The recruiting cycle for New England’s boys Class of 2026, at this stage of the summer, has essentially wrapped up.
We’ll allow for the possibility that some Class of 2027 recruits will make late decisions to reclassify, join the 2026 class and head to college this fall. Amir Jenkins and Tahlan Pettway were among the top regional names that reclassified last summer. But otherwise, the book is now closed for the 2026 class. Some have already headed to their new college campuses for summer workouts and practices, and college coaches have turned their focus to recruiting the 2027 class.
More than 200 names are logged in our Class of 2026 commitments database, ranging from high-major players to Division 3 recruits. The depth of this class is strong and I’m excited to see many of them turn into college stars.
Here are five of my takeaways from this group, including recruiting steals and my favorite Division 3 classes.
Which high-major schools had success in New England?
For our purposes, we’re categorizing high-major basketball conferences as the traditional Power Four leagues of the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten and ACC, plus the Big East. I counted 17 prospects from the region who are heading to such schools.
The Big East was the leader in the clubhouse with five New England commits. Marquette coach Shaka Smart’s strong recruiting efforts in the region netted two commits – Lawrence Academy’s Alex Egbuonu (Nashua, N.H.), who was our second-ranked recruit in the region, and an under-the-radar gem in Bridgton’s Colton Crowdis. Former Brewster standout Darien Moore was the first regional prospect to make a commitment when he announced his pledge to Seton Hall in February 2024.
Cushing center Theo Edema, initially our top 2027 prospect, reclassified in May to commit to Rick Pitino and St. John’s, while St. Andrew’s standout Harrison Aligbe landed at Xavier.
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The ACC and Big 12 both snagged four New England recruits. Two underrated recruits in Newman’s Atticus Richmond and Avon Old Farms’ Grant Mordini are heading to Kansas, and I’m personally very excited to see how former Cushing star Ryan Moesch – originally a Siena commit – fares in the ACC after following Gerry McNamara to Syracuse.
Which out-of-region D1 schools were hot in New England?
Inside the region, plenty of local D1s snagged prospects in this class. Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, Harvard, UMass, Fairfield and Yale were among the schools that picked up local recruits.
But I’m always interested, too, in what schools from outside the region have taken notice of the deep talent New England has to offer. I already mentioned Smart and Marquette, who were frequent visitors of New England as they also pursued Lucas Morillo, who ultimately landed at Illinois. Marist added three New England commits and I’m high on all of them. In addition to Chess, Kimball Union guard Brandon Arnold and Albany Academy forward Logan Rodriguez are heading to the school in New York.
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Mercyhurst added two New England gems: Darrow’s Hunter Te Ratana and Suffield’s Markus Maxwell-Grimes. Gardner-Webb is bringing in two underrated prospects in Wilbraham & Monson’s Chinedu Okpara and Putnam Science’s David Gaymon, two players who made my Top 50 rankings. Penn also kept a strong footprint in the region, landing Newman’s Chase Geremia (Madison, Conn.), who might be the best shooter in the region, and St. Thomas More’s Johnny Keenan.
Division 1 steals
I’d describe a recruiting steal as a prospect I view is better than the level they committed to. In today’s recruiting landscape, I can see these players transferring up to higher levels after a year or two of early success and production at their initial schools.
Marist commit Dywane Chess, a former St. George’s star who’s No. 12 in our rankings, had a monster season with the Dragons and improved in several facets of his game. A physically imposing three-level scorer, he should be in the conversation as one of the best freshmen in the Metro Conference. Former CATS standout Caspian Jones was a late commit to UC Davis and I wondered why it took so long for the 6-foot-6 guard to find a landing spot. He was one of the best performers in the highly competitive NEBL last winter.
There were periods last season when I thought Louis O’Keefe was the best player at Newman, which eventually won both the NEPSAC Class AAA and national prep championship. The point guard is an absolute steal for Princeton. Staying with the Ivy League theme, Albany Academy’s Jack Louridas was one of the best scorers last season in Class AA and was unstoppable at times. He’s a great coup for Yale.
