INTEL: What schools are really in play for 5-star PF Chris Cenac?

Chris Cenac is On3’s No. 5 overall player in the 2025 On3 150. He has remained a regular in the top 25 of On3’s rankings for over a year now, but it was not until recently that schools really started to overflow with interest. Prior to May of this year, Cenac carried seven offers. He now claims over 30 offers from programs across college basketball’s landscape.

On3 is now not the only company to have Cenac ranked among the top 30 as the 6-foot-10 forward is currently No. 13 overall in the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking. Playing this summer with the YGC Hoops team on the Puma Pro16 Circuit, things really took off for Cenac. He has announced his transfer to Branson (MO) Link Academy to play his senior season on the Nike EYBL Scholastic Circuit.

Cenac recently issued a top 12, UConn, LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Baylor, Tennessee, Houston, Louisville, Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Michigan State all made the cut. So let’s try and sift through things to talk about what I am hearing as we start to head into visit season for Chris Cenac.

The Latest Cenac Intel

Chris Cenac has been consistently playing basketball since April. Either through the Puma Pro16 Circuit play, USA Basketball U17 team, or all-star events like the UA Elite 24, NBPA Top 100 Camp, Chris Brickley’s event, and more, there has not been much downtime for Cenac over the past four months. That coincides with the timeframe when the majority of his offers came through.

Cenac took two early unofficial visits, to Houston and LSU. Sources around the recruitment tell me the expectation is both of those programs will most likely get official visits as well. While sources tell me that LSU will have some staying power, it will be interesting to see if Houston can make a move in this one.

In talking with people around Cenac’s recruitment the two schools that consistently come up are Kentucky and LSU. The expectation around Cenac is that those two programs should be in the hunt for him until the end. LSU is the hometown school, and they have invested a lot into Cenac even before his mass blow-up this summer. Kentucky assistant coach Alvin Brooks, I am told, sat courtside for every one of Cenac’s Live Evaluation Period games this summer. While I would fall short of calling these two programs ‘leaders’ at the moment, I am told that they have done a good job positioning themselves heading into visits.

While making some phone calls around Cenac’s recruitment, two other schools that came up pretty regularly are Arkansas and Baylor. The lure of John Calipari and the list of top-end forwards and bigs that he has coached has caught Cenac’s attention. Baylor assistant coach Tweety Carter is from Louisiana and Cenac grew up going to Carter’s camps from before he was a teenager.

Two schools that seem to be flying under the radar when talking about Cenac’s recruitment are Louisville and Michigan State. Not many are publicly talking about them toward the top of the list, but sources close to Cenac told me to not be surprised if these two programs are able to ultimately find themselves in the mix here.

A recruitment can be very fluid. With Cenac, things are still early. A commitment date or visit schedule has not been made public yet. Continue to check in with On3 as we tell the story of his, and other top recruit’s recruitment.

Chris Cenac’s commitment time frame

As you can tell, there is still a way to go with Chris Cenac’s recruitment. A majority of his offers came while he was still playing and he has not been able to really prioritize the programs or start building relationships to this point. He has narrowed his list, and the relationship-building will start to come as the five-star power forward starts to go on visits.

One other thing to watch for with Cenac is the timing of his commitment. While I am told he has not closed off the idea of signing during the Early November Signing Period, most around the recruitment feel like things will go into the Late February Signing Period.

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