After missing on Donnie Freeman, UK basketball hosts more transfer portal players
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Former Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman picks St. John’s over UK from transfer portal.
- So far, Mark Pope’s Wildcats only have two commitments from the portal.
- Kentucky is hosting more players on recruiting visits from the portal this week.
Mark Pope’s Kentucky program is still waiting on more good news to emerge from the NCAA transfer portal.
So far, the Wildcats have picked up two commitments from the portal this offseason. But UK needs more additions ahead of what will be a critical third season for Pope at his alma mater.
The Cats were dealt a major transfer portal blow Monday night when Syracuse sophomore forward Donnie Freeman committed to St. John’s over Kentucky.
As such, Pope’s program must reset its recruiting strategy. Three new portal targets are set to visit Lexington this week.
The transfer portal also closes for new entrants Tuesday, so we’ll soon know the final list of portal players available this offseason.
Here’s the latest transfer portal news for the Cats.
Donnie Freeman commits to St. John’s over Kentucky
Most of UK basketball’s recent attention has been focused on Syracuse sophomore forward Donnie Freeman.
The Wildcats’ pursuit of Freeman didn’t pay off, though.
On Monday night, Freeman committed to St. John’s out of the transfer portal.
Freeman — one of the Wildcats’ top portal targets this offseason — is a 6-foot-9 forward who is coming off two standout seasons at Syracuse. He averaged 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this past season for the Orange.
247Sports ranks Freeman as the No. 15 player in the transfer portal.
Freeman took a recruiting visit to Kentucky this past week, and the Wildcats had been viewed as the favorites to land his commitment. But things took a turn in Freeman’s portal recruitment.
Alabama and UConn were in the mix for Freeman, but both programs dropped their respective pursuits of him. St. Johns and Tennessee then jumped into the mix for Freeman, who is a former five-star recruit in the 2024 high school class.
On Monday morning, On3 reported Rick Pitino’s Red Storm program was the favorite to land Freeman’s commitment. 247Sports also reported UK’s chances with Freeman “have fallen off substantially.”
This all came true Monday night when Freeman committed to the Red Storm.
Freeman’s decision to not commit to Kentucky comes after the Wildcats lost a recruiting battle over the weekend for Colorado sophomore forward Sebastian Rancik, who committed to Florida State on Sunday.
As such, the Cats will need to reset their portal big board.
Specifically, Kentucky is in need of talented frontcourt additions from the portal.
From this past season’s Kentucky team, forwards Mouhamed Dioubate, Brandon Garrison and Andrija Jelavic all entered the portal. Jayden Quaintance is also leaving Kentucky for the NBA draft.
Garrison has committed to Alabama and Jelavic has committed to Ohio State. Dioubate committed to LSU, also on Monday night.
Kentucky basketball hosts more portal players for recruiting visits
With Freeman no longer an option, Kentucky is set to have three other portal visitors on campus this week.
James Madison junior forward Justin McBride and Southern California junior center Gabe Dynes will both visit Kentucky on Wednesday. Washington State junior guard Jerone Morton — a former local prep star at George Rogers Clark — will visit the Wildcats on Friday.
The 6-7 McBride averaged 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this past season while playing for former Morehead State head coach Preston Spradlin at James Madison. McBride also made 40.0% of his 3-point tries on an average of 3.1 attempts per game from deep.
His Wednesday visit to UK was first reported by On3.
McBride’s upcoming portal decision will be the third of his college career. A former four-star recruit in the 2023 high school class, McBride played his freshman season at Oklahoma State and his sophomore year at Nevada. McBride was a bench player for both the Cowboys and Wolf Pack before starting 30 of James Madison’s 33 games this past season.
247Sports ranks McBride as the No. 201 player in the portal.
Dynes is a 7-5 center and Northern Kentucky native who is from Independence. He played prep basketball at Simon Kenton before beginning his college career by playing two seasons at Youngstown State.
Dynes is fresh off a junior year in which he averaged 2.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game at Southern California.
