Tag: Miikka Muurinen

A five-star 2026 recruit won’t be visiting Kentucky basketball this year

Class of 2026 recruit Miikka Muurinen won’t visit Kentucky basketball this year.

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope offered a scholarship to 2026 recruit Miikka Muurinen in July, and the following month, they set up a visit. However, due to conflicting schedules, that visit will no longer happen, and Muurinen likely won’t visit the Wildcats this year at all, per a Kentucky Sports Radio report.

Pope recently visited Muurinen in person, but the visit to Lexington on September 14th was canceled, as 2025 recruit Caleb Wilson is set to be there at that time.

Related: Kentucky out of the running for Braylon Mullins

Muurinen is a 6’10”, 185 lb power forward, rated five stars in the 2026 recruiting class. He’s ranked as the number six overall player in the class by 247sports, and the top player out of Arizona.

Pope will certainly maintain contact with Muurinen, and try to schedule a visit as soon as possible. However, he is also considering reclassifying to 2025, which could take Kentucky out of the running if they land Wilson. Either way, Big Blue Nation will be keeping an eye on the situation.

Five-star 2026 forward reportedly sets visit with Duke basketball

Miikka Muurinen, one of the top players in the Class of 2026, will reportedly take an official visit with the Duke Blue Devils this month.

According to a Thursday report from League Ready’s Sam Kayser, Duke basketball will host 2026 five-star forward Miika Muurinen for an official visit later this month.

Kayser said on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) that Muurinen would take an official visit with the Blue Devils on September 27th.

One of the fastest-rising players in his class, the Arizona native has moved all the way up to No. 6 on the 247Sports rankings. Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils first extended the 6-foot-10 forward an offer in July, and he’s presumed to be one of the staff’s top targets for the 2026 cycle.

According to Kayser’s report, Muurinen will also visit the Michigan Wolverines on September 14 and the Arkansas Razorbacks on September 21. He’s also received offers from the UCLA Bruins, Kentucky Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Alabama Crimson Tide.

Scheyer visited another elite 2026 prospect, shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr., at school earlier this week. Smith played alongside new Blue Devils freshmen Darren Harris and Paul Ngongba II at Paul VI Catholic.

https://twitter.com/247HSHoops/status/1834258484646572394

A four-star 2026 recruit will be visiting Kentucky basketball

Class of 2026 recruit Miikka Muurinen will visit Kentucky basketball in September.

Kentucky basketball and coach Mark Pope recently landed it’s first 2025 recruit in Malachi Moreno. Jasper Johnson is predicted to also commit to the Wildcats soon. So while the recruiting for next year is heating up, Pope is looking ahead to 2026 too, scheduling a visit with Miikka Muurinen.

A 6’10” 185 lb power forward, Muurinen is rated four stars by 247sports and ranked as the number 44 overall player in the class. On3 sports, however, ranks him even higher, placing him tenth overall.

Related: Goose Givens gives thoughts on 2024-25 Wildcats season

Kentucky originally offered him back in July, joining programs like Duke, Alabama, and North Carolina as teams to offer a scholarship to the big man out of Arizona.

Muurinen is scheduled to visit the Wildcats on September 14th. Obviously, there’s no timetable on a commitment, but Pope and company will try to make a good impression. He has a skillset that would fit Pope’s offense well, and he would be a terrific addition.

Duke basketball offers four-star 2026 forward Miikka Muurinen

Duke basketball extended an offer to fast-rising 2026 prospect Miikka Muurinen.

2026 feels like the distant future, but considering that it’ll be 2025 on the calendar once Duke basketball reaches the ACC portion of its schedule this season, the future will be here before we know it.

That said, Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils will likely focus considerable recruiting resources on the Class of 2026, and there are some terrific prospects for them to choose from. One of them, power forward Miikka Muurinen, received an offer from Duke over the weekend, according to 247Sports’ Travis Branham.

Muurinen, who plays for Compass Prep in Arizona, is originally from Finland. He stands 6-foot-10 and currently ranks as 247Sports’ 44th-ranked player in the Class of 2026, but many recruiting insiders expect him to receive a boost on all recruiting services. Branham named Muurinen the ‘biggest riser’ from Peach Jam, where he averaged 18 points and four rebounds per game for Bradley Beal’s Elite 16U squad.

He shot 62 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range (14-for-28 over six games) as he helped his team win an EYBL championship.

“Muurinen was oozing with talent and upside and looked every bit like a top-10 recruit in the 2026 class,” Branham wrote.

With his stock rising, expect Muurinen’s recruitment to reach astronomical heights in the coming months. Kentucky has also offered him thanks to his Peach Jam performance. His mother played college basketball for the University of North Carolina, so it shouldn’t come as a shock if UNC is a significant factor in this recruitment in the future.

Kentucky basketball offers a four-star forward in the 2026 class

Kentucky basketball has offered class of 2026 recruit Miikka Muurinen a scholarship.

Just as Kentucky basketball is hoping to get some commitments from the 2025 class, coach Mark Pope is also working on the class of 2026. On Monday, according to 247sports’ Travis Branham, he added a name to the list of Wildcats targets in forward Miikka Muurinen.

The 6’10, 200 lb forward is ranked as high as number 10 overall by On3, and as low as 44 by 247sports. He’s rated four stars by every service, and is a top 10 power forward in all of them as well. Muurinen is unanimously the top 2026 player in Arizona.

Related: Kentucky jersey numbers for 2024 and previous wearers

Muurinen shined at the Nike Peach Jam, putting up over 17 points per game while shooting 50% from three-point range. Pope loves big men who can stretch the floor and shoot from outside.

Aside from Kentucky, Muurinen has offers from Duke, Michigan, UCLA, and others. He’s expected to continue to rise in the rankings, which is certain to create more competition for his services.

Nebraska basketball offers Kansas’ top prep player

Miikka Muurinen is a 6-foot-10, 200-pound power forward from Sunrise Christian in Wichita, Kansas.

Nebraska men’s basketball has offered a scholarship to one of Kansas’ top prep players. Miikka Muurinen is a 6-foot-10, 200-pound power forward from Sunrise Christian in Wichita, Kansas.

Muurinen is currently ranked by service On3 as the No. 10 prospect in the entire class of 2026. The stretch-four from Finland has also drawn interest from other major programs such as Duke.

He also holds offers from Alabama, UCLA, Cincinnati, Illinois, Texas Tech, and Utah. The forward has international experience, having played for the Finnish National Team in the FIBA U16 European Championships.

He led his team with 16.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

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