2026 General Recruiting Thread (Bball)

[mike vannice]

6 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Agree.  No school is going to pick up the tab for an OV if it's not a kid they truly want on the roster and they believe has genuine interest in the program.   Just very strange how this is playing out.  

Guess there has to be mutual interest if nothing else. Seems odd that there are no other big time offers just Xavier and Cal.

[Home Jersey]

Timing is interesting if OV is this weekend and Thompson is announcing on Tuesday 10/21

[Demo]

1 hour ago, Home Jersey said:

Timing is interesting if OV is this weekend and Thompson is announcing on Tuesday 10/21

Suddenly becomes a very big weekend with Karvala and Diane both on campus.

Purely tea leaf reading and almost certainly not a thing other than me amusing myself, but 1 of Karvala’s teammates at Bella Vista is Miles Sadler, who’s probably the most highly regarded ‘26 PG who’s still thought to be wide open. He’s different than their offerees in that he’s really small, more Yogi than Hood-Schifino, but he’s a jet in the open floor. Almost certainly nothing, but if they’re hellbent on adding a ‘26 PG it may be 1 of those things to keep in the back of the mind.

[Home Jersey]

1 minute ago, Demo said:

Suddenly becomes a very big weekend with Karvala and Diane both on campus.

Purely tea leaf reading and almost certainly not a thing other than me amusing myself, but 1 of Karvala’s teammates at Bella Vista is Miles Sadler, who’s probably the most highly regarded ‘26 PG who’s still thought to be wide open. He’s different than their offerees in that he’s really small, more Yogi than Hood-Schifino, but he’s a jet in the open floor. Almost certainly nothing, but if they’re hellbent on adding a ‘26 PG it may be 1 of those things to keep in the back of the mind.

For sure. I wonder if they'll be on campus for the Marian exhibition. Also wonder if Thompson / Karvala are mutually exclusive.

Roster building / recruiting, now more than ever, is a relationships business (always was, but feels like now it can be a great equalizer vs. programs trying to stand out by throwing big $$$ around). Don't mind swinging for the fences with some of these guys early even if it's a miss for now.

We'll see about Thompson. But with the portal being how it is, I wouldn't be quick to say money spent on Allmond or Taylor was money wasted. Who knows where things stand after their freshman year or even a few months from now after the season ends?

I'd like to convert some of our high profile targets soon of course... but following recruiting with this staff is much more enjoyable for me than recent years.

[Hoosierfanyuh]

38 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

For sure. I wonder if they'll be on campus for the Marian exhibition. Also wonder if Thompson / Karvala are mutually exclusive.

Roster building / recruiting, now more than ever, is a relationships business (always was, but feels like now it can be a great equalizer vs. programs trying to stand out by throwing big $$$ around). Don't mind swinging for the fences with some of these guys early even if it's a miss for now.

We'll see about Thompson. But with the portal being how it is, I wouldn't be quick to say money spent on Allmond or Taylor was money wasted. Who knows where things stand after their freshman year or even a few months from now after the season ends?

I'd like to convert some of our high profile targets soon of course... but following recruiting with this staff is much more enjoyable for me than recent years.

Thompson and Vaughn are not mutually exclusive just a fyi

[Demo]

3 minutes ago, Hoosierfanyuh said:

Thompson and Vaughn are not mutually exclusive just a fyi

Appreciate it. Can’t see how they could be. Thompson would be in a white jersey the day he hits campus and Karvala probably needs to add 15lbs before you could say with any certainty that he’d be a rotation piece. If he can then he is. 

[HoosierDevils]

Anybody know if Karvala is on his OV? He was posting videos of Alabama basketball during the exhibition matchup. Diané was definitely at the game though. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

9 hours ago, HoosierDevils said:

Anybody know if Karvala is on his OV? He was posting videos of Alabama basketball during the exhibition matchup. Diané was definitely at the game though. 

Word from Raby was he was to arrive last night but it sounded like not in time to attend the game.

[Demo]

Well, this one’s kind of wild. Louisville takes a commitment for ‘26 from G League Ignite PG London Johnson. He was originally a ‘23 from the Atlanta area and had an IU offer from Ya. He’s 21 but will have full eligibility. Apparently he’s hitting campus in January and redshirting, so I suppose he’s technically a ‘25.

