Christian Gibson finishes among top scorers at EYBL Session 1, updates recruitment
By SAM LANCE
MESA, AZ — Class of 2026 four-star shooting guard Christian Gibson has a goal to be one of the top scorers in the EYBL this summer. He’s off to a great start.
Gibson — the 6-foot-5, 180-pound guard from Houston — was among the top performers at Session 1. In three games, Gibson averaged 21.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals for Houston Hoops while shooting 48.2% from the field and 31.6% from deep. He finished the weekend tied for seventh in scoring average, including a 32-point game vs. Arizona Unity on Sunday.
“I would describe my game simple,” Gibson told ZAGSBLOG. “Not too much dribbling. Two, three dribbles at max and just really good at getting to my spot and getting my shot off. [I have the] ability to have a high point shot so dudes can’t really get to the ball.”
Gibson had a number of schools in to see him during his junior season at Mayde Creek including Baylor, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Texas. The shooting guard has taken unofficial visits to Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M so far in the process and doesn’t have any others planned right now.
“If the time comes and the situation is right, me and my family will look forward to doing official visits,” Gibson said. “But we haven’t took one yet.”
When he starts taking official visits, Baylor, Texas and UNLV are schools he’ll definitely be looking to see. Here’s Gibson’s breakdown of a few of the school recruiting him hardest:
Baylor: “When I went on my visit, I met the whole staff. I met Scott Drew for the first time in person. He just seemed really genuine and its hard to find coaches that are genuine because they try to sell you a dream sometimes. But whenever I was there, the environment with the players, the locker room, all of that, everything felt like family oriented. They were always positive even when they were down by 20. They were positive and ended up coming back and beating Kansas. So it was a great game and a great experience because I saw how they operate under pressure and how no one is blaming each other. It’s a very good environment.”
Tennessee: “I haven’t really been talking to the coaching staff like that. I haven’t visited. But Tennessee is a great school. I saw them play when I went on my unofficial to Texas and I really love their playing style because the coach, he encourages them to shoot. Not to shy away from shots. He lets them play their game and he knows what he’s doing. I like the actions he runs. So it looks fun playing.”
Vanderbilt: “I really like the coach [Rick Ray]. He actually came to see me, came to my school. I want to say it was like three days ago. He spoke to me and my dad and he was just telling me how the season went and all of that. It was just great because he seemed very genuine too. He was just telling me that he’s going to keep it honest. They wouldn’t recruit me if they didn’t believe in me and they wouldn’t recruit me just so I could go to college and sit on the bench. So it was great to hear those words because it gave me more confidence.”
Texas: “The new staff did reach out to me. I met with the coach [Adam Cohen], but he came to visit me and he showed me how they play because they’re from Xavier. So they were just showing me how they always play fast and he said I’d be a great fit in their system. We were just talking about how his family is, how our family is. Building a relationship really since they’re new to Texas. They are just trying to figure everything out. They just moved in a few weeks ago. So it was a great experience just getting to know him as a person because he really seemed genuine too.”
UNLV: “Josh Pastner, I got to talk to him a couple days ago whenever he offered me. And you know, Hal Pastner (Josh’s father), he owns the organization (Houston Hoops). Me and Hal and my dad all have a very close relationship. We’ve known each other since last year and we’ve been talking. So I’m looking forward to building the same relationship with Josh Pastner. He seemed like a really cool person whenever we talked for like two-three minutes. He was just explaining the Mountain West conference, how it’s a great conference. There’s like three teams that always make it to the tournament. So I’m really just looking forward to building a relationship and hopefully taking an official visit to see how the facilities are.”
When Gibson visited Texas A&M, it was with the old staff with Buzz Williams as the head coach. Gibson said the new staff at Texas A&M and Maryland (where Williams went) haven’t reached out just yet.
Gibson is looking for a school where he can stay in the gym and improve. The relationship with the coaches is also very important to the four-star.
“Coaches that believe in me,” Gibson said. “I don’t want to go somewhere and its just like I wasn’t their priority. Because at the end of the day, no matter what the level is, I’m going to go to a school where the coach prioritizes me so I have the best chance for myself of course. But just looking at a coach that’s all about me, a coach that’s really family oriented too. I don’t really care about how far I am from the house as long as my parents trust the coach and are comfortable with leaving me alone.”
During his junior season, Gibson was the star player for Mayde Creek. However, he’s looking to transfer and pursue other options for his senior year.
“Me and my dad are looking into whether prep school is the route to go or were just looking for to see what other schools want me,” Gibson said. “We’ll discuss all of that after the summer after AAU season.”
Gibson is ranked the No. 51 overall prospect in the 2025 class by 247Sports.
“CG is a special kid that has a pure shot,” Houston Hoops coach Stephen Woods told ZAGSBLOG. “He’s very coachable, a great teammate and just wants to win. He is a joy to coach!”
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