REPORT: UCLA 2026 and 2027 Recruiting Targets Coming Out of the July Eval Periods

I’ve mentioned that UCLA’s recruitment for the 2025 high school class is quite selective, mainly because the team will have only one scholarship open if all eligible players return. Additionally, their strong success in the transfer portal during the last offseason has influenced this strategy.

However, this approach will shift for the 2026 class due to two key reasons:

— By the end of the 2025-2026 season, five players—Dylan Andrews, Tyler Bilodeau, Dominic Harris, Skyy Clark, and William Kyle—will have completed their eligibility. While some may choose to leave UCLA early to pursue professional opportunities, they will all be done with college basketball by that time. Additionally, there will likely be some transfers. Taking all this into account, UCLA could potentially have a significant recruiting class in 2026.

— The timing couldn’t be better. The 2026 class in the west is exceptionally strong, to the point where I believe it’s unprecedented. Five of the top six ranked players in the nation come from this region, which will definitely lead UCLA to consider recruiting more high school players in 2026.

Considering these factors, UCLA could readily accept more than four high school players if there are enough top-tier prospects interested in joining. They definitely wouldn’t refuse them.

It’s likely unprecedented for Cronin at UCLA to have already extended offers to eight prospects in the 2026 class by the summer prior to their junior year of high school.

In July, UCLA had the chance to focus on its designated 2026 targets while also scouting the class on a national level. As I mentioned, the UCLA staff receives calls about numerous players from contacts all over the country, so they need to conduct thorough evaluations of each one.

After the July evaluation periods, here are the 2026 players UCLA is interested in, along with some additional 2026 recruits who might be seriously considered. While it’s still early for the 2027 class—those who will be rising sophomores—we’ve included some promising players from that group, as well as a couple of 2028 prospects (who will soon start high school) for fun.