AJ Dybantsa, Tyran Stokes headline On3's initial 2026 player rankings

Our good friends over at On3 unveiled the initial class of 2026 high school basketball player rankings on Tuesday, and there are a few names on the list that the Big Blue Nation needs to pay attention to.

In fact, it’s the top two players in the class that you’ll need to keep a close eye on. No. 1 AJ Dybantsa and No. 2 Tyran Stokes are both being recruited by the Kentucky Wildcats and are both considered two of the top high school prospects in the country, regardless of class. Dybantsa is arguably the second-best high schooler in the world behind only Cooper Flagg.

As for their Kentucky connections, Dybantsa grew up looking up to the late Terrence Clarke, who played basketball at UK for one season before his tragic death in 2021. Stokes, who is originally from Louisville, KY, is already being prioritized by head coach John Calipari. The five-star duo will play together at Prolific Prep (CA) this season.

Dybantsa is a 6-foot-8, 185-pound wing while Stokes is a 6-foot-7, 210-pound wing. Over the summer, they played up two years in age on the AAU circuit and won a gold medal together for USA Basketball U16 at the FIBA Americas Championships. Kentucky will be gunning hard for both recruits.

🚨NEW🚨 Initial On3 2026 Top-50 basketball ranking🏀

Breakdown from @JamieShaw5: https://t.co/0VYxIYieXK pic.twitter.com/siSPdqRxvi

— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) September 5, 2023

But those two aren’t the only ’26 recruits to know about. Of note, Alijah Arenas, the son of former NBA All-Star and Arizona guard Gilbert Arenas, checks in at No. 5 in the initial rankings. UCLA, Texas, Kansas, Arizona State, and Xavier have already extended him offers. Additionally, two other sons of former NBA players cracked the rankings — No. 18 Jaxon Richardson (son of Jason Richardson) and No. 42 Brandon Bass Jr. (son of Brandon Bass) also made the top 50.

As for Kentucky-based prospects, Trinity’s 6-foot-5 shooting guard Jayden Johnson checks in at No. 28 with a four-star ranking. Johnson recently told Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ that he hears from assistant coach Orlando Antigua “a lot” and wants to visit campus in the future. He holds offers from the likes of Missouri, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Xavier, and Michigan so far.

Another ’26 Bluegrass product on the rise is 6-foot-7 small forward Gabe Weis out of Washington County. Although he didn’t make On3’s Top 50, he already holds offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Illinois, and LSU. An impressive summer on the Adidas 3SSB circuit has landed him on Kentucky’s radar.