Top-25 overall recruit Qayden Samuels sets commitment date

Qayden Samuels, an elite small forward in the 2026 class, is ready to announce his college decision. The 6-foot-5 senior of Bishop McNamara (MD) will decide between Georgetown and Alabama on Wednesday, January 28th.

Samuels, a high-four star prospect, has visited each of his finalists. He is the No. 23 overall recruit in the 2026 class, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.

I placed a prediction in favor of Alabama for Samuels back in November.

Samuels also received offers from Kentucky, North Carolina, NC State, UConn, and many others.

In a previous interview with Rivals, he discussed what he is looking for in a college program.

“Just the coaching staff and the trust and the loyalty in me. You know, I need them to trust me, play through mistakes and all that.  So, really just the trust. That’s it. And the coaching. Having trust in me.”

This summer, Samuels led the NBPA Top-100 Camp in scoring, averaging 26.4 points a game, while adding 9.8 rebounds per outing. 

Rivals’ Jamie Shaw evaluated Samuels at EYBL Peach Jam and had this to say about him:

Qayden Samuels is wired to score the basketball, however, throughout Peach Jam his efficiency numbers struggled a bit. Samuels averaged 20.0 points in his five games but he shot 40.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three. He also took 16.2 shots to get his 20.0 average. What Samuels did do well in this setting was rebound the basketball as he finished the week with three double doubles in five games. He finished with 9 assists to 15 turnovers and was a 0 or negative +/- in three of his five games. Tightening things up will be next steps for him, but he scored the ball confidently and he finished the week strong.