College Basketball Recruiting News - Tar Heel Times (2024)

Daily news coverage of the nation's top college basketball recruits and teams.

Miami adds Samford transfer shooting guard A.J. Staton-McCray

Samford junior shooting guard A.J. Staton-McCray is joining the Miami Hurricanes. Staton-McCray was an All-Southern Conference Third Team selection this past season, averaging a career-high 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 31 games, 27 starts for the Bulldogs, who went 29-6 and won the Southern Conference Tournament. (Inside the U)

Top 50 senior, Purdue signee Kanon Catchings reopens recruitment

Purdue basketball signee Kanon Catchings, a top-50 recruit in the 2024 class, has been released from his letter of intent and will reopen his recruitment. Catchings is a 6-foot-9 small forward who played for the Overtime Elite program last season. He averaged 15.3 points and 6.2 rebounds with the Cold Hearts during the Overtime Elite season. (ESPN.com)

Florida State forward Jamir Watkins withdraws from transfer portal, returning to Seminoles

Florida State standout Jamir Watkins has made the decision to return to Florida State for the 2024-25 season, per a report by CBS Sports Jon Rothstein. Rothstein stated, citing a source, that Watkins is returning to Florida State next season. Soon after, Watkins and FSU hoops both shared a combined social media post about his intentions to ‘run it back’. (Noles247)

AJ Dybantsa holds on to the No. 1 spot in updated 2025 On3 150

On3 released its most recent update of the 2025 On3 150 rankings on Monday, and AJ Dybantsa remains atop the list. Dybantsa re-classified into the 2025 class in October and he immediately settled into the No. 1 spot for this cycle, where he has remained since. The conversation for the No. 1 player in this class came down to two players. (On3.com)

Top 40 junior shooting guard Jovani Ruff stays home, commits to California

Four-star shooting guard Jovani Ruff is staying home and committing to California. The 6-foot-5, 175-pound forward from Long Beach (Calif.) chose the Golden Bears over a final group of Kansas, Oregon, and USC. Ruff is ranked No. 40 overall in the 2025 class. This is the first commitment for head coach Mark Madsen and Cal in the 2025 cycle. (247 Sports)

Virginia Men’s Basketball Adds Five Transfers for 2024-25

Dai Dai Ames (Chicago, Ill./Kansas State), Carter Lang (Charlottesville, Va./Vanderbilt), TJ Power (Shrewsbury, Mass./Duke), Elijah Saunders (Phoenix, Ariz./San Diego State) and Jalen Warley (Philadelphia, Pa./Florida State) are transferring to the Virginia Cavaliers. Power is a 6-9, 215-pound forward who played his freshman season at Duke. (Virginia Sports)

Spring live evaluation periods and early travel ball season lead to 2025 On3 150 Ranking update

This ranking update saw the five-star players move from ten to 11. Welcome Chris Cenac to the conversation. The 6-foot-10 power forward from Baton Rouge (LA) Isadore Newman moved from No. 18 to No. 6 in the latest update. Cenac’s rise into the top ten has been a steady climb. He first moved into the top 25 of On3’s 2025 ratings in the October 2023 update. (On3.com)

Georgia State transfer guard Lucas Taylor commits to Syracuse basketball

Syracuse has landed a commitment from Georgia State transfer guard Lucas Taylor. Last season at Georgia State, the 6-5 Taylor averaged 14.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting over 35% from three point range. Taylor spent his first two years of collegiate ball at Wake Forest, playing in only 27 games during those two seasons. (Cuse Nation)

Kentucky transfer center Ugonna Onyenso commits to Kansas State

Kentucky transfer Ugonna Onyenso, the top available center in the transfer portal, committed to Kansas State and coach Jerome Tang on Tuesday. The 7-foot sophom*ore averaged 3.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks in only 18.6 minutes per game this season. Onyenso is the seventh addition for Kansas State out of the transfer portal this offseason. (On3.com)

No. 1 hoops recruit A.J. Dybantsa says he wants to be one-and-done and win an NCAA championship

AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 basketball recruit in the Class of 2025, is beginning to hone in on colleges and is setting the bar high. After taking an unofficial visit to BYU on Monday, the 6-foot-9 Dybantsa -- who recently picked up a Rutgers offer -- says his goals including being one-and-done and contending for an NCAA championship at his future school. (NJ.com)