The NCAA transfer portal is no longer accepting new entries, with Tuesday night marking the deadline for players who want to switch schools for the 2026-27 season. Over 2,500 athletes entered before the cutoff, including some notable late additions like Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou. A few more names may appear over the next two days as entries are processed, and commitments from transferred players will continue rolling out in the coming weeks. That’s a positive sign for Mark Pope, since his Kentucky team still needs significant talent. Following Tuesday’s addition of Zyon Hawthorne brother of returning UK player Braydon Hawthorne—the Wildcats’ projected roster for 2026-27 sits at just nine players.
Kentucky is pursuing both starters and depth from the portal, as well as through high school and international recruiting. That effort continues Wednesday with two portal players visiting Lexington: James Madison junior forward Justin McBride and Southern California junior center Gabe Dynes. McBride, a 6-foot-7 frontcourt player who also played at Oklahoma State and Nevada, averaged 15.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists this past season, shooting 40.0% from three on 3.1 attempts per game. After mostly coming off the bench at his previous stops, he started 30 of 33 games for James Madison. Ranked No. 203 in the portal by 247Sports, McBride played for coach Preston Spradlin—a former Morehead State head coach who spent five years on John Calipari’s Kentucky staff from 2009 to 2014 as a graduate assistant and director of operations.
Dynes, a Northern Kentucky native and former Simon Kenton standout, is a 7-foot-5 center. He played two seasons at Youngstown State—earning Horizon League All-Defensive Team honors both years before spending his junior year at USC. As a sophomore at Youngstown State, he led the nation with 104 blocks. This past season with the Trojans, he averaged 2.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. Though unranked by 247Sports among top portal players, Dynes would become the tallest player in Kentucky basketball history if he commits, according to Big Blue History. Kentucky is also set to host Washington State junior guard Jerone Morton on Friday; Morton began his college career at Morehead State and starred locally at George Rogers Clark.
Former UK portal target Terrence Brown, a Utah junior guard, was expected to visit Kentucky last Friday, but On3 reported the visit was postponed due to a family matter. That visit will not be rescheduled, as Brown committed to North Carolina on Tuesday. The 6-foot-3 Brown averaged 19.9 points and 3.8 assists per game for the Utes and is ranked No. 44 in the portal by 247Sports. He will join Michael Malone’s first North Carolina squad, which also secured a commitment from Virginia Tech freshman guard Neoklis Avdalas (No. 21 in the portal), who averaged 12.1 points and 4.6 assists. Avdalas had drawn early portal interest from Kentucky.
As for former Kentucky players, at the start of the 2025-26 season, 13 ex-Cats were playing college ball elsewhere. Some like Ugonna Onyenso and Kerr Kriisa—ended their college careers this past season and appear headed for professional opportunities. Others, such as Jordan Burks (UCF) and Zvonimir Ivišić (Illinois), are staying at their current schools. However, four ex-Cats entered the portal this offseason, with two already announcing new destinations. Travis Perry, who played for Pope at Kentucky in 2024-25 and spent one season at Ole Miss (averaging 5.3 points, 35.3% from three), has committed to Dayton for 2026-27. D.J. Wagner, Kentucky’s starting point guard in Calipari’s final season (2023-24) who followed Calipari to Arkansas for two years, is transferring from Arkansas to Maryland for his senior year after averaging 7.4 points and 2.4 assists as a junior.
Devin Askew and Aaron Bradshaw both entered the portal this week and have yet to commit. Askew, who has played six college seasons (Kentucky, Texas, California, Long Beach State, and most recently Villanova), is seeking a seventh. This past season at Villanova, he averaged 9.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in a reserve role, shooting 40.6% from three. His two seasons at Cal were shortened by injury. Bradshaw, a former five-star recruit in 2023, has played for three schools in three years: Kentucky, Ohio State (sophomore), and Memphis (junior), where he averaged 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds this past season. This summary does not include the seven members of the 2025-26 Kentucky team Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Mouhamed Dioubate, Brandon Garrison, Andrija Jelavic, Jasper Johnson, and Jaland Lowe who entered the portal recently and have all committed to new schools.
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