Mark Pope, UK basketball can begin in-person visits with transfer portal players
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball can now begin in-person visits with players from the NCAA transfer portal.
- Kentucky coach Mark Pope is overhauling the Wildcats’ roster this offseason.
- Targets for Kentucky include BYU guard Robert Wright III, Washington guard Zoom Diallo.
Another major date has arrived in Kentucky basketball’s hectic offseason.
Friday is the first day coaches are allowed to have in-person meetings with players in the NCAA transfer portal. These meetings can be either off campus and/or on campus as part of official visits.
College basketball programs have spent the past few days getting to know some of their top portal targets via phone calls, Zoom meetings and other forms of virtual interaction. Now, the face-to-face recruiting process can begin with more than 1,800 players available to be recruited from the portal.
Here’s where things stand as Mark Pope eyes some major roster moves for the Wildcats.
Zoom Diallo to take recruiting visit to Kentucky basketball
Kentucky has its first transfer portal visitor on the schedule.
Washington sophomore guard Zoom Diallo will visit UK on Friday and Saturday. A former McDonald’s All-American and four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, Diallo played two seasons at Washington before hitting the transfer portal.
As a sophomore this past season, Diallo averaged 15.7 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game. Diallo’s 3-point shooting improved significantly this past season, jumping from 18.2% on 1.1 attempts per game as a freshman to 31.5% on an average of 2.2 attempts as a sophomore.
An 82.5% free-throw shooter, Diallo is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 25 available player in the transfer portal. Kentucky had contact with Diallo earlier this week after the transfer portal officially opened Tuesday.
Diallo, whose given first name is Vazoumana, played both of his seasons at Washington for head coach Danny Sprinkle. The Huskies went 13-18 in the 2024-25 season and 16-17 this past season.
UK basketball is in the mix for top transfer portal players
Pope has plenty of production to replace from this past season’s UK team.
But Kentucky is expected to be in the mix for several standout players in the transfer portal.
Headlining this group is BYU guard Robert Wright III, who is ranked by 247Sports as the top point guard available in the transfer portal. Wright — who averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game this past season for the Cougars — is being courted by several elite programs. According to On3, Arkansas, Kentucky and Ohio State are the top schools to watch for Wright.
The potential fit between Wright and the Wildcats makes sense. Kentucky is in need of a starting point guard for next season after Jaland Lowe and Jasper Johnson both entered their names into the portal. UK’s lone high school commitment from the 2026 class is four-star point guard Mason Williams — a son of new UK assistant coach and former NBA All-Star Mo Williams — but Williams projects as a depth piece for the Cats as a freshman.
Kentucky is also among the programs in contention for Syracuse sophomore forward Donnie Freeman and Utah junior guard Terrence Brown.
VCU sophomore guard Terrence Hill Jr., who was a big-time scorer off the bench this past season., also has emerged as a portal target for the Wildcats. Hill averaged 15.0 points and 2.8 assists per game for the Rams during the 2025-26 season, while also shooting 37.0% from 3-point range.
Kentucky is also in need of scoring pop from the portal. The Wildcats are losing their top five scorers from a season ago.
As UK peruses the transfer portal for proven scorers, another emerging option is 6-3 Colgate guard Jalen Cox, who averaged 17.9 points per game as a junior for the Raiders this past season. Cox also averaged 5.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game during the 2025-26 season. Cox is a career 34.0% 3-point shooter who averaged more than 34 minutes per game for Colgate as a junior.
Who are the top players in the NCAA transfer portal?
With nearly 2,000 players now in the NCAA transfer portal — and with those players coming from low majors, high majors and every school in between — it can be difficult to decipher who the best portal prospects are.
CBS Sports cut through the noise Thursday and released an updated list of the top available players, with Isaac Trotter providing a scouting report on each of the top 25 players in the portal.
Topping the list is Kansas sophomore forward Flory Bidunga, who averaged 13.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game this past season for the Jayhawks. Rounding out Trotter’s top five list of transfers are Wisconsin junior guard John Blackwell, Arizona State freshman center Massamba Diop, BYU’s Wright and Kansas State junior guard PJ Haggerty.
