What’s the latest news on Kentucky basketball’s transfer portal recruiting?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball continues to recruit players from the NCAA transfer portal.
- The Wildcats only have two transfer portal commitments so far this offseason.
- Kentucky’s projected roster for the 2026-27 season currently features 10 players.
As another transfer portal weekend approaches, Mark Pope’s Kentucky program is still in pursuit of more players.
The Cats’ projected 2026-27 roster features 10 players following the Friday commitment of Senegalese forward Ousmane N’Diaye. This means Pope has up to five spots still to fill for next season’s team.
UK is pursuing all available avenues — such as the NCAA transfer portal, the high school recruiting ranks and international basketball pathways — to identify on-court talent.
The past few days have come and gone without Kentucky landing any additional players from the transfer portal. UK’s two portal commitments so far came on April 15 (Washington sophomore guard Zoom Diallo) and April 18 (Furman freshman guard Alex Wilkins).
Here’s the latest update on what we know about UK’s portal recruiting efforts.
Which transfer portal players visited Kentucky this week?
Kentucky hosted at least three players from the transfer portal on recruiting visits to Lexington this week.
On Wednesday, James Madison junior forward Justin McBride and Southern California junior center Gabe Dynes were in town. On Friday, a recruiting visit began for Washington State junior guard Jerone Morton, who was a local prep basketball star at George Rogers Clark in Winchester.
McBride — a 6-foor-7 forward who previously played one season each at Oklahoma State and Nevada — averaged 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds this past season for the Dukes, while making 40.0% of his 3-point tries. 247Sports ranks McBride as the No. 205 player in the transfer portal.
Dynes — a 7-5 center who previously played two seasons at Youngstown State — averaged 2.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game this past season for the Trojans. As a sophomore at Youngstown State during the 2024-25 season, Dynes led the country in blocks with 104.
Dynes is a Northern Kentucky native who played prep basketball at Simon Kenton in Independence.
On Friday afternoon, On3 reported Louisville is the favorite to get Dynes’ commitment. He’s taken recruiting visits to UK, U of L and Xavier.
Morton — a 6-4 guard who previously played two seasons at Morehead State — averaged 7.8 points and 2.6 assists per game this past season for the Cougars. A career 34.2% 3-point shooter at the college level, Morton was a standout player for five seasons at George Rogers Clark. He was named the most valuable player of the 2022 Sweet 16 state tournament, which GRC won at Rupp Arena.
De’Shayne Montgomery picks Louisville
UK also spent the past week getting in touch with some new targets from the transfer portal.
The Cats reached out to Dayton junior De’Shayne Montgomery and St. John’s sophomore Joson Sanon.
Montgomery — a 6-4 guard who averaged 13.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the Flyers during the 2025-26 season — went off the board Friday afternoon when he committed to Louisville. Montgomery was on the U of L campus on Wednesday.
247Sports ranks Montgomery, who also previously played at Mount St. Mary’s and Georgia, as the No. 133 player in the transfer portal this offseason.
Sanon is a 6-5 guard who averaged 7.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game this past season for the Red Storm. Sanon was a five-star recruit in the 2024 high school class. He began his college career at Arizona State, where he was teammates during the 2024-25 season with ex-Cat Jayden Quaintance.
Sanon took a recruiting visit to Kentucky as a high schooler in March 2024.
How many top transfer portal players are still uncommitted?
The transfer portal closed for new entries Tuesday night. Players who waited until the last moment to transfer have now been officially processed as portal entrants.
So, we have a finalized look at the talent available in this year’s portal. And the majority of the top portal players have announced their next college stops.
According to the 247Sports transfer portal rankings, only 11 of the top 100 players in the portal are yet to announce their new schools.
Five of those uncommitted players are ranked in the top 10 of the 247Sports rankings: Iowa State junior forward Milan Momcilovic (No. 2 in the rankings), Santa Clara redshirt freshman Allen Graves (No. 4), Baylor freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou (No. 5), Arizona State freshman center Massamba Diop (No. 6) and Wake Forest sophomore guard Juke Harris (No. 8).
The Cats have been linked to Momcilovic, Graves and Yessoufou from the portal. All three players are going through the NBA draft process. Players going through the draft process have until May 27 to withdraw and maintain their college eligibility.
Yessoufou was a five-star high school prospect in the 2025 recruiting class. He was recruited by UK during his prep career.
The other top-100 portal players yet to commit are NC State sophomore guard Paul McNeil Jr. (No. 33), Georgetown sophomore center Julius Halaifonua (No. 56), Oklahoma State sophomore guard Vyctorius Miller (No. 85), Arizona freshman forward Dwayne Aristode (No. 89), Cal Poly sophomore guard Hamad Mousa (No. 91) and Florida Atlantic freshman guard Josiah Parker (No. 99).
Aristode was a five-star recruit in the 2025 class and reported a scholarship offer from Kentucky during his high school recruitment.
Cincinnati sophomore center Moustapha Thiam (No. 13) committed to national champion Michigan on Friday.
