Kentucky targets Tay Kinney, Deron Rippey Jr. among top performers at NBPA Top 100 Camp

The annual NBPA Top 100 camp made the move to Rock Hill, SC, this year. The beautiful Rock Hill Sports & Event Center set the stage for nearly three full days of non-stop hoops.

What makes this camp even more interesting is that college coaches were allowed to watch their favorite targets for the first two days of games. The dead period took a brief break to allow coaches an opportunity for some scouting. Kentucky head coach Mark Pope brought down the entire staff over the course of Wednesday and Thursday to get first-hand looks at the top talents on their Big Board.

By our count, two dozen recruits with some level of Kentucky interest were among the 110 high school juniors and seniors — along with one sophomore — in attendance (John Wall even showed up to do some coaching for Team Smith). Seven of those 24 players (five from the 2026 class, two from 2027) hold offers from the Wildcats, including Deron Rippey Jr., who announced his UK offer on Friday.

How did they all perform in front of the Kentucky brass over the last few days? Dive in below to learn more.

Recruits offered by Kentucky

2026 targets with offers

Tajh Ariza (’26 SF) 6-8, 180 | St. John Bosco (Playa Del Rey, CA)
5-star: No. 7 overall, No. 3 SF

• Tajh Ariza and Team Jones came up short against Team Smith in Friday’s title game, but the finale was his best outing of the camp. Ariza struggled in a couple of games on Thursday, combining for just 12 points on 3-20 shooting. But he had his moments in two games on Wednesday before bouncing back to close out the event. The 6-foot-8 wing still shot 6-14 from deep despite an overall struggle to score the ball. Oregon, Alabama, Texas, Kentucky, and Southern California are among the schools he’s hearing from the most.

Ikenna Alozie (’26 PG) 6-2, 185 | Dream City Christian (Lagos, Nigeria)
5-star: No. 10 overall, No. 1 PG

• Ikenna Alozie’s name was often mentioned as one of the best camp performers of the week. He led Team Smith to the championship game on Friday, a 71-67 win over Team Jones in which he scored 25 points, his best game of the week. The shooting numbers stand out — at least 50 percent from the field in all five games. Alozie is a tank of a point guard and one of the better scoring guards in his class. Houston and Arizona are at the forefront of this recruitment, but Kentucky is right there in the mix.

Anthony Thompson (’26 SF) 6-8, 185 | Western Reserve (Lebanon, OH)
5-star: No. 14 overall, No. 6 SF

• Anthony Thompson didn’t rack up a ton of points, but he found ways to make his impact felt and still shot over 50 percent from the field. The lanky wing averaged 1.8 stocks (steals and blocks) per outing while going 3-6 from deep on Thursday. Thompson had plenty of coaches watching him throughout the week. Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan are a few of the top schools after him.

Tay Kinney (’26 PG) 6-2, 185 | Overtime Elite (Newport, KY)
4-star: No. 17 overall, No. 3 PG

• Tay Kinney looked “like the best true PG” at the NBPA Top 100 Camp this week, according to 247Sports’ director of scouting, Adam Finkelstein. Kinney was named to the All-Camp Team. His downhill dunk in traffic was one of the top highlights throughout the week. Plenty of outlets tabbed the Bluegrass native as one of the biggest standouts across the entire event. He scored at least 17 points in all four games, including a 30-point explosion on Wednesday, while shooting the ball incredibly well without too many turnovers. Kinney’s 6.3 assists per game ranked second among the camp. Kentucky and Louisville are the obvious teams to watch in this recruitment, but this one still has a long way to go.

Deron Rippey Jr. (’26 PG) 6-2, 175 | Blair Academy (Brooklyn, NY)
4-star: No. 18 overall, No. 4 PG

• It was an excellent week for Deron Rippey Jr., who made the All-Camp Team on his way to picking up an offer from the Wildcats. The talented lead guard scored 15 or more points in his three games played, including a 28-point, seven-assist performance in his opener on Wednesday. Rippey has already officially visited Louisville and has another OV set with Alabama for September, but Kentucky will be a real player in this recruitment starting now.

2027 targets with offers

Baba Oladotun (’27 SF) 6-8, 165 | James Hubert Blake (Silver Spring, MD)
5-star: No. 2 overall, No. 1 SF

• One of 24 underclassmen participating this week, Baba Oladotun looked like one of the best players out there. He was named to the All-Camp Team as one of the event’s top 10 scorers. Oladotun’s opener on Wednesday wasn’t ideal (2-8 FG for four points), but he responded well in every game after that. He ended up shooting better than 53 percent over his next three games, headlined by a 26-point showing on Thursday. His size as a scorer stands out. Starting June 15, college coaches can begin to reach out to 2027 recruits directly — expect Oladotun to quickly hear from Kentucky.

