When Mark Pope accepted the job at Kentucky last offseason, he entered a situation where the Wildcats had zero returning scholarship players on their roster for the 2024-25 season after John Calipari took the vacant job at Arkansas. Pope got to work quickly and built his roster primarily via the transfer portal, which resulted in UK reaching the Sweet 16 in Year 1 of his tenure.
Year 2 for Pope and his staff should be less chaotic than last spring, but this is still a critical offseason for him and his staff as Kentucky looks to make another deep run in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky made one of the biggest splashes in the transfer portal earlier this month by adding former five-star big man Jayden Quaintance via the transfer portal. Quaintance was previously committed to Kentucky, but he backed off that pledge shortly after Calipari’s exit.
Quaintance played last season at Arizona State and is a projected top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Jayden Quaintance commits to Kentucky: Wildcats add key piece in projected top-five 2026 NBA Draft pick
Cameron Salerno
All eyes will be on star guard Otega Oweh during the next month. Oweh declared for the 2025 NBA Draft earlier this week but will maintain his college eligibility. Oweh transferred last spring from Oklahoma to UK and was one of Pope’s best players during the 2024-25 campaign.
CBS Sports is tracking the status of the Kentucky roster and recruiting class in real time. Here’s where every current Kentucky player and commit currently stand.
Incoming transfers
Jayden Quaintance | F/C | Fr. (Transfer from Arizona State)
GP: 24 | PPG: 9.4 | RPG: 7.9 | APG: 1.5
Quaintance originally committed to Kentucky to play for John…
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