Other Division 1 regional standouts I’m high on relative to their commitment level: Boston University’s Jaxson Terry (CATS/Acton, Mass.); UMass’ Cheick Sylla (Bridgton); Tennessee Tech’s Kamai Samuels (Putnam Science).
Division 2 steals
It’s hard to land a Division 1 scholarship these days – we’ve written about it plenty. More than ever, there are many Division 1 talents slipping through the cracks to Division 2. And that’s not a bad thing; plenty of them will have an opportunity to play major minutes right away at the Div. 2 level and may get a chance to move up to Division 1 later. Just ask Luke Soden.
Among my favorite Division 2 commits: Brimmer & May guard Windston Legentus (Raynham, Mass.) was one of the best shotmakers in New England who I thought added layers to his game last season. I had him at No. 50 in our Top 50 rankings before he committed to Post. He should cook there.
I had former Putnam Science standout Brayson Green (Beverly, Mass.) at No. 33 in our rankings. He committed to Florida Southern. This is a player who held a UMass offer before a 2025 injury impacted his recruitment, and he was one of the best two-way impact players for one of the best prep teams in the country.
I’m a big fan of Lawrence Academy’s Evan Mitchner (Providence, R.I.), one of the best point guards in the class who ended up at Southern New Hampshire. Like Green, injuries impacted his recruitment but his future is bright. Brady O’Connell (Bedford, N.H.) had the highest plus/minus on Cushing’s Class AA championship team and is one of the region’s premier defenders. He’ll be awesome at Bentley.
More Division 2 steals: Lateef Afolabi (Dexter Southfield/Dorchester, Mass.) at Assumption; Elijah Avery-Turner (MacDuffie/Madison, Conn.) at American International; Jack Hynes (Cushing/Milton, Mass.) at Bentley.
My favorite Division 3 classes
As usual, New England Division 3 schools were very active in this class. Many local schools landed multiple regional products. Here are a handful of my favorite classes.
Brandeis – I love the class head coach Jean Bain assembled. It’s headlined by former Central Catholic star Javi Lopez (Lawrence, Mass.), who was arguably the best player in the MIAA and scored nearly 2,000 career points. The Judges also landed Mason Paquette (Hookset, N.H.), who was the Class B Small championship MVP for Holderness. He shot 63 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs. I also really like the addition of Concord Academy’s Will Hoffmaster (Exeter, N.H.), an underrated defensive stopper.
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Endicott – The Gulls have a good recent track record of recruiting success locally. That continued in 2026 with the additions of Worcester Academy’s Anthony DeJohn (Worcester, Mass.), Deerfield’s Andrew Rivera (Milford, Mass.), Burlington’s Matty Gray (Burlington, Mass.) and Abington’s Kingston Maxwell (Abington, Mass.). Coincidentally, each of them are Middlesex Magic products. But they’re all winning players who should translate to strong Div. 3 success. Gray and Maxwell were two of the best players in MIAA and have great athleticism and size.
Trinity – Whoa, the 2025 Div. 3 national champions cooked with this class. The Bantams landed six NEPSAC products with great versatility and winning intangibles all over the place. Cheshire teammates John Spinoso and Justin Brown were key members of the Cats’ run to the Class AA title game, and Spinoso is a bit of a unicorn as a 6-foot-4 point forward who is an absolutely ridiculous passer. St. Mark’s guard Alex Echevarria is a Class B Large champion who’s one of the best point guard leaders in the class, Greenwich Country Day’s Rowan Introzzi is an impact athlete at 6-foot-6, and 6-foot-10 center Dash Mabilon was a double-double machine at Canterbury, where he led a run to the Class B Large final.
WPI – The Engineers quietly put together a strong class. Three members of their class come from highly respected NEPSAC programs with New Hampton’s Edison Onwe, Vermont Academy’s Musa Kusanga (Burlington, Vt.) and Winchendon’s Daniel Bussey. They also added Masconomet star Jimmy Farrell (Middleton, Mass.), one of the best scorers in MIAA who led the Chieftains to the Div. 2 final.