Obinna Ekezie Jr. (’27 C) 6-11, 215 | Prolific Prep (Napa, CA)
5-star: No. 4 overall, No. 1 C

• Obinna Ekezie only saw three games of action this week, producing varying results. The big man’s best performance came on Friday: 10 points and six rebounds on 4-10 shooting. He sent back five shots in just one game on Wednesday. But overall, this setting didn’t do him many favors. Ekezie is still one of the best players in the class, though, and will likely be hearing from the UK staff on June 15.

Recruits receiving interest from Kentucky

2026 targets receiving interest

Qayden Samuels (’26 SG) 6-5, 200 | Bishop McNamara (District Heights, MD)
4-star: No. 15 overall, No. 4 SG

• 5 GP (All-Camp Team): 26.4 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 1.8 APG | 54.2 FG%, 37.1 3PT%, 78.9 FT%

Jalen Montonati (’26 SF) 6-7, 175 | Owasso (Owasso, OK)
4-star: No. 19 overall, No. 7 SF

• 5 GP: 4.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.2 APG | 21.8 FG%, 13.3 3PT%, 100 FT%

Davion Adkins (’26 PF) 6-8, 205 | Faith Family Academy (Dallas, TX)
4-star: No. 26 overall, No. 3 PF

• 4 GP: 11 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.3 BPG, 1 APG | 54.8 FG%, 76.9 FT%

Austin Goosby (’26 SF) 6-5, 175 | Melissa (Melissa, TX)
4-star: No. 31 overall, No. 13 SF

• 4 GP: 8 PPG, 4 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.5 SPG | 48.1 FG%, 66.7 3PT%

DaKari Spear (’26 SG) 6-4, 165 | The Colony (The Colony, TX)
4-star: No. 38 overall, No. 11 SG

• 5 GP: 10 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.8 APG | 48.4 FG%, 36.4 3PT%, 88.9 FT%

Arafan Diane (’26 C) 6-11, 280 | Iowa United Prep (Montreal, QC)
4-star: No. 39 overall, No. 3 C

• 4 GP: 14.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG | 57.6 FG%, 90 FT%

Anthony Felesi (’26 SG) 6-5, 180 | Utah Prep (Orem, UT)
4-star: No. 42 overall, No. 12 SG

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Billy White III (’26 SF) 6-8, 175 | Veterans Memorial (Corpus Christi, TX)
4-star: No. 50 overall, No. 15 SF

• 5 GP: 10.6 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.4 APG | 52.9 FG%, 51.6 3PT%

Dean Rueckert (’26 SF) 6-7, 185 | Timpview (Provo, UT)
4-star: No. 55 overall, No. 19 SF

• 5 GP: 6.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.4 APG | 33.3 FG%, 31.6 3PT%, 66.7 FT%

Kevin Thomas (’26 SF) 6-7, 190 | Sagemont Prep (Pompano Beach, FL)
4-star: No. 70 overall, No. 24 SF

• 5 GP: 9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 1.6 APG | 53.3 FG%, 60 3PT%, 80 FT%

Trey Thompson (’26 PF) 6-8, 220 | Greenville (Greenville, TN)
4-star: No. 91 overall, No. 15 PF

• 4 GP: 5.8 PPG, 3 RPG, 1.3 APG | 52.9 FG, 50 3PT%

Bryson Howard (’26 SF) 6-5, 200 | Heritage High School (Frisco, TX)
3-star: No. 157 overall, No. 46 SF

• 4 GP: 13.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.5 SPG | 39.2 FG%, 34.4 3PT%, 50 FT%

Kohl Rosario (’26 SG) 6-5, 180 | Moravian Prep (Miami, FL)
3-star: No. 165 overall, No. 41 SG

• 5 GP (Impact Award): 14.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.2 APG | 51.9 FG%, 20.8 3PT%, 92.9 FT%

2027 targets receiving interest

Ryan Hampton (’27 SG) 6-5, 175 | Dynamic Prep (Rockwall, TX)
5-star: No. 3 overall, No. 1 SG

• 4 GP: 13.3 PPG, 4.3 EPG, 1.8 APG | 50 FG%, 33.3 3PT%, 80 FT%

Bruce Branch III (’27 SF) 6-7, 170 | Perry (Gilbert, AZ)
4-star: No. 8 overall, No. 4 SF

• 5 GP: 5.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1 SPG | 30 FG%, 17.6 3PT%, 87.5 FT%

King Gibson (’27 PG) 6-5, 175 | Montverde Academy (Burlington, NC)
4-star: No. 12 overall, No. 1 PG

• 5 GP: 6.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.2 APG | 48 FG%, 77.8 FT%

Reese Alston (’27 PG) 6-1, 150 | Second Baptist (Houston, TX)
4-star: No. 42 overall, No. 11 PG

• 4 GP: 7.3 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 1.8 APG | 39.3 FG%, 44.4 3PT%