After landing Zoom Diallo, this is the latest transfer portal news for UK
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball has landed its first commitment from the NCAA transfer portal.
- The Wildcats have a commitment from Washington sophomore point guard Zoom Diallo.
- Other portal options for UK are Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman, Colorado’s Sebastian Rancik.
Kentucky basketball is on the board in the transfer portal this offseason.
On Wednesday night, the Wildcats picked up their first portal commitment, from Washington sophomore point guard Zoom Diallo.
What’s next for Mark Pope’s program?
Kentucky still has a ways to go to fill out its full roster for the 2026-27 season, and plenty of options are still on the table for the Cats.
Diallo’s choice to come to Lexington grabbed the headlines, but there are other transfer portal developments in the works for Kentucky.
Zoom Diallo becomes Kentucky’s first transfer portal commit
Let’s linger for a little bit more on Diallo, who will arrive at UK following two productive seasons at Washington.
The 6-foot-4 Diallo, whose given first name is Vazoumana, averaged 15.7 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game this past season as a sophomore for the Huskies. Diallo was originally a four-star prospect in the 2024 high school recruiting class and was also a McDonald’s All-American that year.
Diallo is the No. 26 player in the transfer portal according to 247Sports.
With Diallo in the fold, Kentucky has addressed its top roster need of the offseason. The Wildcats needed to get a starting point guard from the portal, and Pope has landed one with two years of college eligibility left.
Diallo’s decision to come to UK was publicized just hours after BYU sophomore point guard Robert Wright III chose to return to the Cougars for his junior year rather than transfer to Kentucky. Diallo visited UK this past weekend, while Wright was on the Kentucky campus earlier this week.
Diallo was the first visitor from the transfer portal for Kentucky this offseason.
There are now seven players projected on the Kentucky basketball roster for next season.
Joining Diallo as expected Wildcats for the 2026-27 campaign are high school point guard Mason Williams, freshman forward Braydon Hawthorne, freshman center Malachi Moreno, sophomore wing Kam Williams, sophomore forward Trent Noah and junior forward Reece Potter. Potter announced on social media Wednesday night that he’ll return.
Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman takes recruiting visit to UK
While Wright and Diallo were making their respective college choices, Kentucky was busy hosting other portal players on recruiting visits in Lexington.
Syracuse sophomore forward Donnie Freeman was on campus as the latest transfer portal visitor for the Wildcats. The 6-9 Freeman averaged 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this past season for the Orange. Freeman also showed some touch from deep, connecting on 30.2% of his 3-pointers while averaging nearly four attempts from deep per game.
Freeman, who turns 21 years old in August, has spent both of his college seasons at Syracuse. He logged more than 31 minutes per contest for the Orange during the 2025-26 campaign, but Freeman only played in 23 of Syracuse’s 32 games due to a foot injury.
Kentucky’s coaching staff has experience working with Freeman. UK assistant coach Mikhail McLean previously coached Freeman with the Bahamas national team when it attempted to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. Freeman — who was a five-star high school recruit and a McDonald’s All-American in 2024 — was born in the Bahamas before being raised in Washington, D.C.
According to 247Sports, Freeman is the No. 15 available player in the transfer portal.
Colorado forward Sebastian Rancik is another UK visitor
Kentucky could benefit from a rival school’s shift in transfer portal strategy.
Colorado sophomore forward Sebastian Rancik — a 6-11 big from Slovakia who averaged 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game this past season — was set to take a recruiting visit to Indiana this week. But the Hoosiers have recently added a glut of big men from the portal, led by Alabama sophomore forward Aiden Sherrell and SMU sophomore center Samet Yigitoglu.
So Rancik changed his plans. According to On3, Rancik cancelled his IU visit and replaced it with one to Kentucky.
Rancik is currently checking out Pope’s program before visiting BYU on Friday.
Rancik is a true stretch big, having made 33.1% of his 3-pointers this past season while attempting more than four per game. He was a regular starter for the Buffaloes, averaging 28.1 minutes. Rancik is ranked as the No. 97 portal player.
Other transfer portal developments have unfolded with the Wildcats.
Also visiting Kentucky this week is Furman freshman guard Alex Wilkins, who averaged 17.8 points and 4.7 assists per game during the 2025-26 season for the Paladins. Wilkins had 21 points in Furman’s first-round NCAA Tournament loss to eventual national runner-up UConn.
Wilkins is the No. 41 player in the portal rankings.
Kentucky target Terrence Brown — a junior guard at Utah who averaged 19.9 points per game this past season — is on a visit to Kansas. Brown also recently visited North Carolina.
UK remains in the mix to receive a visit from Colgate junior guard Jalen Cox, and the Cats continue to show interest in Yale sophomore forward Isaac Celiscar.
Late Tuesday night, potential Kentucky target Magoon Gwath made a surprise commitment to DePaul. Gwath, a 7-foot sophomore forward from San Diego State, also received transfer portal interest from Kentucky last year before opting to return to the Aztecs.
What’s happened to Arkansas in the NCAA transfer portal?
It’s worth catching up with old friend John Calipari as his Arkansas program makes some big transfer portal moves.
So far, the Razorbacks have picked up portal commitments from Furman junior forward Cooper Bowser and Georgia sophomore guard Jeremiah Wilkinson.
Both players will join the Hogs following productive seasons at their previous schools. Bowser averaged 13.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this past season for the Paladins. Those figures, along with an average of 29.6 minutes per contest, were all career bests. Bowser is the No. 183 player in the portal.
Wilkinson, who also received portal interest from Kentucky, is the Hogs’ top offseason addition so far. Wilkinson averaged 17.4 points per game for Georgia this past season, along with 1.6 steals. In two seasons — one at Cal and one at Georgia — Wilkinson has shot 34.1% on 7.1 3-point attempts per game. He likely will be the go-to scorer for Calipari’s team next season.
Arkansas freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. is expected to declare for this summer’s NBA draft after averaging 23.5 points per game during the 2025-26 season. Fellow freshman guard Meleek Thomas — who averaged 15.6 points per game while shooting 41.6% from 3-point range — has already declared for the draft while maintaining his college eligibility.
So far, three Arkansas players — freshman guard Karim Rtail, sophomore guard Karter Knox and junior guard D.J. Wagner — have entered the transfer portal.
Knox, who was a regular starter for the Hogs before suffering a season-ending meniscus injury, committed to Louisville on Wednesday morning. Knox averaged 8.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game for Arkansas this past season.
U of L has now received commitments out of the transfer portal from Kansas sophomore forward Flory Bidunga (No. 1 in the portal rankings), Oregon junior guard Jackson Shelstad (No. 17) and Knox (No. 58).
Wagner, who spent his freshman season playing for Calipari at Kentucky, is still in the portal after putting up career-low averages of 7.4 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game this past season. Rtail redshirted the 2025-26 season.
