Breaking down the top basketball commits in the 2027 cycle
· Yahoo Sports
Dominoes continue to drop this fall as top basketball prospects are making decisions left and right. Over the weekend, there were a few major commitments made as players gear up for their senior seasons at the high school level.
UConn landed its second five-star of the 2027 cycle on Sunday as shooting guard Jordan Page picked the Huskies over North Carolina. Later in the day, Georgia landed four-star SG Jarvis Hayes Jr. and LSU won out for four-star combo guard King Gibson.
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Coming out of the weekend, 27 of the top 50 prospects in the cycle — according to the Rivals Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all major recruiting media companies — have locked in their commitments.
More decisions are coming soon, too. Official visits have been taken and blue-chippers across the country are weighing their options. Rivals takes a look at the top 2027 prospects who are already off the board, as of Oct. 5.
PG NaVorro Bowman Jr. — UConn
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 11 NATL. (No. 5 PG)
School:Notre Dame (Calif.)
Committed Since: Sept. 10
Scout’s Take: “NaVorro Bowman Jr is a confident and physical lead guard. The two areas I was most impressed today was his ability to consistently touch the paint and his aggressive defense. Bowman plays with excellent pace and was consistently in the teeth of the defense. He made good reads and was able to finish at each level. Bowman is an excellent point of attack defender, guarding the ball in the open floor and sliding off ball in the half court.” — Jamie Shaw, Rivals National Recruiting Analyst
SG Jordan Page — UConn
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 12 NATL. (No. 2 SG)
School:IMG Academy (Fla.)
Committed Since: Oct. 4
Scout’s Take: “The connectivity was strong with Jordan Page. He put his athleticism on display often, crashing for boards and finishing in transition. But where Page shined the brightest was on defense. Listed at 6-foot-5, Page scaled up and down lineups, sliding at the point of attack, being aggressive in the passing lanes, and switching down a line up to disrupt some things in the paint. A phrase heard often this week when describing Page was, ‘He plays the right way.’ Depending on the lineup and matchup, Page could see minutes at the two, three, and four for this team. A lot of good things seemed to happen for his team when Page was on the floor this week.” — Shaw (USA Basketball U17 Training Camp)
SF Moussa Kamissoko — Syracuse
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 14 NATL. (No. 4 SF)
School:SPIRE Academy (Ohio)
Committed Since: Sept. 25
Scout’s Take: “Kamissoko is a disruptive off-ball defensive presence, playing aggressively in the passing lanes and collecting deflections. And as he continues to add strength, he will be effective sliding down a lineup and guarding closer to the basket. Offensively, the five-star is confident with the ball in his hands, and he can consistently make a play for his team. Whether he is pushing the break, turning defense into offense, or resetting the offense in the half-court, the ball would routinely find Kamissoko’s hands in crucial moments for his team.
…He made good decisions with the basketball, getting his team into advantages, and he could self-create offense off the bounce. The swing skill for Kamissoko will be shooting. He shot the three at a 35 percent clip this summer, which is good. Tightening that up a bit and continuing to add strength will only enhance his ceiling. There is a lot to like about Kamissoko’s game and his fit.” — Shaw
CG King Gibson — LSU
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 15 NATL. (No. 1 CG)
School: SPIRE Academy (Ohio)
Committed Since: Oct. 4
Scout’s Take: “King Gibson has as sturdy frame and an ability to dribble, shoot, and pass to an advantage. He is also someone who started high school with a reputation and has continued to get better each year. Gibson was a play finisher this high school year, leading Spire in scoring this season while shooting 45.6 percent from three. He took more on ball duties in EYBL play this summer. With quality positional size, he checks a lot of of the positional fluidity boxes we are seeing from guards in the playoffs. Gibson averaged 16.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists while shooting 39 percent from three.” — Shaw
C Isaiah Hill — Purdue
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 17 NATL. (No. 3 C)
School:Pike (Ind.)
Committed Since: May 15
Scout’s Take: “Isaiah Hill is a rim protector, and there is a lot of value in that. The 6-foot-11, pushing 7-foot-0 big man is a fluid mover, but it is his ability at the front of the rim that makes him intriguing. Still thin and working through his offensive game, the early Purdue commitment looked like a big who had some buzz of being toward the top of the depth chart for the USA Basketball U17 team.” — Shaw (USA Basketball U17 Training Camp)
PF Kager Knueppel — Duke
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 19 NATL. (No. 2 PF)
School:Wisconsin Lutheran (Wisc.)
