Louisville basketball and Kentucky both recently whiffed on 5-star point guard and in-state superstar, Taylen Kinney. The nation's No. 1 point guard ranks as high as No. 13 in the country, and despite being raised in Newport, Kentucky, both fans heavily recruiting him, and Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey getting in a "UFC fight" over him, Kinney committed to the Kansas Jayhawks this past Sunday.
With both in-state schools striking out on Kinney, their next point guard target in the 2026 class is crystal clear, and now the two rival schools are expected to pick it up a notch for one of the top rising stars in the 2026 cycle, Deron Rippey Jr.