LSU is back in the hunt for several top prospects and now looks to close things out in the fall. Here's my take on who LSU could land.
Approaching the fall, Kim Mulkey, and her assistant coaches at LSU are about to be in the midst of some of the hottest recruiting battles in the country for the 2026 class. With several official visits planned and fresh off of the No. 1 class in the 2025 cycle, there’s a lot of anticipation as to what the Tigers can do this year to continue to accumulate talent.
After a summer of evaluating and offering, the fall is where battles are won or lost. After having spent time at the AAU events myself and speaking with sources close to the team and talking to the recruits themselves, here is my first class prediction for LSU’s 2026 class.
The 2026 class prediction
Spaight is a late riser in this class, but she’s an absolute bucket and proved that throughout July on the highest stage of AAU basketball. She helped carry Team Why Not to the Nike Nationals finals while averaging 26.3 points in those seven games, to lead the EYBL for that final weekend. She also led the EYBL in steals at Nike Nationals at 2.7 per game and was third in assists with 5.1 per game.
As a result, several offers from top programs came flying in and LSU was one of the teams that made an urgent run at her, especially after dropping Autumn Fleary. The Tigers locked Spaight in for an official visit on Sept. 12 and have a few connections that they’re using to get the inside track in this recruitment.
I feel confident putting Spaight in this class because of the urgency LSU is moving with. A lot of time was spent on Fleary and now that a new, exciting point guard prospect has come to the forefront and is potentially a top 20 player in this class, LSU’s staff wants to get out in front and be sure they’re getting this done.
There are a lot of wings I could include here, but I do think the Tigers are only really looking to add one wing in this cycle, considering the influx they had in the 2025 class. We’ll touch on a few other wings to know later in this story, but for Jones specifically, I feel the best about her potentially being a Tiger in the long run after speaking with sources. There seems to be a tangible urgency with her compared to some others who are taking their time. Jones is scheduled to take her official visit on Sept. 12 as well, and that will be where the Tigers look to close and get her to shut it down.
Jones is the No. 10 player in the country out of Bolingbrook, Illinois and LSU is in competition with Tennessee, TCU, UCLA, and North Carolina, among others. She came on an unofficial visit last year and now the Tigers will look to close the deal on the coveted 6-foot-1 guard.
Vukosa is a towering 6-foot-5 beast in the paint with fantastic touch and all of the physicality Kim Mulkey wants in a player. That’s why LSU has been all-in on recruiting her this cycle and won’t stop until the ink is dried. She’s the No. 5 player in the class on the on3 Industry rankings and has been in constant contact with the Tigers throughout this cycle. The competition is extremely stiff, including South Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, and Ohio State, but LSU and Mulkey are relentless so far and sources close to the team feel like they’re in a strong position early on.
The Tigers have to nail their official visit, which is on Oct. 10, so a bit later in the fall. It’s still early in this recruitment and it feels as though the official visits will play a massive role in this decision. The Tigers ended up getting former five-star center Kate Koval from the portal after missing on her initially, but can they land Vukosa on the first try and make a massive splash? I think there’s a good chance the Tigers lead entering OVs.
Class outlook/approach
*** I mentioned that there are a lot of wings to sift through, that includes: Lola Lampley (No. 17 player),Jacy Abii (No. 12 player), and Jerzy Robinson (No. 3 player), along with the aforementioned Jones. LSU is in a good spot with all of these names, it’s just about which one or two want to make the first move. Robinson is one name I think LSU is more in the mix for than most realize and we’ll see when she sets her official visit to Baton Rouge. If two of these four wanted to come, I don’t think LSU would say no.
*** LSU would love two forwards in this class, so even if the Tigers landed Vukosa, they would still be in the market for power forwards to pair with her. Oliviyah Edwards is another top five player, but LSU’s staff sees her as a four that can play alongside Vukosa if they were to land both, which seems like a longshot, but who knows. I think the ideal size for this class is 3-or-4. They certainly don’t feel desperate to reach after a year where they added five freshmen in the 2025 class, but we’ll see how the cards fall.
*** For those who missed my stories, LSU has dropped Autumn Fleary, one of the top point guards in the country, after UCLA posted the highest NIL and ended up winning her recruitment. The Tigers have moved on to Spaight as we mentioned above.
Official visit dates
- Trinity Jones – Sept 12
- Kelsi Andrews – Sept 12
- Jacy Abii – Sept 12
- Aaliah Spaight – Sept 12
- Lola Lampley – Oct 10
- Olivia Vukosa – Oct 10
- Oliviyah Edwards – Oct 10
- Jerzy Robinson – in the works
As always, these dates could be tweaked, or players could move them or teams could drop them, who knows. But at the moment, there are two massive recruiting dates for Sept. 12 and Oct. 10 where the staff will take them to the LSU home football game and get them to Baton Rouge looking to close down some of these recruitments.
Category: General Sports