None of the seven players from this past season’s UK squad who have entered the transfer portal are listed among Trotter’s top 25 portal players. The top-ranked transfer from the SEC is Alabama sophomore center Aiden Sherrell at No. 10.
The other top SEC transfers are LSU junior point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. (No. 15), Georgia sophomore center Somto Cyril (No. 19) and Tennessee sophomore forward JP Estrella (No. 21). On Thursday afternoon, Estrella committed to Michigan.
Players with Kentucky interest in the top-25 rankings include Wright, Saint Mary’s junior forward Paulius Murauskas (No. 8), Colorado freshman guard Isaiah Johnson (No. 12), Freeman (No. 14), Thomas (No. 15), Hill (No. 17), Virginia Tech freshman guard Neoklis Avdalas (No. 20) and Diallo (No. 25).
Former Kentucky players, recruits in contact with schools
Former UK junior forward Mouhamed Dioubate is on the move following just one season in Lexington. Dioubate — who averaged 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds while playing a physical style of basketball — is making moves in his transfer portal recruitment.
According to On3, Dioubate has had Zoom meetings with Virginia and St. John’s.
Somto Cyril — who was signed to play at Kentucky as part of John Calipari’s 2024 recruiting class for the Wildcats — is also in search of a new school. After Calipari departed for Arkansas, Cyril found a home at Georgia for the past two seasons.
Cyril is one of the most effective rim protectors in college basketball — he averaged 9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots as a sophomore this past season — and is expected to command significant money out of the transfer portal.
Cyril is in the portal with a “do not contact” tag, meaning schools cannot contact him but he can reach out to them. Arkansas and Miami are the two reported leaders for Cryil. 247Sports reported Cyril will take a visit to the Hurricanes on Saturday.
UK basketball targets commit to Providence
Even before the transfer portal opened, Kentucky was linked to San Diego State junior wing Miles Byrd, who spent the past four seasons with the Aztecs.
Byrd was teammates at San Diego State with ex-Cat Lamont Butler, and both players were part of the Azetcs team that made the national championship game in 2023.
Byrd — who averaged 10.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game this past season and was the Mountain West’s defensive player of the year — moved quickly in his portal recruitment. On Thursday afternoon, Byrd committed to Providence.
The Friars are now led by former South Florida coach Bryan Hodgson, who led the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament this past season.
Byrd — who, so far, is the highest-ranked portal player to commit to a new school at No. 9 in the 247Sports rankings — has one season of college eligibility left.
Another UK basketball target also committed to Providence on Thursday. Dink Pate, an NBA G League guard, also pledged to join the Friars for next season.
Pate was originally part of the 2023 high school recruiting class, but instead of playing college basketball, he opted to turn professional and join the G League’s Ignite team. Pate has spent the past three seasons in the G League playing for Ignite, the Mexico City Capitanes and the Westchester Knicks.
Earlier this year, Pate announced his intention to play college basketball in the 2026-27 season.
Kentucky had serious interest in Pate, with Pope travelling to watch Pate play with Westchester. There was a strong connection between UK and Pate in the form of Kentucky assistant coach Jason Hart, who was Pate’s head coach with the Ignite.
Hart is leaving Kentucky this offseason to become the associate head coach at SMU.
The 20-year-old Pate averaged 16.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game this past season with Westchester in the G League.
Louisville basketball hosting top portal players for visits
Louisville is making perhaps the biggest moves of any program in the country as portal visit season begins.
The Cardinals are hosting a pair of top-10 transfers this weekend. Both Bidunga and Oregon junior guard Jackson Shelstad are set to begin their visits Friday.
U of L has been gaining major momentum for Shelstad, a 6-foot-1 player who averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals in 12 games this past season. Shelstad’s junior year was cut short due to an injury to his shooting hand, but he’s expected to get a medical redshirt from the NCAA that would allow him to have two more years of NCAA eligibility.
Louisville advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past season and finished with a 24-11 record. Star freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. — who didn’t play in the ACC or NCAA tournaments due to a back injury — is leaving Louisville for the NBA draft. Also departing the Cardinals via the transfer portal this offseason are forward Mouhamed Camara, big man Sananda Fru and forward Khani Rooths.
Camara redshirted the 2025-26 season. Fru started and averaged 9.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest. Rooths was a bench contributor who averaged 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
