Another busy day for Kentucky basketball in the NCAA transfer portal is in the books.
More than 1,700 players have now entered their names in the portal, which officially opened Tuesday and closes for new entrants April 21.
Mark Pope’s program is in the market for several game-changing players this offseason, and conversations are ongoing between the Wildcats and potential transfer portal fits.
Coaches aren’t allowed to meet with portal players off campus and/or host them for official visits until Friday, but that date is fast approaching.
In the meantime, the Cats are staying busy with their portal activity.
Virginia Tech freshman wing Neoklis Avdalas, right, averaged 12.1 points and 4.6 assists per game for the Hokies this past season. Ryan Hunt Getty Images
UK basketball makes contact with new transfer portal recruits
After entering the portal Tuesday, Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman is officially a name to watch for the Wildcats.
The 6-foot-9 Freeman started 34 games over the past two seasons for the Orange. He’s averaged 15.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest for his college career.
A former five-star recruit and 2024 McDonald’s All-American, Freeman has previous ties to the Kentucky coaching staff.
Freeman — who was born in the Bahamas before being raised in Washington, D.C. — played for the Bahamas national team when it attempted to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. UK assistant coach Mikhail McLean was part of the Bahamas’ coaching staff during that period.
Freeman, who turns 21 years old in August, has been in contact with the Cats. 247Sports ranked him the No. 13 available player in the transfer portal as of Thursday morning.
UK’s interest in Freeman comes after juniors Brandon Garrison and Mouhamed Dioubate, as well as sophomore Andrija Jelavic, all entered their names into the portal from this past season’s team.
Virginia Tech’s Neoklis Avdalas, a big freshman wing from Greece, is another portal target who’s emerged for the Wildcats.
Avdalas started 31 games for the Hokies this past season, averaging 12.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per contest while making 31.4% of his 3-pointers on five attempts per game. Avdalas also led Virginia Tech with 31.7 minutes played per game.
Despite the obvious playmaking potential that Avdalas boasts, he was inefficient as a scorer during his freshman year. Avdalas shot just 38.6% from the field and 67.3% from the free-throw line.
Along with Kentucky, Texas and Michigan are also expected to be involved in Avdalas’ portal recruitment. Avdalas is the No. 19 player in the portal rankings.
Sticking with high-scoring freshmen, Kentucky is also reportedly in the mix for Colorado’s Isaiah Johnson, a 6-1 guard who averaged 16.9 points per game this past season.
Johnson started 15 of his 32 appearances for the Buffaloes in the 2025-26 season. He led Colorado in scoring while also adding 3.0 assists, 2.9 rebounds and a steal per game.
Efficiency isn’t a concern for Johnson, who shot 48.6% from the field, 37.8% from 3-point range and 82.1% from the foul line. Along with UK, prominent high majors such as Kansas, Ohio State and UCLA are expected to be involved with Johnson, who is a Los Angeles native and only a three-star high school recruit. As a portal prospect, Johnson is ranked as the No. 11 available transfer.
Kentucky basketball transfer portal target DeSean Goode began his college career at IU Indianapolis before spending his sophomore season at Robert Morris. Dylan Buell Getty Images
Pope is also perusing the mid-major ranks for potential offseason additions.
The leading name to know from this group is Robert Morris sophomore forward DeSean Goode.
A 6-8 native of West Virginia, Goode began his college career at IU Indianapolis before exploding as a sophomore at Robert Morris. Goode averaged 15.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this past season for the Colonials.
Goode connected on an eye-popping 57.1% of his 3-point tries as a sophomore, although he averaged fewer than two attempts per game from deep. Goode, who also shot 62.9% from the field this past season, is expected to have a long line of high-major schools interested in him. Goode is ranked as the No. 61 player in the portal.
UK has also been in contact with a standout player from the Ivy League.