[jermhoosierfan]

4 minutes ago, Demo said:

Well, this one’s kind of wild. Louisville takes a commitment for ‘26 from G League Ignite PG London Johnson. He was originally a ‘23 from the Atlanta area and had an IU offer from Ya. He’s 21 but will have full eligibility. Apparently he’s hitting campus in January and redshirting, so I suppose he’s technically a ‘25.

I guess he has 4 years of eligibility?  That really is odd if they are going to start taking them after they have been in the G League for a few years.

[HoosierHoopster]

1 hour ago, Demo said:

Well, this one’s kind of wild. Louisville takes a commitment for ‘26 from G League Ignite PG London Johnson. He was originally a ‘23 from the Atlanta area and had an IU offer from Ya. He’s 21 but will have full eligibility. Apparently he’s hitting campus in January and redshirting, so I suppose he’s technically a ‘25.

That's some crazy stuff. G League to college? Nuts.

[Demo]

11 minutes ago, HoosierHoopster said:

That's some crazy stuff. G League to college? Nuts.

I’m only semi-kidding when I say I’m waiting for the 1st NBA-College trade. Since Jaland Lowe is hurt UK trades Jasper Johnson and a McDonald’s All American to be named later to the Pelicans for Jeremiah Fears. Something like that is inevitable. 

[ebridges24]

2 hours ago, Demo said:

Well, this one’s kind of wild. Louisville takes a commitment for ‘26 from G League Ignite PG London Johnson. He was originally a ‘23 from the Atlanta area and had an IU offer from Ya. He’s 21 but will have full eligibility. Apparently he’s hitting campus in January and redshirting, so I suppose he’s technically a ‘25.

Man, this opens up a can of worms or something like that....

[Demo]

2 minutes ago, ebridges24 said:

Man, this opens up a can of worms or something like that....

Apparently he will actually only have 2 years of eligibility. Not really sure why G League years would count against eligibility but junior college years don’t. But the pretzel logic of this stuff now is pretty incomprehensible. That’s why I’m continuing to advocate for age rather than years. Much simpler. Play all the ball you can until you’re 24. When you’re 25 you’re done.

[Demo]

https://x.com/allasley/status/1980428711162966121
 

Ok, I would not have bet that this visit actually took place since there was no evidence at all. But here we have it, Vaughn Karvala visit pics. Got to be one of the odder top 50 recruitments I can think of. Still no concrete evidence of an offer, but there’s got to be. 

[Stuhoo]

18 minutes ago, Demo said:

https://x.com/allasley/status/1980428711162966121
 

Ok, I would not have bet that this visit actually took place since there was no evidence at all. But here we have it, Vaughn Karvala visit pics. Got to be one of the odder top 50 recruitments I can think of. Still no concrete evidence of an offer, but there’s got to be. 

Pick your Vaughn Karvala doppleganger!

[Demo]

On 10/20/2025 at 11:49 AM, Demo said:

Well, this one’s kind of wild. Louisville takes a commitment for ‘26 from G League Ignite PG London Johnson. He was originally a ‘23 from the Atlanta area and had an IU offer from Ya. He’s 21 but will have full eligibility. Apparently he’s hitting campus in January and redshirting, so I suppose he’s technically a ‘25.

https://x.com/BenShockley_/status/1980835813534626049
 

Izzo on the London Johnson situation. Of course he!’s right.

[jermhoosierfan]

59 minutes ago, Demo said:

https://x.com/BenShockley_/status/1980835813534626049
 

Izzo on the London Johnson situation. Of course he!’s right.

He's right, and he knows that he has the influence and the cache to speak out when a lot of other coaches will not.  I have been saying for a couple of years now that the NCAA needs to get their sh!t straightened out or these power leagues will start their own governing body.  

[Pagoda]

Feels like it’s a matter of time until college teams start trying to trot out 23-28 year old pros with “eligibility.”

CBB needs to be careful.  If the sport gets away from college age players I think people will lose interest in a meaningful way (much more than anything NIL or the portal did — which was not much imo).

Good job by Izzo to speak out as one of the statesman of CBB (and yea I know he isn’t a saint).

[Demo]

22 minutes ago, jermhoosierfan said:

 I have been saying for a couple of years now that the NCAA needs to get their sh!t straightened out or these power leagues will start their own governing body.  

Somebody needs to. For Chrissake, we have full blown European pros, now we have American pros, we have college players who graduated from HS in 2018, 8 figure rosters and when private equity inevitably gets it’s foot in the door uniforms are gonna look like NASCAR. It’s beyond gross and the NCAA is worried about nothing but getting sued and clearly doesn’t even have the concept of a plan.