Nikolas Khamenia, a 2025 forward, is a sophomore to keep an eye on heading into the spring. The 6-foot-8 prospect is skilled and already seeing a Power Five recruitment blossom, as he holds offers from Stanford and Nebraska while garnering interest from a group of others.
Khamenia had a terrific game on Tuesday evening against Centennial (Calif.), scoring 20 points while putting on a high-level offensive display and scoring from all over the court in the Open Division regional final. Khamenia won’t be a stranger to the rankings in the next update and is due for a massive bump. He spoke with Rivals the day after his impressive outing.
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IN HIS OWN WORDS
Stanford: “They were one of the first schools that really looked out. They saw me at Section 7 and then went to their camp. I met all of the coaches, did pretty good at their camp and they offered. All of the coaches are pretty cool and the campus is really nice.”
UCLA: “The coaches, we have a really good connection. It feels like they’re normal people wearing a UCLA shirt. Coach (Mick) Cronin is a really good dude, coach (Darren) Savino. I met all of the players and I saw the facilities; it was pretty nice.”
Gonzaga: “I took a trip up there, met all of the coaches. Coach Mark Few is a really good dude. He talked to my dad a lot. It’s a really good coaching staff, really good players, really good facilities and a really good campus as well. It’s a small, nice community. I saw the Kraziness in the Kennel, so I got to see the whole vibe of the arena. It was nice.”
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RIVALS' REACTION
Stanford is the only school out of the three Khamenia discussed that has offered the sophomore forward. He also holds an offer from Nebraska, and there’s likely to be a lot more schools coming to the table in the next couple of months. He mostly has West Coast interest currently, but this could become a national recruitment in the blink of an eye.