Indiana is one of 12 finalists for 2026 5-star guard Tay Kinney.
He’ll also consider Arkansas, Auburn, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, Oregon, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas, and Xavier.
Kinney is the No .13 overall player in the class and the No. 3 point guard according to the average of the national outlets.
While a list cut to 12 isn’t very notable, there are notable aspects to Kinney’s recruitment as it relates to Indiana.
First, he made a cut to 15 during the winter and Indiana wasn’t included. So the new staff has IU back in the picture after they had been eliminated.
Indiana assistant coach Rod Clark, who Darian DeVries was able to hire away from Tennessee, is a major reason why the Hoosiers are back in the mix.
“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.”
Second, Kinney has an official visit set to Indiana for Aug. 29-31. So IU is likely in a smaller group of real contenders.
Four schools on his list — Xavier, Tennessee, Miami and Auburn — have not hosted him yet for an official visit and do not have one scheduled. So they would seem to be the four schools of the 12 with biggest uphill battles.
Hailing from Kentucky, the home state schools — Kentucky and Louisville — will be difficult to beat.
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.”
A sidenote: Kinney has an NIL deal with Adidas. He attends an Adidas school now and played on the Adidas circuit. TDH asked him two weeks ago whether Adidas would play a role in his college decision, and he said his deal with them was just through high school. But as we’ve seen with other recent Adidas high school athletes including Mikel Brown who went to Louisville and Darryn Peterson who went to Kansas — both Adidas schools — that shoe brand could end up playing a role in his decision.
For a complete look at Indiana’s 2026 through 2028 offers and prospects, GO HERE.
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