BREAKING: Mark Pope’s Five-star small forward target Tajh Ariza sets commitment date to Kentucky Basketball..

BREAKING: Mark Pope’s Five-star small forward target Tajh Ariza sets commitment date to Kentucky Basketball…

Passing the Torch: With Guidance From His Dad’s Career in the League, Rising Junior Tajh Ariza is Ready to Make the Family Name His Own.

The first time Trevor Ariza noticed his son was different was in a fourth-grade basketball game. After breaking down a poor 8-year-old with a single move, Tajh Ariza drove into the paint and kicked the rock out to an open shooter with a seamless behind-the-back pass. “The timing was perfect. It was in stride. It was just a perfect pass,” Trevor says.

It’s a typical sunny day on the west side of L.A. and Trevor, Tajh and Tristan Ariza are trying to see who can hit a half-court shot first. It’s been two years since the NBA champion and L.A. native retired, and today, he’s back on the campus where his basketball dominance began. Except Trevor’s not the one in his old white, red and black threads. His oldest son, Tajh, is.

Tajh is currently one of the top 16-year-olds in the nation, and come next fall, he’ll be running the gambit on the same court his dad did. After finishing the basketball season at St. Bernard HS, Tajh soon after transferred to Westchester this spring.

Inside the school’s gymnasium, Tajh stands at halfcourt surrounded by a sea of red, black and white, from the “Comets” branded bleachers and walls to the shades of his dad’s original No. 4 home jersey that he’s wearing. The faded banners showcasing Trevor’s two state titles with the Comets hang proudly as father and son pose for flicks. Even in this moment, Trevor’s influence is ever-present. It’s surrounded Tajh since he was a baby, dribbling around with Kobe and Derek Fisher. Yes, he’s the son of an NBA player. But Tajh Ariza’s game is entirely his own.

“I gotta keep putting in work every day,” Tajh says. “You know, my dad [had a] great career, but I want to have my own name and show people like, Oh, I want to be like him, you know? So I just gotta keep working so I can get there.”

The 6-8 rising junior exploded on the recruiting circuit and is now considered top-10 in the class of 2026. After his freshman year, he held just three major DI offers. In the span of five months last year, he racked up five more. This past spring he received an invite to USA Junior National Minicamps, and over the summer he was playing up with Team Why Not 17U on the EYBL circuit. Things are just clickin’.

But the path wasn’t so easily laid out. Trevor let Tajh find his own love for the game. He didn’t push, he didn’t nudge; he sat back and watched his son discover their now shared passion.