Hubert Davis issued his second offer Monday of the 2026 class, but it didn't go to any old recruit. The invite went out to the second-ranked rising junior Tyran Stokes.
The Louisville, KY, native who attends Prolific Prep in the Napa Valley area of California has been on the Tar Heels radar for some time. Davis and his staff have watched Stokes on numerous occasions beside his teammate A.J. Dybantsa, who has a UNC offer, and has been a prime priority for some time. Stokes plays alongside Dybantsa with the Oakland Soldiers. They were also together at Prolific before Dybantsa recently transferred to Utah Prep.
The Tar Heel staff was busy with the transfer portal throughout the spring. Then their attention turned to getting caught back up with the 2025 group. This past Saturday college coaches could begin contacting the 2026's directly for the first time. Davis did that Monday with Stokes. Not only was there a conversation, an offer was included as well.
Stokes joins Cole Cloer of Hillsborough, NC, as the only two offers so far for the Tar Heels in the 2026 class. Hubert Davis has been incredibly selective on the recruiting trail, and so far this group is no exception. Stokes is ranked second while Cloer comes in at No. 22 in Rivals rankings.
The 5-star power forward was given the offer by Davis while participating in the Team USA training camp in Colorado Springs. In fact, Monday was a huge day for Stokes as he was also named a finalist for the 2024 USA U17 Men's National Team.
This was not his first go-around with the United States National Team. He was a member last year of the U16 National Team that took home the gold in the 2023 FIBA Men's U16 Americas Championship in Merida, Mexico.
Stokes and Dybantsa spearhead the Oakland Soldiers 17U squad who have had a 14-1 spring. Stokes finished the four sessions with averages of 19.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game despite playing up an age group. He finished just outside of the top ten in both scoring and rebounding.
Stokes had one of the best individual performances of the spring on a Friday night in Indianapolis in front of Hubert Davis during the live period. He had 31 points of 12 of 17 shooting against The Family out of Detroit. He was a perfect four for four from three-point range to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.
As we wrote after the game the one and only criticism of Stokes is that he isn't always dialed in. When he is, talent is not an issue. How he gets those numbers is probably more impressive then the numbers themselves. I repeat again that Stokes is a runaway locomotive on the court when he is ready to play. Although he is generally younger than the players he goes up against in the EYBL, he always has the look of the more physically mature and stronger player.
Since Stokes could be contacted by college coaches he has gotten new offers from Arkansas, North Carolina, Oregon, UCF, and USC. They join Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, Utah, Xavier, and others.
Stokes has a busy few weeks in front of him. The 2024 FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup will be held in Istanbul, Turkey June 29 through July 7. The EYBL Peach Jam will start six days later, and run through July 21.