The Wildcats have touched base with Yale sophomore forward Isaac Celiscar, who averaged 13.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Bulldogs this past season. The 6-6 Celiscar started all 31 of Yale’s games and connected on 40.7% of his 1.9 3-point attempts per game as the Bulldogs won their second straight Ivy League regular season championship.
According to 247Sports, Celiscar — who is ranked as the No. 87 available player in the portal — has been in contact with the likes of Baylor, Georgetown, Missouri, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Texas A&M, among others, in addition to Kentucky.
Robert Wright III (1) has entered the NCAA transfer portal after a standout season at BYU. Soobum Im Getty Images
Potential Kentucky target Robert Wright III enters portal
A potential point guard option for Kentucky entered the transfer portal Tuesday.
That player is 6-foot-1 floor general Robert Wright III, who has two years of college experience at Baylor and BYU. This past season with the Cougars, Wright averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Wright — who shot 41% from 3-point range for the Cougars on four attempts per game and led BYU with 34.8 minutes played per game — was an All-Big 12 Third Team selection. He’s ranked as the No. 4 overall portal player and the top point guard in the portal.
Prior to his year at BYU, Wright was a Big 12 All-Freshman Team selection at Baylor. He averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists per game for the Bears during the 2024-25 season.
Wright, who previously said he would return to BYU if he was to play college basketball next season, projects as an ideal point guard option for Kentucky.
Wright boasts significant experience playing alongside talented teammates. At BYU, Wright shared the floor with freshman star AJ Dybantsa, who could be the top pick in this summer’s NBA draft. In high school, Wright was teammates at Montverde Academy in Florida with Cooper Flagg, the former Duke freshman phenom who went first overall in the 2025 NBA draft.
Kentucky had been connected to Wright even before he officially entered the portal Wednesday afternoon.
The Wildcats are in search of a starting point guard from the portal. Junior Jaland Lowe and freshman Jasper Johnson each has entered the portal from this past season’s Kentucky team.
UK would also stand to benefit from Wright’s scoring pop. The Wildcats need to replace leading scorers Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen and Collin Chandler. Oweh and Aberdeen were both seniors this past season. Oweh is heading to the professional ranks, while Aberdeen is seeking an extra year of eligibility and entered his name into the portal early Tuesday.
Chandler entered his name into the portal Wednesday night with a “do not contact” tag.
Kentucky’s lone class of 2026 commitment, Mason Williams, is ranked as a four-star point guard by 247Sports. Williams projects as a depth piece for the Wildcats for next season.
Former Kentucky guard Jaland Lowe has entered his name in the transfer portal after an injury-plagued season with the Wildcats. Ryan C. Hermens [email protected]
Where will Jaland Lowe, Jasper Johnson transfer?
So far, seven players from the 2025-26 UK basketball team are planning to transfer to other schools this offseason: Aberdeen (who needs a waiver from the NCAA to play a fifth college season), Chandler, Dioubate, Garrison, Lowe, Jelavic and Johnson.
Suitors are beginning to emerge for some of those players.
Chandler is being linked to BYU. He initially committed to the Cougars out of high school when Pope led the BYU program. Chandler served a two-year Mormon mission before his college career began, and he flipped from BYU to UK after Pope became Kentucky’s coach in April 2024.
According to 247Sports, LSU and Texas A&M are two programs to watch for Lowe, who played in only nine games this past season for Kentucky before undergoing a season-ending surgery on his right shoulder. Lowe began his college career with two productive seasons at Pittsburgh but is originally from near Houston.
Lowe is ranked as the No. 43 available transfer in the portal.
247Sports also reports Alabama is the favorite to land Johnson from the portal. The Crimson Tide were also heavily involved in Johnson’s high school recruitment. Johnson is a former Kentucky prep basketball star at Woodford County. He played his junior high school season at Link Academy in Missouri and his senior year in the Overtime Elite system in Atlanta.
Following a difficult freshman season at UK, Johnson is ranked as the No. 136 available transfer.
Cameron Drummond
Lexington Herald-Leader
Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas.
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