No. 1 recruit Tyran Stokes reportedly signed Kansas paperwork before Kentucky visit

After months of speculation and a drawn-out recruitment, Tyran Stokes — the No. 1 ranked high school men's basketball player in the class of 2026 — committed to the Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday over Kentucky.

And though Stokes made it seem that the recruiting race was awfully close between the two bluebloods, recent reports suggested that the 6-foot-7 wing from Louisville had his mind made up well before Tuesday's announcement on ESPN's NBA Tip-Off.

According to a report from on3, Stokes had actually signed his non-revenue share paperwork with Kansas before even taking a trip to Kentucky in the middle of April.

KSR+ learned that right around the time of Stokes’ mid-April visit to Kentucky, there were already things going on behind the scenes to lead to his Kansas commitment. Sources told KSR+ that around the time of Stokes’ Kentucky visit, he was in the process of signing non-revenue share paperwork with the Kansas Jayhawks.

The talk coming out of Stokes’ Kentucky visit was not positive. As KSR+ reported at the time, the trip did not capitalize on the Wildcats’ late momentum, and his questions about the program remained.

Now, it's important to note that those papers are non-binding agreements. So, Stokes could have still signed with Kentucky, which would have invalidated the Kansas agreement. But it still suggested that Stokes was very much set on Kansas behind the scenes. And it certainly sets up some jokes like this:

With Stokes heading to Kansas, Bill Self has now signed the No. 1 high school prospect in back-to-back seasons.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Top recruit Tyran Stokes already signed Kansas paperwork before Kentucky visit