By SAM LANCE
KANSAS CITY, KS — Class of 2026 four-star wing Vaughn Karvala may have improved his stock the most out of any player this summer due to his performance with Team Herro on the Nike EYBL circuit.
Karvala — the 6-foot-6, 180-pound wing out of Oregon High School (WI) — has been nothing short of sensational. In 11 games with Team Herro, the four-star has averaged 14.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. His most impressive outing came against Tyran Stokes and the Oakland Soldiers, where Karvala scored 24 points in a 79-75 win.
“I’m a shooter, and I’m also athletic,” Karvala told ZAGSBLOG. “I’m able to drive and get to my pull-up if I need to. Kind of like a Kevin Durant build. Just got to develop the pull-up a little more and being a better ball handler.”
While Karvala can hit shots from the outside, his athleticism is very underrated. The wing plays well above the rim offensively and can block shots on defense. His handle and overall strength still needs improving, but Karvala has the frame of someone who can be a productive wing at the next level and beyond.
6’7” Vaughn Karvala’s recruitment is about to take a major leap
247 just ranked him in the top 50 for 2026
@vaughnK2026_ @NikeEYB @team_herro pic.twitter.com/uOeqf80zAN
— SLAM HS Hoops (@SLAM_HS) May 28, 2025
On the recruitment front, Karvala holds offers from Arizona State, Cal, Colorado State, Iowa, Marquette, Missouri, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Wisconsin and Xavier. He’s taken unofficial visits to Marquette, Purdue, Syracuse and Wisconsin and will be looking to take Iowa and Ole Miss “soon.”
He broke down some of the programs involved to ZAGSBLOG:
Iowa: “I’ve been talking with coach [Josh] Sash. Really good too. They’re really knowledgable and love to develop their players. It’s a really winning coaching staff.”
Marquette: “[Shaka Smart] used to go to my high school. So we have a little bit of a thing there. I went to the Marquette camp when he offered. It was amazing. I went to visit there, went to like a student only game. It was really loud. Really loud. They love it, they love their basketball team, the Marquette fans.”
Oregon: “They haven’t offered yet. I’m hoping that they will offer. I’ve been talking to Mike [Mennenga] a lot, the assistant out there. He’s really nice.”
Syracuse: “It was amazing. They really welcomed me. Really loving community. They had a bunch of posters for me when I went on the visit saying come home. It was awesome.”
Wisconsin: “It was also fun. I went to the Bama-Wisconsin game, even though they lost. It was still fun. They are definitely taking another step on their offense, going a lot more towards the NBA route. A lot more ball screens and stuff like that. Definitely translates to the next level.”
When selecting a program, Karvala will closely look at the intensity of practices and games. He wants to see the “winning nature” of programs.
Karvala is ranked the No. 42 overall prospect in the 2026 class by 247Sports.
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