GAMES
RANKINGS
CALI LIVE: Boys Basketball 2026 Countdown Preview
For high school boys basketball fans — and followers of the college and pro ranks alike — there is so much to look forward to at Boys Cali Live 2026 which gets underway in five days in Rocklin, Calif.
No one player among the nearly 2,000 on 176 high school teams — primarily from California — will draw more attention than St. Francis-La Canada incoming junior Yann Kamagate.
At 7 feet, 1 inches and 235 pounds, he’s hard to miss.
Make no mistake, the native of West Africa, is not just all arms, legs and braun. He’s been compared at his early stage to Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard.
That’s some company to keep and projection to live up to.
“He’s a uniquely gifted player,” said former college coach and current scout/event operator Gerry Frietas. “He has size, length and athleticism. He is highly active with a motor that never stops running. And he’s a nightmare matchup who impacts the game in a big way at both ends of the floor.”
He’s ranked the No. 5 prospect overall in the country for the Class of 2028 by ESPN. 247Sports has him ranked No. 4 nationally and the No. 1 center in the country and player overall in California.
Right now he has 15 college offers, according to 247Sports: Alabama, Arizona, Baylor, Cal, Houston, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Washington and Creighton.
“I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen a player of his size in his high school class in the West with his strength, power, explosiveness and speed,” said Frank Burlison, a longtime writer and scout and is a member of McDonald's All-American game selection committee. “He has those qualities that I saw in the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard at the same stage.”
Compton Magic AAU program leader Etop Udo-Ema has helped mentor the likes of Evan Mobley, Onyeka Okongwu and Bruce Branch. None have anything on Kamagate, Udo-Ema says.
About Boys Cali Live 26
This is California’s exclusive NCAA certified Scholastic Live Event June 26-28 at Hardwood Palace in Rocklin, along with local high schools, Whitney and Rocklin. Some 176 teams, many of the best in California along with some from Oregon, Arizona and Nevada, will compete in pool play with more than 150 college coaches on hand.
Unlike AAU events, where club teams participate, these are high school teams, allowed to fine tune and polish their squads under the “scholastic” umbrella, meaning it is sanctioned by the NFHS/CIF.
St. Francis will be part of Pool 9 and 10, along with SoCal power Brentwood, along with Central Section’s San Joaquin Memorial, Sac-Joaquin Section stalwarts Lincoln-Stockton and Bay Area top teams Oakland Tech, Riordan, Moreau Catholic-Hayward and Salesian.
Check back to Vype for previews leading up to the event, along with live updates, action photography and video player interviews throughout the three-day event.
Photo of Huntington Beach QB Brady Edmunds - Ohio State-Commit
THE HEADLINERS: Where California's top high school football prospects are committed
Football recruiting season is in top form for elite talent in California from the Class of 2027. Of the top 30 recruits, according to 247Sports, 22 have already committed to colleges, a rather staggering amount. Also 33 of the top 50 and 52 out of the top 100.
The contact May period is almost done and winds down May 23 — it started April 15 with college coaches allowed to make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations at high schools on recruit’s home.
That is why we’ve seen such an uptick of camps at high schools, most recently at nationally recognized type programs as St. John Bosco-Bellflower (May 13) and Serra-San Mateo/De La Salle-Concord (May 11).
A new trend of California colleges taking over the recruiting market has transpired thus far with USC (9), UCLA (9) and Cal (7) dominating the top commits from the Top 100 thus far with nearly exactly half (25) of the 52. Many top recruits in recent years have opted out of state, but not this class.
Washington (6) has secured the next most followed by Oklahoma (4) and Arizona State and Kansas with two each. The rest of the colleges have only one commit thus far: Miami, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Oregon, BYU, San Diego State, Fresno State, Michigan, Arizona, Sacramento State, Oregon State, North Carolina and Washington State.
Of those only three are California schools — all state schools: Sacramento, San Diego and Fresno — and perhaps most notably former Pac-12 schools Oregon, Arizona State and Arizona have combined to nab just four of these gems. Oregon, for instance, nabbed eight of California’s top recruits from the Class of 2026.
Here is a look at the Top 20 California recruits who have committed.
STATE RANKING (247SPORTS), NAME, SIZE, POSITION, HS, COLLEGE
1. Donte Wright (6-1, 170), cornerback, Long Beach Poly, Miami
2. Honor Fa’alave-Johnson (6-1, 190), athlete, Cathedral Catholic, USC
4. Quentin Hale (6-3, 192), wide receiver, Corona Centennial, USC
5. Myels Smith (6-3, 295), defensive lineman, Inglewood, Texas A&M
6. Danny Lang (5-11½, 160), cornerback, Mater Dei, USC
8. Taven Epps (6-3½, 226), linebacker, Tustin, Oklahoma
9. Drew Fielder (6-6, 280), offensive tackle, Servite, USC
10. Gavin Williams (6-1, 185), safety, Damien, USC
11. JuJu Johnson (5-11, 170), cornerback, Long Beach Poly, UCLA
12. Jon Ioane (6-3, 295), athlete, Tustin, Washington
14. Troy Bowens (6-4, 250), defensive lineman, Sutter, Cal
15. Nicol Bland (6-1, 185), wide receiver, Orange Lutheran, ASU
16. Khalil Terry (5-11, 185), safety, Tustin, UCLA
17. Alifeleti Tuihalamaka (6-4, 260), DL, Oaks Christian, USC
18. Myles Baker (6-1, 185), safety, Sierra Canyon, Cal
19. Charles Davis (6-5, 200), tight end, Westlake, Cal
21. Pole Moala (6-0, 185), safety, Leuzinger, UCLA
23. Demare Dezeurn (5-10, 170), wide receiver, Westlake, Oklahoma
24. Brady Edmunds (6-5, 220), quarterback, Huntington Beach, Ohio State
26. Elija Harmon (6-3, 280), defensive lineman, Inglewood, Oklahoma
Noteworthy
- This top list is normally dominated by St. John Bosco, Mater Dei and Corona Centennial, but curiously boasts only two — Mater Dei’s Lange and Centennial’s Hale.
- Instead, Tustin (3), Inglewood (2), Westlake (2), Long Beach Poly (2) have multiple 4-star recruits
- Only one quarterback on the list — Edmunds — and he’s headed out of state
- Of USC’s nine of the top 100, five are on the Top 10
- Seven of the 20 are defensive backs, another unusually high number