5-star Kentucky target Christian Collins will not sign until the spring

5-star SF Christian Collins - via Instagram: _christianncollins_ | UK Athletics

The early signing period closes at the end of Wednesday. Christian Collins, one of Kentucky’s top recruiting targets, is not expected to put pen to paper ahead of the deadline.

Collins’ mother tells Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ that the five-star class of 2026 wing intends to sign with a school during the late signing period, which does not open until April 15, 2026. Adam Zagoria of ZAGSBLOG was first to report the news.

Collins is down to a trio of finalists: Kentucky, Southern California, and UCLA. A decision was previously expected to come during the early signing period, but he is instead electing to take his recruitment into the spring. This does not necessarily mean he won’t announce his commitment until mid-April, but Collins at least won’t be officially signing the paperwork until then.

A 6-foot-8 native of California, he’s considered the No. 12 overall high school senior in the country, per the Rivals Industry Rankings.

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Five-star St. John Bosco big man Christian Collins will sign during the late signing period, his mother tells https://t.co/qnfz9CUKat

Kentucky is the favorite. https://t.co/1KyfuQcCAa
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) November 19, 2025

What does this mean for Kentucky? Over the last couple of weeks, the Wildcats picked up momentum and were trending heavily as the favorite to land Collins. On Nov. 8, both Polacheck and On3 recruiting expert Joe Tipton logged picks in favor of Collins choosing UK. Travis Branham of 247Sports did the same a couple of days later. This new development does not mean Kentucky still isn’t the frontrunner, but it could now be a while before anything is made public.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope and assistant coach Jason Hart recently visited Collins in California in early September ahead of his official visit to Lexington, which took place a few weeks later. Hart has strong ties to the Golden State. Pope also coached Collins during this summer’s USA Basketball trials in Colorado Springs.

With the early signing period about to wrap up, Kentucky remains without a 2026 commit on board. Five-star prospects Tyran Stokes and Caleb Holt are high on UK’s Big Board, along with a few other targets, but considering how the current team has been playing the last week, the ‘Cats could use a good PR win in the recruiting world sooner rather than later.

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