UVA in hunt for nation’s No. 1 center; White announces Thursday

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia has made the cut list for the nation’s top center prospect for the recruiting class of 2026.

Arafan Diane, a 7-footer, ranked as the No. 21 overall prospect in the nation for his class, has narrowed his list to 12 schools: UVA, Kentucky, Kansas, Houston, Oregon, UConn, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Indiana and Purdue.

According to Rivals/On3, Houston is favored to land the 4-star, but in these days of NIL packages, anything is possible.

Originally from Guinea, Diane has official visits set for Arkansas and Kentucky in September and one to Houston Oct. 9-12. If he continues to visit after the Houston stop, then who knows.

Meanwhile, 4-star Billy White III, who had scheduled several visits for late August (including an official trip to Virginia) and September, has switched things up and will instead announce his commitment on Thursday at 6 p.m.

White’s final list is: UVA, SMU, TCU, LSU, Kansas, Texas A&M, Stanford, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Maryland.