At one point, there was heavy mutual interest between Kentucky and Jason Crowe Jr., but the five-star guard is taking his talents to a different SEC school instead.
On Friday, his 17th birthday, Crowe announced his commitment to the Missouri Tigers over Southern California, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, UK, and others. A 6-foot-3 class of 2026 prospect out of Inglewood (CA), he’s considered the No. 7 overall rising high school senior in the country and the 3rd-best shooting guard, per the Rivals Industry Ranking.
Crowe was once viewed as a Kentucky lean due to his close relationship with assistant coach Jason Hart. Crowe’s father is a longtime friend of Hart. UK offered Crowe shortly after Mark Pope was hired in April 2024. However, the Wildcats’ pursuit had died down as of late.
“I haven’t really talked to Coach Pope recently. He’s been busy with the team, obviously,” Crowe told Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ ahead of his decision. “The coaching staff is cool at Kentucky. I’m still keeping an eye open for other teams as well, though.”
Ultimately, one of those other teams ended up being Missouri. Crowe will come to Rupp Arena during the 2025-26 season to face Hart and Kentucky. The Tigers will bring a talented player to Lexington, too.
Crowe is currently leading the all scorers at Peach Jam this week with 26.5 points per outing (four games played) while shooting 45.5 percent from the field, 34.4 percent from long range, and 83.3 percent from the free throw line. He’s teammates on the Oakland Soldiers with five-star Kentucky target Tyran Stokes, who has had Wildcat coaches at every one of his games since the live period began on Thursday morning.
With Crowe off the market, Kentucky has several other backcourt options still left on its 2026 Big Board. The names to monitor are five-star SG Jordan Smith Jr. (No. 4 overall), five-star SG Caleb Holt (No. 5), five-star PG Ikenna Alozie (No. 12), five-star PG Tay Kinney (No. 13), four-star SG Qayden Samuels (No. 15), and four-star PG Deron Rippey Jr. (No. 17). Pope and his assistants have had eyes on Smith Jr., Alozie, and Samuels this week at Peach Jam.
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