Kentucky basketball misses out on a top transfer portal target
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- BYU sophomore po
- BYU sophomore point guard Rob Wright III will remain with the Cougars for 2026-27 season.
- Wright took a recruiting visit to Kentucky out of the NCAA transfer portal.
NOTE: On Wednesday night, Kentucky picked up a transfer portal commitment from Washington sophomore point guard Zoom Diallo.
Kentucky basketball was dealt a transfer portal recruiting blow Wednesday when BYU sophomore guard Robert Wright III announced he will return to the Cougars for the 2026-27 season.
Jon Rothstein was the first to report Wright’s return to the Cougars.
Wright — who averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for BYU during the 2025-26 season — took a recruiting visit to Kentucky earlier this week.
Wright was the top-ranked point guard in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports. That service ranked Wright as the No. 6 overall portal player.
A 6-foot-1 floor general who is originally from Delaware, Wright began his college career at Baylor before transferring to BYU last year.
Point guard is a priority position for Kentucky this offseason. Mark Pope’s program has struggled with injuries and depth at point guard during the past two seasons.
In the 2024-25 season, UK starting point guard Lamont Butler was limited due to a shoulder injury. Butler’s backup, Kerr Kriisa, only played in nine games for the Wildcats before suffering a season-ending foot injury.
This past season, Kentucky again experienced issues at point guard. Jaland Lowe only appeared in nine games due to a series of shoulder injuries that led to season-ending surgery. Jasper Johnson struggled in a backup role during his first season of college basketball.
Lowe and Johnson both entered the transfer portal this offseason. Lowe has committed to Georgetown, while Alabama and Missouri are the schools with the most buzz for Johnson.
UK expected to have strong point guard depth this past season, but two key offseason decisions changed that. Travis Perry was a late entrant from Kentucky into the NCAA transfer portal last year. A few weeks before that, high school signee Acaden Lewis decommitted from UK.
That context — along with Wright’s profile as a dynamic playmaker — heightened interest in UK’s transfer portal pursuit of Wright.
Kentucky had momentum with Wright — who entered the transfer portal April 8 — ahead of his visit to Lexington. Wright was on campus at the same time as Tyran Stokes, the top high school prospect in the 2026 recruiting class who is still uncommitted.
In a Wednesday morning recruiting update, 247Sports’ Travis Branham classified a return to BYU as the leading option for Wright following his visit to Pope’s program. That came to fruition Wednesday afternoon.
Wright is now set to play a leading role for the Cougars next season alongside incoming five-star high school recruit Bruce Branch III and former UK player Collin Chandler, who committed to BYU over the weekend out of the transfer portal.
Prior to Wright, Kentucky hosted another transfer portal point guard for a recruiting visit. That was Washington sophomore Zoom Diallo, who averaged 15.7 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Huskies during the 2025-26 season. Diallo is ranked as the No. 27 overall portal player and as the eighth-best point guard in the portal.
Kentucky is still without a commitment from the transfer portal this offseason.
UK currently projects to have six players on its roster for next season.
Those players are incoming 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.
Mason is Kentucky’s only class of 2026 commitment. The signing period is underway, which means Mason can sign paperwork that ties him to the UK program. His father is new Kentucky assistant coach Mo Williams.
Hawthorne and Potter both redshirted the 2025-26 season. Hawthorne is expected to remain with the Cats for the 2026-27 season.
Moreno has entered his name into the 2026 NBA draft, but he’s announced that if he’s playing college basketball next season it will be for Kentucky.
Kam, Noah and Potter have all announced their returns to the UK program.
This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 12:32 PM.
