Gilbert Arenas' ex-wife Laura Govan, Hamiley Arenas, Jason Crowe Jr. react as top 2026 prospect Tyran Stokes visits Mark Pope's Kentucky

Notre Dame High School forward Tyran Stokes visited one of the country's premier college basketball programs. On June 8, it was reported per On3 that the senior star visited Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats as he has long been recruited by them.

On Wednesday, Stokes shared an Instagram post with pictures from his Wildcats visit. The first photo shows a candid moment of the Sherman Oaks, California native in black and white. The next snaps showcase him in the school's uniform with his mother.

"How we feelin ¿?," Stokes captioned.

Several figures from the basketball world reacted to Stokes' visit to the Kentucky campus.

Fellow five-star recruit in the high school class of 2026, Jason Crowe Jr., who is ranked fifth per ESPN, commented on Stokes' upload with an emoji.

(image credits: @_thetyranstokes on Instagram)

The ex-wife of three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, Laura Govan, then dropped three fire emojis in the comment section of Stokes' post.

Gilbert Arenas' daughter, Hamiley, reposted Stokes' Instagram post on her story with a supportive caption.

"I say yes," Arenas wrote with several eye emojis.

(image credits: @hamileyarenas0 on Instagram)

Stokes is entering the 2025-26 season for his final year of high school hoops at Notre Dame. As a five-star prospect, he is nationally-ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2026.

Tyran Stokes says that the communication with Kentucky Wildcats coach Mark Pope has been seamless

In an interview with KSR in July last year, Tyran Stokes was asked how the communication has been with Kentucky Wildcats coach Mark Pope as he has been actively recruiting him.

Per Jack Pilgrim of On3 on Wednesday, Stokes admitted at that time that talking to Pope has been great, as he now more actively seeks a college program.

"I mean, it’s still close to home and still a great, great program with a great coach. Coach Mark (Pope), he’s a great dude. He’s always texting me, catching up and telling me congratulations on the games and stuff like that. For the most part, I’m talking to Coach Mark," Stokes said.

If Stokes joins Pope and the Wildcats for his first season of collegiate hoops in the 2026-27 season, he will be joining a team that finished the 2024-25 season with an overall record of 24-12 (10-8 SEC).

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash