After re-joining Arizona Unity’s 17u EYBL squad in July, Brandon McCoy recruiting has remained hot. The five-star 2026 guard is a consensus top-three player in his high-school class and continues to garner high-level college and NBA attention.
His offer sheet includes power programs like Kentucky, USC, Kansas and Alabama, though Duke has been the frontrunner. In nine EYBL games, the 6’4 guard averaged 19.7 points, 1.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 stocks (steals plus blocks) per game.
McCoy played 21 games for AZ Unity’s 17u squad last summer and improved significantly since that time frame. His efficiency leaped up from last summer, where McCoy posted a frigid 45.1% true shooting while making 21.3% of his threes. In 2025, McCoy’s true shooting was a strong 59.8%.
How has McCoy improved his game?
While his 3-point efficiency improved to a still mediocre 30.4%, his exceptional two-point scoring carries his efficiency uptick. In 2025, McCoy converted an incredible 61.2% of his 2-pointers. He shot nearly 79% at the rim across those nine games; that efficiency sustains even after filtering out transition opportunities.
Though McCoy’s size and physical tools has been one of his selling points, his functional athleticism progressed significantly this season. He’s more explosive and strong with the ball in his hands, allowing him to create advantages and score in the paint more consistently. Most star guards excel as slashing creators and McCoy’s improvement here helps him fit that mold.
brandon mccoy jr.’s strength and explosiveness look much improved from last season. he’s moving at a different speed with the ball
through 7 eybl games so far — 55 FTr, 33.3% half-court rim freq, 84% atr, averaging 21.6 on 64% TS. small sample but improvement is encouraging pic.twitter.com/jKNSaUt682
— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) July 19, 2025
Proving himself a dominant downhill advantage creator should help NCAA and NBA scouts feel more confident in his offensive projection. McCoy still must prove himself a capable passer (0.9 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2025) and especially as a shooter. Despite some small sample improvement, his shooting projection is murky.
His poor 3-point percentages are compounded by weak free-throw shooting, which often helps project outside shooting growth. McCoy made under 60% of his free throws in both of his last two AAU seasons and his touch on jump shots leads to some wide misses on off-dribble jump shots.
To establish himself as a blue-chip prospect, McCoy must continue to progress as an outside shooter. His trademark defense will help maintain his value, as he produced on defense as usual in EYBL this summer. His incredible length, athleticism and disruptive instincts add value as a point of attack and help defender.
Without true superstar prospects, McCoy has cemented himself near the top of a fairly flat 2026 high school class. He has plenty of room to grow before becoming a true high-level NBA prospect, but his defense and slashing have college coaches coveting his services.
Duke has a long history of developing NBA players and McCoy could join that group if he committed there. We won’t know what any college basketball rosters will look like for the 2026-27 season, but McCoy would make for an excellent first piece for their 2026 recruiting class.
