after he took an official visit to Marquette. Here’s what he said about the visit:
The visit to Marquette was really good! I was able to watch their team lift, practice, film sessions, and all the stuff they would do to prepare the day before a game. I was able to spend time with all the players, coaches, and managers as well. My visit fell on what they would call “Marquette Moms Night” where they would bring all the player’s moms to watch their son’s games. It was cool because I was also able to connect with some of the players’ parents and get their feedback. I would say what impressed me was how connected everyone was and they all strived to be better, not just for themselves, but for the team as a whole.
And here’s what he said about his relationship with the staff:
The staff has been very good, and I feel as though we have a good relationship. Either Coach Cody or Coach Smart calls in to check on me at least once a week. I don’t know how Coach Smart does it but he does. I also speak to the rest of the coaching staff too. Because Coach Smart loves to read he often sends me quotes or passages from a book that he is reading, and it has a deep meaning.
And now, the new scholarship chart.
As you can see, Alex Egbuonu is scheduled to take up the 15th and final scholarship spot for the roster in 2026-27. That means, and make a note and tell your friends, Shaka Smart is planning on not using the transfer portal in the spring of 2026. If you’re already surly about the lack of transfer portal usage for the past couple of seasons, you should probably start getting surly for next spring now because it’s gonna be the same thing next April. Also: Go be surly somewhere other than the AE comments, because I’m just gonna delete those. We all know what the plan is, being mad about the plan working as planned is silly.
As for Egbuonu’s immediate fit on the team, I’m intrigued. Marquette is only losing Ben Gold and Chase Ross to the end of their eligibility, and the three freshmen for the fall of 2026 are all roughly physically similar to Ross. MU has a lot of bigs in front of that class in terms of eligibility, so that’s not really a problem, and it’s less of a problem when you consider that Sheek Pearson projects to take up a lot of playing time in the middle once he finishes his redshirt season.
Follow Anonymous Eagle on social media
Facebook: AnonymousEagle
Instagram: AnonymousEagleSBN
Bluesky: AnonymousEagle
