Kansas faced off with Kentucky in the State Farm Classic on Tuesday night. Kansas won the game 89-69. It was a game against his home-state team for former top recruit Tyran Stokes. Stokes signed with Kansas over Kentucky, among other teams, joining the team this season.

Stokes, who is projected to be the number one pick in the 2027 NBA Draft, grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, but nearly signed with the Wildcats, something he spoke of after the game, according to Myron Medcalf of ESPN.

“I mean, I'm pretty sure everyone obviously knows. For me, it was up to Kansas and Kentucky for my last two schools,” said Stokes. “I'm from Louisville. I had a long recruiting process with Kentucky, so obviously when I chose Kansas and I knew that game was going to be here, it was personal for sure. But we got the [win], played together great as a team. That's all that matters.”

Stokes had a massive game. He played 32 minutes in the contest, scoring 23 points, while shooting four of eight from deep. He also brought in 10 rebounds, while adding four assists, one steal, and one block. He also had just one turnover in the game.

“For me, just growing up, I was a [North Carolina-Louisville] fan. A lot of my family either likes Louisville or Kentucky, but I was on the Louisville side,” Stokes said. “So, growing up, you know the tradition and the rivalry that was between Louisville and Kentucky. So being from Louisville, I still got that same emotion as if I was playing for Louisville. But I'm here in Kansas, so obviously being able to play against a school like that is just one of one and it's my first time to step on a big stage and show what I can do.”

The effort of Stokes with the national spotlight on him solidified his status as a contender for the first overall pick in the 2027 NBA Draft. It was also a performance that caught the eye of his coach, Bill Self, who praised his performance.

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“I think that ‘personal' means he's from Kentucky and they recruited him hard, so I don't think it was anything more than that, at least to my knowledge,” Self said. “But, I actually thought he handled the moment better than I actually anticipated. He's very emotional, which is a big, big plus. Nobody should take that as a negative, but I didn't want him to be too geeked up where he couldn't play. And what helped him a lot tonight was seeing that first 3 go down. And after that, I thought he played under control. I thought he played within what we're trying to do and still found a way to be aggressive at the same time. I thought it was pretty impressive.”

Kansas moved to 3-0 on the season after the win. They return to the court next Tuesday to host UNLV.