Top 5 overall recruit Caleb Holt is going west to start his college basketball career — way west, to Arizona.
In the process, the shooting guard Class of 2026 dynamo decided on Tuesday morning to spurn a few high-profile SEC programs. Alabama wanted Holt badly, as did Kentucky, but the Florida product who’s originally from Huntsville, Ala., has opted to leave SEC country and head to the Big 12.
Houston and Providence were also in the mix for the 6-foot-5 Holt, who’s a senior at Prolific Prep in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But the 5-star stud used the high-profile stage of ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday morning to make his big announcement — he will be leaving the eastern part of the United States to make a big splash out west.
The 247Sports Composite rankings rate Holt as the No. 4 overall player in the Class of 2026. He’s also currently the top-ranked shooting guard in the class and the top-rated player from the state of Florida, according to those 247Sports Composite rankings.
Holt was chosen as a prestigious McDonald’s All-American, and the phenom is Arizona’s 2nd commitment of this cycle, joining 4-star small forward Cameron Holmes, an Arizona product who decided to stay close to home and play for the Wildcats.
For Holt, he’s decided to do it a little differently than his soon-to-be teammate. The 3-time gold medalist with USA Basketball isn’t staying close to him, or the area he knows best.
The 2025 Adidas Eurocamp MVP is heading to Arizona, leaving a few disappointed SEC programs in his wake.
Holt can’t affect the NCAA Tournament until 2027, but Arizona, the program he’s headed to for next season, is among Kalshi’s top current contenders to make this season’s Sweet 16:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
