5-star PG Tay Kinney down to 12 schools

Tay Kinney, a five-star point guard in the 2026 class, has narrowed his list of schools down to 12. Moving forward, the 6-foot-2 rising senior out of Overtime Elite (GA) will consider Arkansas, Auburn, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, Oregon, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas, and Xavier.

Kinney, a native of Newport, Kentucky, is ranked as the No. 13 overall player in the nation, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking. He’s also the No. 3 point guard.

Kinney has completed official visits to Purdue, Kentucky, and Louisville. He has upcoming visits scheduled with Kansas, Indiana, Oregon, Texas, and Arkansas. You can find his full visit schedule here.

Prior to cutting his list down, he also held offers from UConn, Creighton, Kansas State, Michigan, LSU, Missouri, Georgia, and others.

Kinney on programs involved

In a previous interview with Rivals, Kinney discussed several of the schools recruiting him.

Kentucky: “Really good visit. The team this year, the way they was practicing, the way they play, that really stood out. We hung out with (Mark) Pope at their house, went out to dinner, and watched a practice. They play fast, get up and down, and shoot a lot of threes.”

Louisville: “It’s a great relationship. They tell me I’m their guy. They want me to step in for Mikel (Brown). 

Indiana: “Coach Rod (Clark) was recruiting me at Tennessee.  That’s my guy. So, you know, I wanna give him a chance too, see what it’s like down there.”

Oregon: “Coach Josh Jamieson was one of my first offers ever when he was at Louisville. He’s been loyal to me since then so I want to give him an opportunity.”

Texas: “Almost everyone on the staff reaches out every week. I got a group chat with almost every assistant coach. Sean Miller reaches out a couple of times every month. So it’s been a good relationship.”

Arkansas: “It’s pretty self-explanatory. You can just look at his (John Calipari’s) background, all the players he’s sent to the league, all the guards he’s coached.”

Kansas: “Bill Self, he’s a great coach. He’s got a National Championship. I really wanna see what they do with DP (Darryn Peterson) this year. But I think he will do good. I think it’s a good program.”

A standout at the NBPA Top-100 Camp

Earlier this summer, Tay Kinney was one of the best players at the NBPA Top-100 Camp, earning him First-Team honors. At the prestigous event, Kinney averaged 22 points, five rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game, while shooting 52% from the field and nearly 48% from three. On3’s Jamie Shaw wrote the following about Kinney:

Tay Kinney brought the fire all weekend and he provided some impressive highlights throughout his four games. The two key factors for Kinney’s game, for me, were his handle and his shooting range.

The 6-foot-2 guard has a slippery handle. He was able to consistently get into the paint and collapse a defense. He showed an array of counter dribbles and step back footwork to find open space to get clean looks. And the shooting was consistent. Throughout the week, Kinney knocked down shots off the catch and off movement. He was both efficient and confident. He will need to continue getting stronger, which should help him become more of a presence on defense, and take better care of possessions, but his talent was undeniable in flashes at the NBPA Top 100 Camp.