Another Kentucky Wildcat is in the transfer portal after playing little as a freshman
READ MORE
The latest on John Calipari and UK basketball
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of the possible departure of UK basketball coach John Calipari for Arkansas.
Expand All
Freshman guard Joey Hart has entered the NCAA transfer portal after one season of college basketball at the University of Kentucky.
Hart — a 6-foot-5 freshman from Linton, Indiana — played a total of only 10 minutes over seven appearances with the Wildcats during the 2023-24 season. His season-high in playing time was three minutes in Kentucky’s 118-82 win over Marshall on Nov. 24, and he scored his only points as a Wildcat — a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining — in that game.
Although he averaged more than 23 points per game and shot 41% from 3-point range as a high school player in Indiana last season, Hart was not coveted as a high-major recruit until late in his senior year. He ultimately picked Kentucky over Rutgers and Indiana, which also started seriously pursuing him late in the 2022-23 season, joining UK’s program amid major roster uncertainty as John Calipari and the UK coaching staff monitored the program’s stay-or-go decisions ahead of the 2023 NBA draft.
Calipari, who spent the past 15 seasons at Kentucky, is expected to be named the new head coach at Arkansas this week.
Hart joined fellow UK freshman Aaron Bradshaw in the transfer portal Monday and is the fourth player on the 2023-24 roster to reveal plans for the future. Last week, freshman guard Justin Edwards entered the NBA draft. (Bradshaw also plans to enter the draft while keeping open the option to return to college.)
The week before Edwards’ decision, sophomore forward Adou Thiero entered the transfer portal and announced that he would also put his name in the draft while specifically leaving open the option to return to Kentucky.
This story was originally published April 8, 2024 at 4:40 PM.
