Oklahoma prep standout to visit for Late Night; Isaiah Denis cancels trip to KU

At the present time, one highly regarded high school basketball player from the recruiting class of 2026 has said he’ll be attending Late Night in the Phog on Friday as part of a recruiting visit to KU.

It’s part of a change in recruiting strategy from KU basketball. More on that in a second.

Jalen Montonati, a 6-7, 165-pound junior small forward from Owasso (Oklahoma) High School, is scheduled to be in Lawrence for KU’s 40th-annual Late Night, set for a 6:30 p.m. start.

Isaiah Denis, a 6-foot-4, 170-pound senior combo guard from Davidson (North Carolina) Day High School told 247Sports’ Travis Branham on Wednesday he has canceled his planned weekend trip to KU. He also told Rivals the KU visit is off.

Denis, who is ranked No. 47 in the class of 2025 by 247Sports, No, 62 by Rivals and No. 71 by ESPN, will announce his college choice on Nov. 2, he told 247Sports.

Montonati is ranked No. 14 in the class of 2026 by Rivals, No. 23 by ESPN and No. 95 by 247Sports.

In August, Denis narrowed his list of prospective schools to KU, North Carolina, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Tennessee and Wake Forest.

Montonati won a gold medal competing for USA Basketball’s Under 16 national team at the 2023 FIBA Americas U16 championships in Mexico. He scored in double figures in three games and led the team in made threes (9-of-22).

The 2023-24 Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year averaged 23.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1 block per game last season, leading Owasso High (26-4) to the school’s first Class 6A state championship.

Montonati was named MVP of the state tournament after scoring 34 points in an overtime win in the title game. He also made the Nike EYBL first team this past summer.

“Jalen Montonati is Oklahoma’s only five-star prospect—and that’s for good reason,” Jordan Davis of The Oklahoman said as quoted by Gatorade in a news release. “He’s only a sophomore, but has already staked his claim as one of the state’s most electrifying players in history. His preeminent skillset was on full display in the Class 6A state championship game as he willed Owasso to a state title.”

He’s being recruited by KU, Kansas State, Texas A&M, SMU, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Auburn, USC, Oklahoma, Indiana, Baylor, Arkansas, Nebraska, Creighton and many others.

Playing for Mokan Elite, Montonati averaged 17.5 points per contest at this summer’s Peach Jam.

“In 106 attempts (in summer AAU games), he shot 40% from 3 and over 50% from the field, two unreal shooting splits. His 6-foot-7 length, efficiency and ability to score on all levels make him a difficult wing to guard,” wrote Stockrisers.com.

“It’s been crazy; sometimes. I get lost in all of it because I get so busy. But since my summer has come to an end, I’ve taken time to reflect on what I’ve accomplished, and it’s all a blessing and a product of my hard work. I’m extremely blessed and will always continue to put in the work,” Montonati told Stockrisers.com .

It’s possible additional Late Night visitors could be revealed as the week progresses, but at this time there are no official visitors to be attending.

KU coach Bill Self on Late Night recruiting

KU coach Bill Self this week discussed Late Night as a recruiting tool.

“I think it has changed. I don’t think Late Night from a recruiting standpoint is as big as it used to be. It used to be the big event everybody tried to get guys to go to,” Self said. “We used to schedule our Late Night and the other schools scheduled around our Late Nights. If we had it this weekend, Duke had it a different weekend, Kentucky had it a different weekend, blah, blah, blah blah, in large part so the best players would all have an opportunity to go to those respective schools that’s recruiting all of them. And it was the best selling point.

“We like to get kids here to Late Night. It’s great and everything, but with kids taking unlimited visits and all those things going on, we looked at it little differently this year. Let’s get them in whenever we can. The best thing about Late Night in the past, it happened on the first practice. Because our building wasn’t available to us until Oct. 18 (because of renovations) it happens four weeks after the first practice, which kids are already making their decisions. So we rolled the dice to try to get kids to visit earlier for the most part to give them a chance to make a decision at least seeing our place. This year we’re going to have kids here. In the past we’ve had five or seven official visits and 10 unofficial visits. It’s not going to be that this year.”

Two top KU prospects in the class of 2025 are:

• Darryn Peterson, a 6-5 senior combo guard from Huntington (West Virginia) Prep, who visited KU in July and is the consensus No. 3-ranked player in the class of 2025 and ...
• Bryson Tiller, a 6-9 senior forward from Overtime Elite program in Atlanta, who has been on KU’s campus three times. Ranked No. 21 by Rivals.com, he’s made one official visit and two unofficial visits to KU including one last weekend.