Marcus Spears Jr., ESPN’s top-ranked high school prospect in the class of 2027, has reclassified to 2026 and will play for Texas during the upcoming college season, according to Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi of ESPN.
“I’m going to have to work for everything I get,” Spears said. “I didn’t start at Dynamic Prep until I was a junior; in fact, as a sophomore, I averaged only eight minutes a game. I am going to embrace the opportunity. I know there will be expectations of me. My focus is to stick to the work that has gotten me to this point.”
Spears’ father, Marcus Sr., is an ESPN analyst and former NFL defensive end, while his mother, Aiysha Spears, is a former WNBA player. The 6’10” power forward is only 17 years old and won’t be eligible for the NBA draft until 2028, but he’s considered a contender for the No. 1 pick alongside Joaqim Boumtje Boumtje, an incoming Duke freshman.
Boumtje Boumtje, a 6’11” forward/center who’s also 17, just led Team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA U17 World Cup, winning MVP in the process.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Another early contender for the top pick in the 2028 draft, point forward Nikola Kusturica, will be heading to college as well, having agreed to a multiyear deal with UCLA, per Biancardi of ESPN. Like Boumtje Boumtje, Kusturica is coming off a stellar showing at the U17 World Cup, where he helped the Serbian national team win the silver medal. He was named to the tournament’s All-Star Five and had 37 points and nine rebounds in the lopsided final loss to the Americans. “Nikola is an elite prospect with great size, skill and a competitive fire which is hard to find,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said in a statement released by the school. “As a 6-foot-9 guard, he can play all over the floor. He impacts the game as a scorer, play-maker and shot blocker. For a very young player, Nik has had a decorated career with the Serbian national team and his club team in Barcelona.”
- Lev Akabas of Sportico examines how the NBA’s slower-than-expected salary cap growth has impacted teams’ long-term planning, pointing to Boston’s trade of Jaylen Brown as an example. The 29-year-old’s super-max extension was worth 35% of the cap in year one, but it’s up to 35.4% in year three because the deal’s 8% annual raises have outpaced the cap, which many teams thought would rise by the maximum allowable 10% every year. When the league announced it’s early salary cap projection for ’27/28, it only anticipated a 5.5% growth, which means Brown’s contract – among others – figures to take up an even higher percentage of the cap going forward.
- An investor group by former NBA owner and executive Jerry Colangelo announced their plans to make an expansion bid in Las Vegas on Wednesday, reports Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports. The group, called the Las Vegas Jacks, is co-led by Horizon Sports & Experiences CEO David Levy and also features former NBA guards Jay Williams and Vinny Del Negro. While there are several groups competing for a potential expansion team in Las Vegas, only one has publicly stated a desire to bring a team back to Seattle, Schiffer adds. That group is led by Seattle Kraken (NHL) governor Samantha Holloway.
Source: www.hoopsrumors.com