Day one of the transfer portal is over. Here’s what happened for UK basketball
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The NCAA transfer portal for college basketball officially opened Tuesday.
- UK basketball is looking to rebuild its roster this offseason.
- Mark Pope is in his third offseason as the Kentucky basketball coach.
Activity in the NCAA transfer portal is off and running.
The portal officially opened at midnight Tuesday, less than an hour after Michigan won the 2026 NCAA championship over UConn.
Already more than 1,000 players have entered their names in the portal, which means Mark Pope’s Kentucky program has plenty of talent to evaluate in the coming days as the Cats embark on an offseason roster rebuild.
After Tuesday’s portal opening, Friday is another major date to know: That’s the first day coaches are allowed to meet with portal players off campus and/or host those players for official visits. The portal closes for new entrants April 21.
With the first day of official portal activity in the books, here’s what happened for Kentucky.
Kentucky basketball makes contact with transfer portal players
Several players UK made contact with in the portal Tuesday had been rumored to be targets for the Cats.
This group includes LSU junior Dedan Thomas Jr. and Butler junior Finley Bizjack.
Thomas, a 6-foot-1 point guard, is currently the highest-ranked SEC player in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports. Thomas — who is ranked by that service as the No. 9 available transfer — began his college career with two seasons at hometown UNLV, before transferring to LSU last year. That move came despite UK expressing portal interest in Thomas.
While Thomas averaged 15.3 points and 6.5 assists for the Tigers this past season, he only appeared in 16 games. Thomas’ last game for LSU was Jan. 28, before he underwent foot surgery in February. Thomas, a 34.6% 3-point shooter, is also reportedly getting interest from the likes of Alabama, Louisville and Texas.
Bizjack, a 6-4 guard, has grown his game over the past three seasons at Butler. He’s coming off a year in which he averaged 17.1 points and 2.5 assists per game for the Bulldogs. Bizjack boasts 98 games of college basketball experience and is a career 36.1% 3-point shooter.
This past season, Bizjack was an All-Big East third-team selection. He’s ranked as the No. 39 player in the portal.
UK is expected to be involved in the recruitments of other players who have previously been connected to the Cats, such as San Diego State junior guard Miles Byrd and San Francisco sophomore guard Tyrone Riley IV.
Baylor has reportedly been gaining traction in Byrd’s portal recruitment. Riley has visits scheduled later this week to Louisville and Oregon.
Pope’s program was also in touch with several players new to Kentucky’s radar.
This group includes Florida Atlantic sophomore Devin Vanterpool, Utah junior Terrence Brown and Washington sophomore Zoom Diallo.
Vanterpool, a 6-4 guard, led the Owls in scoring this past season with 15.8 points per game. Vanterpool — who initially committed to FAU when current Michigan head coach Dusty May was leading the Owls — averaged 6.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game this past season while shooting 35.1% on 148 3-point tries.
Vanterpool, who turns 21 in August and is ranked as the No. 92 portal player, won the Most Improved Player award in the American Athletic Conference this past season.
Brown, a 6-3 guard, played his first two college seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson before spending the 2025-26 campaign at Utah. During the 2023-24 season, Brown was teammates at FDU with ex-Cat Ansley Almonor, who was part of Pope’s first Kentucky squad.
Brown started all 32 games for Utah this past season, leading the team in scoring with 19.9 points per game. Brown also averaged 3.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds per contest. He shot a career-best 32.7% from 3-point range for the Utes, who finished the season 10-22.
Brown had a FaceTime conversation with Pope on Tuesday afternoon. He’s ranked as the No. 27 player in the portal.
Diallo, also a 6-4 guard, has been a regular starter at Washington during his first two college seasons. He averaged 15.7 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Huskies this past season, which were career highs. Diallo’s 3-point shooting took a massive leap forward this past season as well, from 18.2% as a freshman to 31.5% as a sophomore.
Diallo was a 2024 McDonald’s All-American, alongside Kentucky sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance. UK showed interest in Diallo as a high school recruit when John Calipari led the UK program, but the Cats never offered a scholarship.
Diallo is ranked right behind Brown as the No. 28 player in the portal.
Former UK players, recruits linked to new schools
Several former UK players and recruits are in the portal looking for new schools.
Acaden Lewis — who was signed to play at Kentucky as part of Pope’s 2025 high school recruiting class, before backing out of that paperwork last spring — is on the move after one season at Villanova. The 6-2 guard was a standout freshman this past season, averaging 12.2 points, 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals while starting all 33 games for a Villanova team that made the NCAA Tournament.
Lewis, who was a second-team All-Big East selection this past season, is being linked to Miami and Texas during the early stages of the portal.
Somto Cyril — who was signed to play at Kentucky as part of Calipari’s 2024 recruiting class before that group fell apart following Calipari’s departure to Arkansas — is also in the portal after two productive seasons at Georgia. A 6-foot-11 center, Cyril averaged 9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots as a sophomore this past season. Cyril played a major role in Georgia’s upset win over UK in February at Rupp Arena.
Cyril has a “Do not contact” tag in the portal. Arkansas and Miami are considered to be the teams to watch there.
Karter Knox — who was the final high school recruit to commit to Kentucky when Calipari was the coach — is also in the portal after playing two seasons at Arkansas. Knox, who is the younger brother of ex-Cat Kevin Knox, missed the end of the 2025-26 season after undergoing season-ending surgery on his left meniscus.
D.J. Wagner, who spent his freshman 2023-24 season at UK before transferring to Arkansas to play two more seasons for Calipari, also is in the portal. Wagner is coming off his least-productive college season, having averaged 7.4 points and 2.4 assists in 23.6 minutes per game as a junior.
The 6-foot-4 Wagner, who was the No. 6 overall recruit in the 2023 high school class, is considered to have an open portal recruitment.
Changes to UK basketball’s roster are underway
Shifting back to Lexington, here’s the current state-of-play for Kentucky’s roster from this past season.
At least 10 players from the 2025-26 UK squad will be departing the program.
Leading scorer Otega Oweh is out of college eligibility. Fellow senior Denzel Aberdeen was a surprise entrant in the transfer portal early Tuesday morning, but he’ll need a waiver from the NCAA to play a fifth season of college basketball.
Also set to leave Kentucky are Walker Horn and Zach Tow — who joined the program as walk-on players — and Jayden Quaintance, who is expected to enter and stay in the 2026 NBA draft after playing just four games for the Cats.
Five other Cats have entered their name in the transfer portal: Juniors Mouhamed Dioubate, Brandon Garrison and Jaland Lowe, sophomore Andrija Jelavic and freshman Jasper Johnson.
Malachi Moreno, a former Kentucky Mr. Basketball award winner who started at center as a freshman for UK, has announced that he’s going through the 2026 NBA draft process. According to that announcement, If Moreno withdraws from the draft he will play the 2026-27 college season at Kentucky. The NBA draft withdrawal deadline for college players is May 27.
Pope is awaiting stay-or-go decisions from sophomores Collin Chandler and Trent Noah. Also yet to formally announce decisions are freshman Braydon Hawthorne and junior Reece Potter, who both redshirted the 2025-26 season.
On Tuesday afternoon, Kam Williams announced he is returning to UK for his junior season. That’s good news for the Cats. The 6-foot-8 Williams emerged as a starter for Kentucky in January before being sidelined for seven weeks with a broken left foot. He returned to game action at the start of the SEC Tournament.
UK currently has just one commitment from the 2026 high school class. That’s four-star point guard Mason Williams, who is a son of new UK assistant coach and former NBA All-Star Mo Williams.
