It’s been an exciting several days in Tucson, between winning the Big 12 regular season championship and earning numerous conference awards, including Coach and Player of the Year honors for Tommy Lloyd and Jaden Bradley. And while there’s plenty of buzz in the air about the NCAA Tournament next week, an announcement on Tuesday is already generating some excitement for the 2026-27 season. Top 2026 prospect and five-star shooting guard Caleb Holt announced his commitment to Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats via First Take on ESPN.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound shooting guard and native of Huntsville, Alabama is one of the top prospects nationally in the class of 2026. The Prolific Prep star held offers from over 20 programs, but ultimately chose the Wildcats over Alabama, Houston, Kentucky, and Providence. Per 247Sports.com Composite Ratings, Holt is the No. 1 player from Florida, top-rated shooting guard, and No. 4 overall prospect in the class of 2026.
With a 0.9988 overall rating, Holt, a 2026 McDonald’s All-American, becomes the highest-rated commit under Tommy Lloyd and second-highest-rated commit in program history, behind only Deandre Ayton.
“I want to win a national championship. That’s my biggest goal. So I’m going to go to Arizona every day doing whatever it takes to win,” said Holt on ESPN’s First Take following his commitment. “My main thing is nothing is better than winning. You can score 30 and lose, but I want to win.”
Holt also cited his relationship with Tommy Lloyd, telling Joe Tipton of On3.com that his relationship with the Wildcats’ head coach at Team USA was a driving factor in his decision to come to Tucson.
“I got to play for coach Tommy (Lloyd) during USA so I got to spend a month with him, really got to know him. He’s kind of like Ryan (Bernardi), just real personable. He talks to you about anything. But when it gets serious, he’s serious, and he instills a lot of confidence in me on the court. I like that. I love that he has confidence in me, and can see what I can do.”
Caleb Holt is the second high-profile commit in the Arizona Wildcats’ 2026 recruiting class, joining four-star in-state small forward Cameron Holmes.
With Jaden Bradley exhausting his eligibility and Brayden Burries projected as a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Holt should be a plug-and-play option in Arizona’s backcourt. The Wildcats still need to target a point guard and power forward in the transfer portal, but could get an added boost next season if Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas elect to return to Tucson for another year.