Committed Since: June 29
Scout’s Take: “Kager Knueppel simply knows how to play. Nothing he does is outside of his comfort zone, and his shooting stroke is as deft as it comes. At 6-foot-9, Knueppel does not shy away from physicality. He put it on the floor to start the break, and he really… really shot the ball well finishing with 18 points on 4-7 shooting from 3 in Friday’s EYBL win with Team Herro. Nothing that Knueppel did today was out of character, but everything he did, he seemed to do at a high level.
…He protected the rim and rebounded his area very well on defense. Offensively, he started the break and really shot the ball at a high rate. The younger brother of Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel, the 2027 prospect is very different. His skill set brings positional versatility with a good bit of upside. Knueppel finished with 17 points and 5 rebounds on 5 of 7 shooting from three in the win.” — Shaw
PG Dooney Johnson — Gonzaga
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 21 NATL. (No. 7 PG)
School:East River (Fla.)
Committed Since: Oct. 29, 2025
Scout’s Take: “Perimeter defense is always an interesting category because, in most cycles, you have guys who project as good on-ball defenders, but they don’t know how to do it yet (angles, consistency, footwork, want-to, etc.). This cycle, it is obvious the disruption that Dooney Johnson brings at the point of attack. The point guard of Team Herro would pick up for at least three-quarters of the court and turn his man multiple times. Johnson is an intriguing physical presence, a long-armed 6-foot-6, but his ability to slide and turn at pace, along with the competitive nature of his game, made things very interesting. His ability to guard on or off the ball enhances him for this category, but he brought a lot of havoc to opposing ball handlers.” — Shaw
SG Ryan Hampton — Kentucky
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 22 NATL. (No. 3 SG)
School:Rockwall-Heath (Texas)
Committed Since: June 7
Scout’s Take: “The 6-foot-6 wing has great length and a twitchy first step. He averaged 26.8 points while shooting 61.4 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from three for the week. He also stuck his nose in there to rebound. While he is going to need to continue adding strength and getting down with his footwork and balance in the paint, he continues to produce at a high rate.” — Shaw (Peach Jam)
PG Antonio Pemberton — Michigan State
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 23 NATL. (No. 8 PG)
School:Master’s Academy International (Mass.)
Committed Since: Sept. 18
Scout’s Take: “Pemberton has a moxie that is hard to ignore. When he has the ball, you trust that he can make a positive play happen. The four-star has a crafty handle, but he does not dance; he has a quick twitch, but he plays with excellent pace. There is a certain feel that Pemberton has to his game that consistently finds production. And he does that in the biggest moments. Throughout the Adidas 3SSB playoffs, on Mass Rivals’ run to the championship game, his 24.0 points jumped to 26.5.
…His efficiency also jumped to 48.6 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from three. He scored 1.169 points per possession with a 3.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Pemberton played this summer with the Dominican Republic in the FIBA U18 AmeriCup. He continued to create offensive advantages throughout the event. His 16.8 points per game finished third overall in the competition, and his 4.8 assists were second.” — Shaw
C Ahmad Hudson — LSU
Rivals Industry Rankings: No. 24 NATL. (No. 5 C)
School:Ruston (La.)
Committed Since: May 3
Scout’s Take: “Hudson is explosive. And he brings a physical presence to both ends of the floor. He was at his best here playing within 10 feet of the basket and playing toward the rim. He struggled at times to connect on passes and missed some chippies at the rim, but the 6-foot-6 four/five man has a definite presence in the high school setting. He finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds with 5 STOCKS in the narrow loss.” — Shaw (Peach Jam)
Other top 2027 commits
SG Chase Branham — Indiana
PG Chase Lumpkin — Alabama
PF Dawson Battie — Nebraska
PG Micah Gordon — Creighton
PG Kevin Savage — Purdue
SG Jarvis Hayes Jr. — Georgia
PG Scotte Adkinson — Missouri
SG Oneal Delancy — Houston
PG TJ Jamison — Baylor
SG Josiah Harrington — Iowa State