Class of 2026 Emerging Talent from The Expo: Wisconsin

There were plenty of juniors at the Community First Champion Center in Appleton on Sunday, some of them well known and highly ranked and others looking to stand out and make a name for themselves. Only one player included in this post is ranked in the top 100 by Prep Hoops Wisconsin, at number 92. However, all of those included here had strong performances worthy of recognition. These players represent emerging talent in Wisconsin's class of 2026.    Biddle Jr uses his athleticism to play much bigger than his height would suggest. He can flat-out jump and will sky for rebounds. He looks comfortable playing at the wing and forward positions, taking on larger opponents defensively as needed. Biddle Jr also puts his leaping ability and overall skillset to work on offense and does not shy away from taking the ball to the rack in traffic.     Listed as a shooting guard, Erickson is that and more. He can shoot it from the outside, on two occasions he drove and drained midrange shots at the free-throw line and, later, he dropped a turn-around, fade-away from just outside the lane. Erickson is also a solid ball handler and will make crafty passes to gather up assists. He plays with good pace and will push the offense up the court or take the coast-to-coast opportunity if it is there.     I didn't have Evenson on my player list, as he was a late addition to the event, but he played well enough that I asked who he was so I could be sure to include him in my coverage. From what I could tell, Evenson was at max effort whenever he was on the court. He hustled, took the ball to the hole with confidence, and was aggressive on the glass. Evenson also has the ability to shoot from deep and has a smooth catch and shoot flow with a nice release.     Lyon had a solid evening, checking a lot of boxes on both ends of the court. He mixed in scoring from all levels and showed confidence when taking the rock to the hole. He was a persistent on-ball defender and generated turnovers, including one which he took the other way for an easy lay-up. Now 6'2", Lyon put his additional height to work by throwing down a dunk on a fast break, while also showing a nice stroke from beyond the arc.     This kid is fun to watch. He may be on the small side, but he makes up for that and then some with his style of play. Travis has a quick first step and will take his defender off the dribble and finish inside amongst larger players. He has outstanding body control and converted several creative and acrobatic shots, including one where he was nearly on the floor after knifing through the lane. Travis hit several threes as well. And if that's not enough, he rebounds well for his size and flashed a tasty no-look pass in transition.     Vinson has great court vision and puts it to work as an excellent passer. He was racking up dimes in transition, off penetration through both kick-outs and dump-offs, and through whatever other opportunities he saw. He demonstrated a good basketball IQ, which was evident in his team-oriented play and also through positioning for rebounds, which he hauled in at an impressive rate considering his size. Vinson can also score, but it was these other qualities that really differentiated him from the pack in my opinion.

There were plenty of juniors at the Community First Champion Center in Appleton on Sunday, some of them well known and highly ranked and others looking to stand out and make a name for themselves. Only one player included in this post is ranked in the top 100 by Prep Hoops Wisconsin, at number 92. However, all of those included here had strong performances worthy of recognition. These players represent emerging talent in Wisconsin's class of 2026.