Four-star Luke Barnett updates recruitment, talks EYBL season

By JAMES MADDEN & SAM LANCE

Luke Barnett has quietly become one of the most dangerous scorers in the 2026 class over the last few months. At 6-foot-4, 180 pounds Barnett has been a consistent outside shooter for Mater Dei (CA) and the Arizona Unity of the Nike EYBL circuit.

Over the course of this year’s EYBL season, Barnett has played in 11 games for the Arizona Unity and averaged 13.0 points and 2.9 rebounds. His most notable performance came on May 17 when he scored 27 points and knocked down five threes during the Memphis session.

Barnett prides himself on his shooting ability, but doesn’t limit his skillset to just outside scoring.

“I think I’m a really good shooter,” he told ZAGSBLOG. “I can do a lot of things on offense. I can playmake, handle the ball. Defensively I play hard, I’m scrappy, dive on loose balls, try to do my best to rebound. I feel like I try to do everything.”

Barnett is continuing to improve his stamina and endurance and is hoping an improvement in those areas can help him bring his game to an even higher level.

“I’m trying to get in the best shape I can be in, so I can play as hard as I possibly can the whole game,” Barnett said. “And just trying to improve my on-ball skills as much as I can.”

Barnett has earned a handful of offers from schools around the country and provided an update on his recruitment.

UNLV: “They’ve been out to our practices a couple times, they’ve been pretty aggressive. I like their coaches. They’ve been super cool to get to know.”

Arizona State: “They’ve been in contact with me since last AAU. I’ve been talking to them a little more recently. They called me after last weekend.”

Villanova: “They just contacted me for the first time after last weekend. I’ve only talked to them once. They just gave me a call and said they like me after last weekend and like how I play. I know they had a really good year last year at Maryland and now moved over to Villanova and are trying to get the program going for sure.”

UC San Diego: “I’ve been talking to them for a couple years now. I’ve been down to their campus and played with their guys a little bit. So I know the coaches there pretty well.”

Washington: “They saw me in high school and the coach who offered me, I played him when he was a high school coach my freshman year. So he’s seen me then and then offered me after high school. One of our fall tournaments so I’ve been in contact with him since that.”

Stanford: “They went to a few of my high school games and they’ve been to a couple our practices in high school recently. So I’ve been in contact with their coaches a fair amount.”

Barnett also doesn’t have a timeline for future visits at the moment, saying he has only been to one college campus so far and it was UC San Diego.

 “I’ve been down to UCSD, I played pickup with their guys in the fall. I’ve seen their campus,” Barnett said. “I guess that’s the only one I’ve been on.”

He is looking for a program that is the right on-court fit for him and said he wants to play for a coaching staff that values his game and his role on their team.

Barnett is ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 112 overall player in the class of 2026, according to 247Sports.

The post Four-star Luke Barnett updates recruitment, talks EYBL season appeared first on Zagsblog.