Kentucky Basketball Roster Tracker: Collin Chandler joins while Ugo, Big Z and DJ leave
The coaching carousel spinning has quickly led to a roster reset for Kentucky with Mark Pope taking over the program. John Calipari’s departure has forced every obvious player to back out of the Wildcats’ 2024 recruiting class, Travis Perry remaining as the lone signee while Karter Knox, Jayden Quaintance, Somto Cyril, Boogie Fland and Billy Richmond have made themselves available.
Coach Cal’s move to Arkansas has also shaken up the trajectory of stay/go decisions for players on this past roster, led by Zvonimir Ivisic’s flip to the Razorbacks to open the week after entering the portal. DJ Wagner has decided to explore his options, as well, joining former teammates Adou Thiero and Joey Hart as available portal pieces.
Joining Ivisic in the committed category? Aaron Bradshaw, who will not be following Calipari to Fayetteville and will instead be an Ohio State Buckeye under Jake Diebler. He announced his commitment on Monday after entering the portal on April 8. Ugonna Onyenso also committed himself to the NBA, announcing he will be entering the draft with no intention of returning to Kentucky or entering the portal for his junior campaign.
“I’m not thinking about coming back to play college basketball,” he said. “I’m 100% focused on the NBA.”
And then came Pope’s first addition at Kentucky in 2022 four-star guard Collin Chandler, a consensus top-40 prospect coming off a two-year mission and set to play his freshman season of college basketball in 2024-25. He’s a dynamic scoring athlete with two-way potential, an immediate plug-and-play threat for the Wildcats. Not a bad place to start when building a roster.
Perry should also be penciled in among roster pieces — Pope did single him out in his introductory press conference, after all. The new head coach had the state’s all-time leading scorer stand up in front of the jam-packed Rupp Arena crowd, where he received an overwhelming ovation.
“There is a good chance he will not jump into the portal,” Pope joked.
Still plenty to play out, but roster clarity is finally coming.
GONE (GRADUATED/NBA DRAFT): Antonio Reeves, Tre Mitchell, Justin Edwards, Rob Dillingham, Ugonna Onyenso
TRANSFER PORTAL: Adou Thiero*, Aaron Bradshaw*, Joey Hart, Zvonimir Ivisic, DJ Wagner
UNDECIDED: Jordan Burks, Reed Sheppard
* Also testing NBA Draft waters
IMPORTANT DATES
April 27: NBA Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (11:59 p.m. ET)
May 1: Transfer Portal Closes
May 12: NBA Draft Lottery
May 13-19: NBA Combine
May 29: NCAA early entrant withdrawal deadline (11:59 pm ET)
June 16: NBA Draft Early Entry Entrant Withdrawal Deadline (5 p.m. ET)
June 26: NBA Draft 2024 First Round
June 27: NBA Draft 2024 Second Round
UPDATES
April 16: Oklahoma’s Otega Oweh hears from Kentucky
Pope reached out to Oweh this week, according to KSR+’s Jacob Polacheck
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound combo guard averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 rebounds, playing in 32 games for Oklahoma as a sophomore in 2023-24
He started in 28 games and averaged 24.8 minutes per contest
Oweh is set to visit Oregon on April 19 and Texas A&M on April 23
April 16: Pope reaches out to Stanford’s Andrej Stojakovic
The son of former NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic has heard from Kentucky, he told KSR+’s Jacob Polacheck
Stojakovic averaged 7.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 40.9% from the field and 32.7% from three as a freshman at Stanford
He is currently scheduled to visit Cal this weekend
April 16: Collin Chandler commits to Kentucky
The 6-4 scorer is rated as the No. 34 overall prospect and No. 6 combo guard in the final 2022 On3 Player Rankings
Chandler spent two years on mission ahead of his college basketball debut in 2024-25
2022 Utah Gatorade Player of the Year, averaged 21.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals as a senior in high school
Committed to BYU over Arizona, Gonzaga, Oregon, Stanford and Utah, among others
April 15: Ugonna Onyenso declares for the NBA Draft
“I’m ready to go to the next level,” Onyenso told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. “I’m not thinking about coming back to play college basketball. I’m 100% focused on the NBA.”
Onyenso averaged 3.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in 19 minutes per contest this past season
The 7-foot center is the No. 47 overall prospect in ESPN’s list of best available draft prospects
He signed with an agent, but did not officially shut the door for a return to college, despite making it clear he has no interest in coming back to school
April 15: Zvonimir Ivisic transfers to Arkansas
“I made the lifetime decision to come to college for a few reasons,” Ivisic announced. “Main one’s to win a national championship and go to the NBA. Monumental part of that decision was Coach Cal, and no one does both of those at the same time than him. That’s why I am excited to announce that I am committing to Coach Cal and the Arkansas Razorbacks!”
