By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
It sure has not taken Will Wade long to establish himself and the LSU men’s basketball program as a major player on the traditional high school recruiting landscape in the Name, Image & Likeness era.
In less than eight months on the job in his second chance at LSU, Wade already has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for the class of 2027 by three recruiting websites – 247sports.com, On3.com and ESPN.com. He signed three of the four-man star-studded class on national signing day on Wednesday.
Amid few NCAA restrictions concerning pay for players via NIL since 2021, Wade appears to be thriving. He recruited very well his first time as LSU’s coach from 2017-22, but was fired in March of 2022 amid major allegations of recruiting violations. The days of stringent NCAA rules that got him the first time are over now because players are paid legally via NIL.
Wade’s current LSU team (3-0), featuring mainly transfer portal players and overseas transfers, plays at No. 14 Gonzaga (2-0) on Saturday (2:30 p.m., USA Sports). It was too late to recruit prep players when he took over last spriing. But his future is expected to be aimed more at high school talent, and that appears to be taking off fast for 2027-28.
According to ESPN.com’s recruiting website, all three of Wade’s signees on Wednesday are five-star prospects – point guard Reese Alston (6-foot-2, 175) of Houston Second Baptist in Houston, combination guard King Gibson (6-4, 185) of SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio and center Xavier Young (6-10, 250) of Faith Family Academy of Oak Cliff in the Dallas area.
Alston is also a five-star prospect, according two 247sports.com and On3.com. Power forward Ahmad Hudson (6-6, 245) of Ruston High is a four-star prospect across the board. He is also a commitment for LSU football coach Lane Kiffin as the No. 1 tight end in the nation by 247sports.com and No. 2 by On3.com.
Alston is the No. 1 point guard by 247sports and No. 3 by On3. Gibson is the No. 1 combination guard by 247sports and On3.com. And Young is the No. 5 center by 247sports and No. 4 by On3. Hudson is the No. 3 power forward by 247sports and No. 6 by On3.
ESPN.com has Alston and Gibson as the No. 13 and No. 14 overall prospects in the country, Young at No. 18 and Hudson as No. 26. Alston is the No. 9 overall prospect by 247sports and On3. Gibson is No. 17 overall by 247sports and No. 16 by On3. Young is No. 20 by 247sports and No. 19 by On3. Hudson is No. 18 by 247 and No. 31 by On3.
The rankings vary slightly, but the bottom line is Wade’s four are all elite players.
Alston has been part of back-to-back Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Class 5A titles, averaging 22.2 points, 5.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals a game. He won the 2026 Guy V. Lewis award for the top basketball player in the Houston area named after the former Houston Cougars coach.
Gibson averaged 14.5 points and 4.2 assists a game for SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, making 45 percent of his three-point field goal attempts. He previously played at Montverde Academy in Florida.
Young averaged 10.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, making 61 percent of his field goal attempts, for the Texas Impact AAU team. He helped lead U.S. to the Gold Medal in the FIBA U17 men’s world cup in Istanbul, Turkey.
Be the first to comment