Former Kentucky men’s basketball walk-on transfers to new school
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Grant Darbyshire transfers from Kentucky to Cincinnati for the 2025–26 season.
- Darbyshire joins former Kentucky guard Kerr Kriisa on the Cincinnati roster.
- Darbyshire played in six games across three seasons as a walk-on at Kentucky.
Former UK men’s basketball walk-on Grant Darbyshire has found a new school.
Darbyshire — a 6-foot-2 guard from Cincinnati who spent three seasons as a walk-on at Kentucky — has transferred to Cincinnati and will be on the Bearcats’ roster for the 2025-26 season.
Darbyshire’s transfer to Cincinnati became apparent Tuesday afternoon, when the team’s social media accounts announced his addition.
He won’t be the only former UK basketball player at Cincinnati next season, either. The Bearcats also have ex-Cat Kerr Kriisa, who transferred from UK to Cincinnati earlier this offseason.
Kriisa is set to begin his sixth college basketball season later this year. Kriisa played in only nine games for Kentucky last season before suffering a season-ending foot injury.
Darbyshire was a walk-on at UK for the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, which spanned the final two seasons of John Calipari’s tenure as head coach and the first season of the Mark Pope coaching era.
A native of Florence in northern Kentucky, Darbyshire appeared in a total of six games as a UK player. He didn’t play as a freshman at Kentucky during the 2022-23 season, but he appeared in four contests as a sophomore and in two games last season.
Darbyshire announced his transfer away from the UK program on April 21.
“Being a walk-on at Kentucky has taught me so much,” Darbyshire said in a statement posted to social media. “With the changing landscape of collegiate sports — roster limits, evolving philosophies and shifting dynamics — I’ve always stayed true to the core values of what it means to be a walk-on: To embody selflessness, to put the team first and to do whatever is best for my teammates and the future of the program. That mindset has allowed me to remain consistent with who I am and what I believe in, on and off the court.”
Darbyshire also said he graduated from Kentucky in May after only three years.
While his playing time at Kentucky was limited, Darbyshire received plenty of academic accolades during his time as a Wildcat.
This included being inducted into the Frank G. Ham Society of Character, which honors UK student-athletes who show a “profound commitment” to academic excellence, athletic participation, personal development, community service and career preparation.
Darbyshire was one of three walk-on players on Pope’s first UK roster last season. The other two walk-ons were Walker Horn and Zach Tow.
Horn and Tow appear to be back with the Wildcats for next season. Both players appeared in practice photos posted by the UK men’s basketball team’s social media accounts on Tuesday.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Former Kentucky men’s basketball walk-on transfers to new school."
