HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: JAN 18 Spalding Hoophall Classic - Columbus vs Notre Dame - Source: Getty

“The New Generation Is Different”: Fans React to 2026 No. 1 Prospect Tyran Stokes' major career decision

Modified May 16, 2025 12:00 GMT

Tyran Stokes, the No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2026, will enter the senior year of his high school basketball career at Notre Dame Sherman Oaks next season. The 6-foot-7 small forward announced a major career decision on Thursday.

Stokes will represent the Oakland Soldiers as he makes a return to AAU Basketball. The news was shared by Recruit News on Instagram.

"BREAKING: 2026 No. 1 Prospect Tyran Stokes will return to AAU basketball, per @jacobpolacheck. He’s suiting up for the Oakland Soldiers in EYBL this upcoming weekend,'' the post was captioned.

The hoops fans had mixed reactions to the news and shared their opinions in the comments section of the post:

Fans React to 2026 No. 1 Prospect Tyran Stokes' major career decision

"The new generation is different," a fan commented.

This fan was excited to see Jason Crowe Jr. and Tyran Stokes play together, "Crow and Stokes get your popcorn ready."

"Great decision I can'tawait to see him play in the league again, gives more practice against top players will be really good for his development imo but idk could've chosen to play in the eybl also," another fan added.

Basketball trainer Joe Seals also commented, "Welcome back nephew! Kill Season! @_thetyranstokes"

More fans joined the comments section:

"well there goes any chance of reclassification.. anyway I'm sure he mustve taken the decision with something in his mind.. gonna be fun to watch him and jason crowe playing together again.. I still think he top in the class no disrespect to Brandon mccoy and Christian collins lol," commented a fan.

Another fan talked about his reclassification, "this eliminates the possibility of reclassification yea?"

"AAU needs to realize that they can make fat bank by televising or even just promoting these games," a fan commented.

On3's Joe Tipton on why Tyran Stokes canceled Kentucky visit

The Class of 2026 recruit has taken official visits to the Louisville Cardinals and the Kansas Jayhawks. He was also scheduled to visit the Kentucky Wildcats from May 15-17, according to his mother.

In a YouTube video published by Kentucky Sports Radio on Thursday, On3's Joe Tipton talked about the reason:

"I thought the timing of the visit was odd from the jump because I think I noticed a little bit later, I saw you reported the visit a month ago. It was scheduled and then I dug a little bit deeper into the dates of when the visit was going to occur, and it overlapped with the live period," said Tipton. (Timestamp: 4:59 onwards)

He continued, "Yes, Tyran isn't playing AAU, but I think it makes more sense that they just pushed this back anyway because Pope's going to be hitting the road."

Tyran Stokes still has a year to decide on his collegiate career.

About the author

Pranav Khatri is a high school sports journalist at Sportskeeda with a Master's in Sports Management and five years of experience in the field working with InsideSport, EssentiallySports, TwelfthManTimes, SportSavour, GeeksforGeeks.

Pranav is a football and basketball fan, and played both in college. He got into basketball and became a Dallas Mavericks fan due to Dirk Nowitzki's loyalty. His favorite NBA moment was Dallas defeating winning the championship, and their journey to the finals through the Lakers and OKC.

When not watching or writing about sports, Pranav runs a fashion jewelry business.

Know More