Class of 2026 Offers and Commits

[Blue & Gold]

RJ Jones, G/F, 6-5, St. Ignatius HS, Cleveland, OH

Jashawn Ladd, G, 6-4, Ben Davis HS, Indianapolis, IN

Devan Christion, F, 6-9, Clark HS, Las Vegas, NV

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Blue & Gold

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

6'5" G/F from St. Ignatius. Love seeing the NEO kid stay home. 

 

Much like the Columbus duo, not a whole lot out there about RJ in terms of other offers. 

[Slam_Hilliard22]

4 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

6'5" G/F from St. Ignatius. Love seeing the NEO kid stay home. 

 

Much like the Columbus duo, not a whole lot out there about RJ in terms of other offers. 

Jacksonville was his only other offer, looks like a pretty good scorer just going off his tape on X

[Zippy87]

Jashawn Ladd has committed to Akron per his Instagram.

[Let'sGoZips94]

6'4" G from Ben Davis HS in Indiana. If I'm not mistaken, it's one of the bigger and better athletic high schools in the state, most recently winning a state title in 2023 for boys' basketball (won the football state title in the same year).

 

No idea on his other offers.

 

[clarkwgriswold]

13 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

6'4" G from Ben Davis HS in Indiana. If I'm not mistaken, it's one of the bigger and better athletic high schools in the state, most recently winning a state title in 2023 for boys' basketball (won the football state title in the same year).

 

No idea on his other offers.

 

 

 

His X page shows offers from Mr. Pinky, Miami, Indiana State, Ball State, Robert Morris and UI Indy.

[zipinnc]

I thought I saw a commit on socials somewhere, but I can’t find it now. Anybody else see anything?

[Let'sGoZips94]

Zips Basketball posted to their FB story a graphic that read, "Welcome Kaleb Khairi."

 

Anybody know anything about this? Several posts on social media pop up but they're all in Arabic. 

[Zippy87]

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Zips Basketball posted to their FB story a graphic that read, "Welcome Kaleb Khairi."

 

Anybody know anything about this? Several posts on social media pop up but they're all in Arabic. 

 

It looks like Kaleb Thornton 

[Blue & Gold]

Found this scouting report on Jashawn Ladd.  It's from last summer.

"The best player on the best team in the 3 Stripes Gold circuit is no doubt Jashawn Ladd from Ben Davis high school in Indiana. Ladd is a long wing that has a nasty crossover, good Jumpshot, and explosive first move to the hole. He often beats guys with his second move, finishing outside the frame of the backboard with great touch. His athleticism is extremely difficult to stay in front of, and his ability to play above the rim made him a fun watch. It was no surprise that Ladd already has a D1 offer from Miami (OH) and will no doubt collect more as his team finished 8-0 in the circuit, qualifying for the 3SSB finals in July. Ladd was a strong piece to an excellent team, who played the right way and coasted through Adidas Gold like it was nothing."

[Blue & Gold]

Yesterday was NLI day but apparently Ben Davis HS is having their ceremony on 11/20.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Devan Christion- 6'9" F - Vegas

 

Where in the world did this come from? Had offers from George Mason and others, but can't find too much on his recruiting. Looks long and smooth. 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 11:39 PM by Let'sGoZips94

[LZIp]

Seems like another quality overall class. Who are we most excited for? I lean towards Ladd

[Illini Zip]

1 hour ago, LZIp said:

Seems like another quality overall class. Who are we most excited for? I lean towards Ladd

I honestly don’t know enough about them yet. But the video above of Devan is quite impressive. Is he really 6-9? He sure is skilled and athletic for a young forward. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

10 hours ago, LZIp said:

Seems like another quality overall class. Who are we most excited for? I lean towards Ladd

 

All of them until proven otherwise. With Devan coming out of nowhere, there's recency bias for me and I'm really intrigued by a 6'9" F with his level of athleticism. 6'4" and 6'5" guards though maintain fantastic size in our backcourt and everything about Ladd sounds like he's a real player. St. Iggy to Akron is an awesome pipeline I'd like to keep going. The St. Iggy kid Kent has can shoot so if RJ has the ability to contribute like that as a freshman, look out. 