Few players in the portal can match Dynes’ rim protection credentials. As a sophomore at Youngstown State, Dynes led the country in blocks with 104 rejections during the 2024-25 season. Dynes was a Horizon League all-defensive team selection in both of his seasons with the Penguins.
Dynes isn’t ranked among 247Sports’ top players in the transfer portal.
Across his junior and senior seasons at Simon Kenton, Dynes had a combined 600 points and 498 rebounds.
Morton is a 6-4 guard who began his college career by playing two seasons at Morehead State. Morton was a reserve guard on the 2023-24 Morehead State team that reached the NCAA Tournament.
After averaging a career-best 10.4 points, 3.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game as a sophomore with the Eagles, Morton transferred to Washington State for the 2025-26 season.
Morton was a regular starter for the Cougars this past season and averaged 7.8 points and 2.6 assists per game. Morton is a career 34.2% 3-point shooter at the college level. He made 38.7% of his attempts from deep as a junior during the 2025-26 campaign at Washington State.
Like Dynes, 247Sports doesn’t have Morton ranked among the top 247 players in the transfer portal.
During his distinguished prep career at George Rogers Clark, Morton won the 2022 Sweet 16 state championship. Morton won four 10th Region titles and five 40th District championships during his time playing varsity basketball for the Cardinals.
Morton was named the most valuable player of the 2023 Sweet 16, which ended with George Rogers Clark losing to Warren Central in the title game.
In total, Morton scored 2,684 points and made 214 3-pointers for the Cardinals.
Where are the top transfer portal players going?
There’s not much time left to enter the portal before it closes for new entrants, but some highly-regarded players who are already in the portal have selected their college homes for next season.
There are more than 2,400 players in the transfer portal. Forty of the top 50 players in the 247Sports portal rankings have committed to a new school.
The top-ranked portal player 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. Bidunga has committed to Louisville.
No other player in the top five of the portal rankings has made a commitment. Some, including Iowa State junior forward Milan Momcilovic (No. 2), have also entered their name in this summer’s NBA draft. Wisconsin junior guard John Blackwell (No. 3), Santa Clara freshman forward Allen Graves (No. 4) and Arizona State freshman center Massamba Diop (No. 5) are also still available in the portal.
Blackwell and Graves are also going through the NBA draft process. College players have until May 27 to withdraw from the NBA draft and maintain their NCAA eligibility.
Duke is considered the likely landing spot for Blackwell. Diop recently visited Gonzaga and will soon take a visit to St. John’s.
Other players who are uncommitted from the top 10 of the 247Sports portal rankings are Wake Forest sophomore guard Juke Harris (No. 7) and Saint Mary’s junior forward Paulius Murauskas (No. 9). Kansas State junior guard PJ Haggerty (No. 6) is heading to Texas A&M. TCU sophomore forward David Punch (No. 8) is going to Texas. San Diego State junior guard Miles Byrd (No. 10) will be at Providence next season.
The other four players from the top 50 portal rankings who are yet to commit to a school are Cincinnati sophomore center Moustapha Thiam (No. 12), North Carolina State sophomore guard Paul McNeil (No. 32), Utah junior guard Terrence Brown (No. 43) and North Carolina State freshman guard Matt Able (No. 44).
Brown is a UK portal target.
Indiana has the most incoming top-50 transfers for next season. The Hoosiers, who missed the NCAA Tournament this past season, are bringing in Alabama sophomore forward Aiden Sherrell (No. 11), Notre Dame junior guard Markus Burton (No. 23) and SMU sophomore center Samet Yigitoglu (No. 36).
Both of UK’s transfer portal additions — Washington sophomore guard Zoom Diallo (No. 26) and Furman freshman guard Alex Wilkins (No. 41) — are ranked in the top 50.
Two of Kentucky’s outgoing players from the 2025-26 team are ranked by 247Sports as top 50 transfers: sophomore guard Collin Chander (No. 42) and junior guard Jaland Lowe (No. 47). Chandler has committed to BYU, and Lowe is heading to Georgetown.
