No. 2-ranked sophomore Ryan Hampton drops 29 points to open AAU season, chats recruitment
By SAM LANCE
FISHERS, IN — Five-star class of 2027 guard Ryan Hampton is the younger brother of R.J. Hampton, a former first-round NBA Draft pick and top-five prospect. But the sophomore certainly isn’t in his shadow. He’s making a name for himself with his play.
This past season with Dynamic Prep, Hampton, the 6-foot-6, 190-pound guard, was a key piece in leading the team to the championship game of Chipotle Nationals. Hampton mostly came off the bench and provided Dynamic Prep with instant offense all season. He showed his scoring prowess on the biggest stage, dropping eight points on a perfect 2-of-2 shooting from 3-point range in a semifinal win against Prolific Prep.
Most recently, Hampton dropped 29 points in his first game of AAU ball with Drive Nation. His goal this summer is to win a Nike EYBL Peach Jam title.
2027 5-star Ryan Hampton goes off for 29 in Drive Nation's season-opening win at The Circuit Rivalry Series @ryhamp14 @athleteaiapp pic.twitter.com/NJSOY1FYAQ
— The Circuit (@TheCircuit) April 11, 2025
“I’m known as a scorer, but this year I want to level up my game and be a two-way,” Hampton told ZAGSBLOG. “Three-level scorer. Rebound the ball. Get my teammates involved. Defense. I’m just getting better at that. Just my overall game and getting better at that.”
Recruitment wise, Hampton holds offers from Arizona State, Auburn, Cincinnati, LSU, Oklahoma State, SMU, TCU and Tennessee. Texas A&M and Maryland have also offered, but with the old coaching staffs. Hampton mentioned Arkansas as another school in his recruitment process. He’s taken one unofficial visit so far to SMU.
Here’s his breakdown of some of the schools:
SMU: “I think they let their players play a lot, you know free. And then just I want a coach that gets on me to get me better every single day. I love coach [Andy] Enfield. He’s a great person, obviously. And coach Jeremie Hart is a coach on the staff. Great guy. He reaches out about every single week. So he’s a big one for SMU for sure.”
Texas: “I haven’t heard from Sean Miller yet. I watched the past year with Tre Johnson and all of them. It was heartbreaking that they had to come out in the NCAA play in and not make the NCAA Tournament. But it was a great experience watching them for sure. I haven’t went to a visit there yet, but I’m hoping to go there soon.”
Arkansas: “Coach [John] Calipari has been one of my favorite coaches since I was a young kid. So I like his style of coaching and the pros they’ve produced over the years is a lot. That’s really big. But coach Cal is one of my favorites for sure.”
Texas A&M: “Obviously, coach Buzz [Williams] is not there now. But Texas A&M is a great school obviously. I like them a lot.”
LSU: “They play really hard. Obviously, this season didn’t really go the way they wanted to, but it can change in years to be from a low team to a top team. But LSU is one of my favorites too.”
Hampton will start taking more visits this summer, and he wants to see Arkansas, SMU and Texas.
“Really all my offers I’m trying to get to,” Hampton said. “So I have to find a time frame for all of them.”
When he starts taking visits, Hampton will be watching one aspect of programs closely.
“I want to go into their practices, see how they are, how intense they are,” Hampton said. “Because it’s like Dynamic, every practice we have is hard working, intense. Bloody really because it’s just up and down but really physical. Just trying to get me better every single day until I reach my ultimate goal, the NBA.”
Hampton is the cousin of one of his teammates from high school and AAU, another five-star sophomore in Marcus Spears Jr. The two would be open to playing with each other in college.
“I would love playing with Marcus for sure,” Hampton said. “This year has been an amazing year and playing with him this summer is going to be even better. So that’s definitely on my mind for sure.”
The five-star guard is obviously close with his NBA brother as well. Hampton said R.J. texts him after every game with advice on what to work on. And yes, the two battle against each other often.
“The 1v1’s be intense, very intense,” Hampton said. “I think my most recent win against him was 11-9. He won’t admit it though. But 11-9 probably two months ago.”
Hampton is ranked the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2027 class by 247Sports. His favorite NBA players are his brother and LeBron James.
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