Official 2026 Panther Basketball Recruit List

[Fran McCrabby]

Don't we have 6 seniors? We have 3 commits so far so don't we have 3 more spots left?

[BCPanther]

We don't really know and it doesn't really matter. We'll have guys leave in the spring.

The only ones we know for sure are gone are Schweiger, Smith, Weisbrod and Courbat. Diouf may have another year and they were looking for loopholes for Campbell based on NIL eligibility.

[orangetennis]

I feel reasonably confident we get one of the two between Sterling and Washington. We only have one ride left, right?

Why are you confident, considering each recruit has offers in hand from schools in higher level conferences than the MVC?

[PantherAlum09]

We don't really know and it doesn't really matter. We'll have guys leave in the spring.

The only ones we know for sure are gone are Schweiger, Smith, Weisbrod and Courbat. Diouf may have another year and they were looking for loopholes for Campbell based on NIL eligibility.

I will say, based on who's leaving and might be leaving, we need at least a couple shooters coming in. That's not really any of the guys' games that we have coming in as freshman either. Sterling and Washington would both have definite roles and would have them early.

Zavier Zens is going to be an absolute stud, however.

[CletusCat]

Zavier Zens might already hold a spot on the all name team for UNI (did someone bring that up already?) Not many Z alliteration names out there.

[BCPanther]

I will say, based on who's leaving and might be leaving, we need at least a couple shooters coming in. That's not really any of the guys' games that we have coming in as freshman either. Sterling and Washington would both have definite roles and would have them early.

Zavier Zens is going to be an absolute stud, however.

Gerdes is a shooter. He's going to have to play on the wing more because he's just never going to be big enough to defend in the post no matter how much weight they're able to get on him.

[PantherAlum09]

Julian Washington committed to Dayton tonight. I was really hoping for this one. Fingers crossed for Joe Sterling.

[Fran McCrabby]

I feel reasonably confident we get one of the two between Sterling and Washington. We only have one ride left, right?

I really really hope this comes true.

[PantherAlum09]

I have good news and I have bad news regarding Joe Sterling.

The good news is that he is announcing his commitment tomorrow and we are one of the top 5 finalists.

The bad news is that Trilly Donovan is already predicting he is going to commit to Texas.

[orangetennis]

Who could've predicted that?

[06panther10]

Still important to make a lasting connections in recruitments like this though, in this era of free transfers, he very would could be on our roster in 12-24 months anyway.

[GoPanthers85]

Still important to make a lasting connections in recruitments like this though, in this era of free transfers, he very would could be on our roster in 12-24 months anyway.

The opposite could also be true. If he comes and plays well, he could be off the roster in 12 to 24 months. That's the way of the world these days.

[GoPanthers85]

I have good news and I have bad news regarding Joe Sterling.

The good news is that he is announcing his commitment tomorrow and we are one of the top 5 finalists.

The bad news is that Trilly Donovan is already predicting he is going to commit to Texas.

Texas it is.

[PantherAlum09]

Well we don't have any open offers in the 2026 class as it stands right now. We have three commitments in Zavier Zens, Will Gerdes, and Jordan Boyd. There's still time to add from the high school level for next year, but a good chunk of these kids like to commit before their senior season even gets going. My guess is that we will be hitting the portal for the rest of the roster in the spring unless something pops up.

[Wxcpanther]

Well we don't have any open offers in the 2026 class as it stands right now. We have three commitments in Zavier Zens, Will Gerdes, and Jordan Boyd. There's still time to add from the high school level for next year, but a good chunk of these kids like to commit before their senior season even gets going. My guess is that we will be hitting the portal for the rest of the roster in the spring unless something pops up.

Honestly at this point having a recruiting class of freshmen that is bigger than 3 guys would make things really difficult in today's college basketball unless they're high level guys. 2 or 3 high schoolers and fill out the rest from the portal I think is the right ratio.