Arkansas

How five-star prospects Jason Crowe, JaShawn Andrews fit at Mizzou, Arkansas

Published

11 months ago

July 18, 2025

How five-star prospects Jason Crowe, JaShawn Andrews fit at Mizzou, Arkansas

Jeff BorzelloJul 18, 2025, 06:10 PM ET
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There are 18 five-stars atop the ESPN 100 player rankings for the men’s college basketball class of 2026. Entering the July live period, just one player (JaShawn “JJ” Andrews) had committed, but now there’s one more joining the mix: ESPN 100 No. 4 Jason Crowe announced Friday he was committing to Missouri, giving the Tigers their highest-ranked recruit since Michael Porter Jr. in 2017.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello will be tracking every five-star commitment announcement as it happens this season, and break down how it happened, the fit and more.

Find the full player rankings here:
2026 ESPN 100 | 2027 ESPN 60 | 2028 ESPN 25

2026 ESPN 100 ranking: 4
Committed to: Missouri Tigers

Background: Crowe didn’t wait until the end of the July live period to make his commitment, setting a date for mid-July in advance. He also never announced an official school list. For much of his recruitment, though, Kentucky and USC were considered the primary contenders: Crowe’s father played with Kentucky assistant Jason Hart and the two remain friends, and the Trojans made him a priority throughout the process. But over the final few weeks, Missouri emerged as the favorite and was able to land the top-five scorer.

How he fits: Crowe is one of the elite scorers in high school basketball, averaging better than 23 points per game on the Nike EYBL circuit. He’s explosive with the ball in his hands and is an adept playmaker who can get others involved. At Missouri, Crowe will likely become the team’s best offensive player early, although point guard Anthony Robinson and UCLA transfer Sebastian Mack could return to Columbia in 2026-27 and take the pressure off Crowe. It’s also worth noting that Dennis Gates & Co. have made some real headway with fellow five-star Toni Bryant (No. 13).

What’s next for Kentucky and USC? Crowe would have been the ideal start of the 2026-27 roster for either Kentucky or USC, but both programs have talented prospects remaining at the top of their boards. The Wildcats are in pursuit of No. 1 prospect Tyran Stokes, No. 5 Caleb Holt, and five-star point guards Taylen Kinney (No. 17) and Deron Rippey Jr. (No. 18), among others. USC is eyeing Christian Collins (No. 2), Brandon McCoy (No. 6) and Tajh Ariza (No. 20) at the top.

2026 ESPN 100 ranking: 12
Committed to: Arkansas Razorbacks
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Background: While highly ranked prospects from the state of Arkansas have typically stayed home for college — ironically, Malik Monk choosing John Calipari’s Kentucky over Arkansas was one of the high-profile exceptions — the Razorbacks had to do some work to land Andrews. He had LSU and Missouri among his final three, with Dennis Gates’ Tigers appearing to be in a strong position down the stretch. But Calipari has proved he still has juice with five-stars.

JJ Andrews is a BEAST 🔥 24 points and 10 boards for the Arkansas commit as Brad Beal Elite beats Oakland Soldiers 94-78 @NikeEYB pic.twitter.com/HF6yxctCer
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) July 17, 2025

How he fits: The No. 1 player in the state of Arkansas, Andrews has been on the radar of top programs for multiple years. He has tremendous physical tools and is aggressive going to the basket on the offensive end. Although he’s not a prolific perimeter shooter, he did shoot 40% from 3-point range during the EYBL regular season with just about one make per game. It’s always unclear who will return to a Calipari-coached roster, but Andrews should have an early role when he arrives in fall 2026. Unsurprisingly, the Razorbacks are in pursuit of a slew of other five-stars in 2026.

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

3 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.

RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.

“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”

The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.

RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.

“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”

Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.

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