Ivisic racked up 15 total appearances in Lexington, averaging 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 57.7% from the field and 37.5% from three.
April 15: Aaron Bradshaw commits to Ohio State
Bradshaw took an official visit to Columbus over the weekend and announced his commitment to open the week on Monday.
The former top-five recruit was the first portal entry for the Wildcats to commit elsewhere
He originally entered the transfer portal on April 8 while also testing the draft waters
The 7-foot-1 freshman averaged 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game this season while shooting 57.6% from the field.
April 15: DJ Wagner enters transfer portal
The 6-foot-3 former five-star recruit averaged 9.9 points, 3.3 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game for Kentucky this past season
247Sports’ Travis Branham says Wagner will consider a return to Kentucky and meet with Mark Pope while also considering entering the 2024 NBA Draft
April 15: Northern Illinois transfer David Coit hears from the Wildcats
Kentucky joins TCU, Louisville, Utah, Washington State and Oregon State as schools to reach out, according to The Portal Report
Averaged 20.8 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game
40.7% FG, 33.7% 3PT, 88.5% FT
April 15: TCU’s JaKobe Coles speaks to Kentucky
UK joins SMU, Auburn, Grand Canyon and Mississippi State as schools to reach out, according to Tobias Bass of The Athletic
Averaged 10.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in 2023-24
April 14: Kentucky schedules visit with Drexel transfer Amari Williams
The 6-10, 265-pound forward will make the trip to Lexington from April 21-22
Williams is a three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-CAA member in 2023-24
He averaged 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.8 blocks in 22.9 minutes per game as a senior, shooting 51.7% from the field and 65.5% at the line
He is considered the 18th-best available player in the On3 Industry Transfer Portal Rankings and will have one year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer
April 14: BYU’s Aly Khalifa cuts list to three, includes Kentucky
The 6-11, 270-pound center out of Alexandria, Egypt announced three finalists on Sunday: Kentucky, Louisville and BYU
Khalifa averaged 5.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game on 38.6/31.5/62.1 shooting splits
He is considered one of the top playmaking bigs in college basketball and a staple of Pope’s offense in Provo
Originally entered portal on April 12 with a ‘do not contact’ tag
April 14: Kentucky reaches out to Oklahoma State transfer Javon Small
Kansas, Miami, Indiana, Texas and Louisville are other schools with mutual interest, sources tell KSR
Averaged 15.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 4.1 APG, shooting 44% overall last season
Set to take official visit to Miami this week
April 12: BYU’s Jaxson Robinson becomes name to know for Kentucky
The 6-7 guard averaged a team-high 14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 26.4 minutes per outing.
He shot 42.6 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from deep (6.9 attempts per game), and 90.8 percent from the free throw line.
KSR has learned Robinson is a potential portal addition with Kentucky seen as the likely destination should he enter, following Pope to Lexington
April 9: Rob Dillingham enters the NBA Draft, forgoes remaining eligibility
Dillingham’s time in Lexington comes to a close with a season average of 15.2 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47.5% from the field and 44.4% from three.
He is currently the No. 4 overall prospect in ESPN’s list of best-available players in the 2024 draft
April 8: Joey Hart enters the transfer portal
The 6-5 sharpshooter out of Linton, IN plans to transfer as a redshirt freshman after playing just ten minutes in his debut season as a Wildcat.
He scored three points in Lexington — a made 3-pointer in Kentucky’s win over Marshall back on November 24.
April 4: Justin Edwards enters the NBA Draft
The former five-star wing becomes the first player to forgo his time at Kentucky and enter the NBA Draft
He is currently rated as the No. 30 overall prospect in ESPN’s list of best available players in the draft pool, good for third on the team behind Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard
March 28: Adou Thiero enters transfer portal, will test NBA Draft Waters
Pitt, Miami, Arizona, Oregon, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Indiana, Xavier, NC State, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Creighton, Richmond, Georgia, UCSB, Penn State, Mizzou, DePaul, Georgetown, Ole Miss and Duquesne are among the schools to reach out to the sophomore wing, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello
Thiero, who averaged 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as a sophomore
In ESPN’s first 2025 NBA mock draft, Jonathan Givony included Thiero at No. 27 overall
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