 

We will still have 2 open spots automatically to bring in transfers. This is truly a dynasty being built. 

Edited yesterday at 12:30 PM by Let'sGoZips94

[Illini Zip]

He’s legit 6-8 according to this article, so he might still have another inch or two in him.

 

I really like that he has shown signs of being able to hit mid-range shots. 

 

https://u1hoops.com/2025/07/14/devan-christion-scouting-report-clark-high-schools-sleeper-with-size-touch-defensive-upside/

 

 

Edited yesterday at 03:29 PM by Illini Zip

[Illini Zip]

A bit of RJ Jones, #10.

 

 

[Illini Zip]

Groce has said in the past that the criteria to play the point in his system is being able to break down the defense in the half-court, distribute the ball, run the fast break quickly while staying under control and be an efficient 3 point shooter. The deeper the shot the better. It doesn’t matter how they beat their defenders as long as they can do it regularly. For some it’s speed and quickness, others it’s shiftiness or even brute size and strength. All usually have to be good playing off of ball screens as well.

 

You combine what @Blue & Gold posted with the fact that Jashawn Ladd shot 41% from deep last year and you have another point guard in the making. Maybe not his first couple of years, but very likely in time.

 

https://bleacherprospect.com/2025/05/27/top-performers-from-the-3-stripes-gold-session-ii/

 

https://gatorswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/high-school/2025/11/11/indiana-basketball-recruiting-rankings-top-30-players-in-class-of-2026/87204242007/

 

I know what you’re thinking…everyone can’t play point guard. True. Jashawn would likely have double-duty, half the time run the point and the other half play as a shooting guard. I think the smaller, quicker 6 foot guard is the mainstay at the position and I can see us bringing one in every 2 years. If they redshirt for a year even better. The other years, bring in true combo guards. At Illinois, I witnessed 6-1 point guard Tracy Abrams share the job with 6-4 ultra athletic, shooting guard Brandon Paul. It was kind of like the thunder and lightning dynamic you see football teams utilize with running backs. I bring up Brandon Paul because Jashawn looks like a poor man’s Brandon Paul. Expect to see this guy hanging on the rim quite often.

 

Look at how easy dunking is for this guy. He’s just a junior in high school here. 
 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/basketball/friday-night-fast-break-play-of-the-game-nominee-ben-davis-jashawn-ladd/vi-AA1xpj26

 

This dynamic of a point guard and combo guard sharing lead guard duties is nothing new during Groce’s Akron era. We started out with Virshon Cotton and Malcolm Duvivier. Then LCJ and Tyler Cheese. We then struggled partly due to Covid and partly due to Garvin Clarke’s failure to get north and south in the half-court. Thank God for Xavier Castaneda. As a shooting guard he held down the lead guard duties mostly by himself. Tavari was a freshman, but not at all ready for prime time. Since Tavari has taken the reigns he has shared the job with Tribble, Nate Johnson and now Shammah Scott. So don’t be surprised if the 5th year senior version of 6-5 Josh Henderson or RJ Jones becomes the next Tyler Cheese. 

I witnessed injury (and other shenanigans) at the point guard position derail Groce and Co. at Illinois. Together we witnessed Garvin Clarke’s failure handicap the Zips for a year or two. And now we are in the NIL era where you could see our future point guard leave at any time. In my opinion you can’t have enough lead guards on the roster. I suggest we grab one per recruiting class of alternating skill sets and size. And I think that’s exactly what we’re doing. 🙏

[Blue & Gold]

To illustrate @Illini Zip's insights, this year (albeit only 3 games into the season) our starting backcourt duo is averaging:

 

Tavari: 13.3 PPG, 5 APG

Scott: 14.3 PPG, 4.3 APG