Indiana wasn’t included in 2026 5-star point guard Tay Kinney’s final 15 schools announced last winter, effectively ending their involvement.
But Tennessee was.
That ended up playing a major role in IU going from completely out of the picture to landing an official visit next month from the Newport, Ky. product.
New IU basketball assistant coach Rod Clark is giving the Hoosiers a fighting chance in a very crowded and competitive recruitment.
“Coach Rod, who came from Tennessee, he was recruiting me at Tennessee, and that’s my guy,” Kinney told TDH at the Adidas 3SSB stop in Rock Hill, S.C. “I want to give them a chance too and see what it’s like there.”
Kinney has already been on the IU campus multiple times, and he’s seen the program in a number of different lights — at a team camp, at Hoosier Hysteria, and at a game.
But that was all with the prior staff in charge. When he comes Aug. 29-31, Kinney says his upcoming trip to Bloomington will be all about getting to know Darian DeVries and his entire staff better, understanding their system, and how he fits.
Kinney says he plans to make his college decision before his final high school season begins at Overtime Elite, so sometime this fall after he completes his visits.
What are the factors that will instruct his decision?
“A great relationship with the coaching staff and a school that I can fit in,” Kinney said. “Just a team that fits my style of play. I’m going to have the ball in my hands and a great opportunity to get to the league.”
The 6-foot-2 Kinney is the No. 15 player overall in the 2026 class, and the No. 3 point guard based on the average of the national recruiting sites. Playing for Wildcats Select this year on the Adidas 3SSB travel circuit, he’s averaging 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 51.7% overall and 27.9% from three.
There are outside assumptions built into Kinney’s recruitment that would seem to both help and hurt Indiana.
He’s got an Adidas endorsement deal, and we’ve seen recent high school stars with Adidas deals go to Adidas schools. Of course Indiana is sponsored by Adidas. Guard Mikel Brown, Jr. went to Louisville and Darryn Peterson went to Kansas — both Adidas schools — after signing their own Adidas deals at similar stages of their recruitments last year.
Kinney has played on the Adidas circuit for several years, and Overtime Elite is also sponsored by the shoe brand. But he says his Adidas deal won’t impact his next move.
“Nah, my deal will be over soon. It’s just for high school,” he told TDH.
Kinney has completed visits to Purdue, Kentucky and Louisville, and in addition to IU, his other planned visits include Oregon, Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas.
Although he moved out of the state for his last two years of high school, many from the outside believe it will be difficult to pull a Kentucky kid out of the state for college.
Kinney says staying home won’t impact his decision.
“I’m just going to the school that fits me best,” he said. “I don’t care where it’s at.”
For complete coverage of IU basketball recruiting, GO HERE.
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