Tyran Stokes has known that he’s really like that ever since he was in first grade dicing kids up at third grade tryouts. He wasn’t technically trying out, knowing the restrictions in place only allowed students who were in the third grade and beyond to make the cut. But Tyran didn’t care. If there was good bump, he was there. Seeking out the best is just what the No. 1 player in the class of 2026 does. So it wasn’t that surprising when the first-grade team’s head coach walked up to Tyran’s mother, Keaira, in the school’s parking lot and offered him a roster spot.
“When I made the team in the first grade, I knew I was good enough to play with older guys and, like, do something, at least,” Tyran says when asked how he knew he was different with the rock. “But I’ll probably say Peach Jam of freshman year when I was, like, 15 and I was on the court [with] Duke commits, Georgetown commits and Ohio State commits as a 15-year-old. They’re about to go to college, and I’m like, Sheesh, I’m on here. Like, I’m starting, too, in the championship game of Peach Jam. I’m like, Yo, I really got a chance to do something with this.”
In the present, the 17-year-old with three FIBA gold medals has pulled in offers from all the heavy hitters: Kentucky, Kansas, Alabama, you name it. He’s been on that type of time since he was punching the clock as a freshman with Prolific Prep in Napa during the winter and on the 17U EYBL circuit in the summer.
