Talent on the Move: A Former Top Recruit Leaves Kentucky and Enters Transfer Portal
The 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament will cap up the 2023–24 collegiate basketball season, but players and teams around the nation still need to figure out how to use the transfer portal, which went live on March 18.
A running list of the major names to access the transfer portal in the 2024 cycle may be found below.
Make sure to return for the most recent changes as this list is bound to expand over the next few days!
Kentucky PF/C Aaron Bradshaw
Bradshaw declared on social media that on April 8, he will be accessing the transfer portal. After John Calipari’s surprise move to Arkansas on April 7, he went from being the most recent in a long line of five-star signees to play for Kentucky to being the first player for the Wildcats to access the transfer portal. The 7-foot-1 Bradshaw was a McDonald’s All-American during his senior year of high school and was widely regarded as one of the top five recruits in the class of 2023. During his true freshman season, he averaged 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds while playing in 26 games, starting ten of them.
USC F Kobe Johnson to UCLA
After entering his name in the transfer portal on March 22, Johnson shared a picture of himself on social media on April 4 of himself dressed in a UCLA uniform. This season at USC, the 6-foot-6 junior guard averaged 10.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 steals. He was selected twice to the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team. Despite hitting 31% from three-point range and 40% from the field, he started 28 out of 31 games.
Utah G Rollie Worster
The next fifth-year senior Worster played his previous three seasons at Utah. This season, he averaged 9.9 points, 5.5 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. However, a leg injury ended his season after 16 games.
Wisconsin G AJ Storr
A year after transferring from St. John’s, Storr left Wisconsin. For the Badgers, he scored a team-high 16.8 points per game on average.
Kentucky G Adou Thiero
Following his sophomore campaign, in which he averaged 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game, Thiero made his way onto the portal.
After his first season, in which Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton was fired after seven seasons, Dailey went through the portal. This season, the rookie forward averaged 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
James Madison G Terrence Edwards
Edwards played his first four years of college ball for the Dukes, who made it to the NCAA Tournament’s second round this year. With a scoring average of 17.2 points per game, he topped James Madison. Nevertheless, Mark Byington, its head coach, departed soon after being dismissed to take a position as head coach at Vanderbilt.
Iowa F Patrick McCaffery
The university said on Wednesday that McCaffery, the son of Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery, had accessed the transfer site.
Patrick McCaffery started 60 of 123 games during his eligible year, leaving him with one year left. He averaged 8.9 points per game while starting the first half of the 2023–24 season. On Sunday, he scored a team-high 19 points in the Hawkeyes’ NIT loss to Utah.
Having spent his first three years in the program with his older brother, Connor, McCaffery is a redshirt this year. The 64-year-old Fran McCaffery declared last month that he has no intention of retiring. After graduating from Iowa last year, Connor McCaffery now plays for the Indiana Pacers in the NBA, but he still stays close to the university because he is dating Caitlin Clark, a standout player for the Hawkeyes women’s basketball team.
Pepperdine F Michael Ajayi to Gonzaga
Ajayi made his move from the Waves to Gonzaga, a rival in the West Coast Conference, known on Tuesday. The 6-foot-7 wing, who averaged 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, was named to the first team of the WCC. With an average of 47% from three-point range, he was also a fantastic threat from outside the area. After head coach Lorenzo Romar was fired, Ajayi spent one season at Pepperdine University before departing.
South Carolina G Meechie Johnson
Leading scorer Johnson was a part of a 2024 Gamecocks team that shocked many outside observers by qualifying for its first NCAA tournament in seven years. After playing his first two collegiate seasons at Ohio State, the Cleveland native returned to South Carolina where in his second year he averaged a team-high 14.1 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. In response to hearing about Johnson’s portal admission, the Buckeyes’ NIL collective sent a message on Monday that might allude to a reunion with new head coach Jake Diebler.
Rhode Island G Ray Allen III
The 6-foot-1 rookie guard, who scored two points in his lone game of action for the Rams last season, is the son of former NBA All-Star Ray Allen.
Louisville G Mike James
In 2023, James, who was born in Orlando, Florida, averaged 12.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. He is anticipated to be one of several Cardinals players to leave after head coach Kenny Payne was fired.
Providence PFs Rafael Castro and Donovan Santoro
In Kim English’s first season as head coach of Providence, neither Castro nor Santoro played significant minutes.
Louisville G Skyy Clark
After Payne left Louisville as previously reported, the native of Los Angeles has returned to the portal. Clark played for the Cardinals in 2023–24 and averaged 13.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game after spending his freshman year at Illinois.
Nebraska Gs Eli Rice and Ramel Lloyd Jr.
Soon after the Cornhuskers’ upset loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament ended, both backup guards are in the transfer portal. While Lloyd was out by injury for the whole season, Rice appeared in 17 games for Nebraska and averaged 4.2 points per contest.
Xavier Fs Abou Ousmane and Saša Ciani
After spending three seasons at North Texas, Ousmane averaged 6.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in his debut season at Xavier. During his rookie campaign, Ciani averaged 2.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game for Sean Miller’s team.
Former Virginia Tech G Rodney Rice to Maryland
The guard is returning up north to Maryland to play closer to home. He did not play for the Hokies over the first eight games of his freshman campaign.
New Mexico G Jamal Mashburn Jr.
After following Pitino from Minnesota via the transfer portal, the son and namesake of Kentucky star Jamal Mashburn played a significant role in Richard Pitino’s Lobos teams over the previous three seasons, averaging 18.2, 19.1, and 14.1 points per game. He now rises to the rank of one of the best guards in the current portal.
Penn State G Jameel Brown
Throughout the course of the Nittany Lions’ 27 games this season, Brown averaged 10.1 minutes per game and 4.0 points.
Wisconsin G Connor Essegian
In 2022–2023 Essegian was selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team, but in his second season with the Badgers, he only averaged 7.3 minutes and 3.2 points per game.
Stanford G/F Andrej Stojaković
Like his father, the former five-star recruit and NBA great Peja Stojaković’s son is renowned for being a prolific shooter. During the previous season, Stojaković averaged 7.8 points per game for the Cardinals as a rookie.
Michigan G Dug McDaniel
Following the firing of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard at the conclusion of the team’s miserable 2022–23 season, McDaniel—a former four-star class of 2022 recruit who led the Wolverines in scoring this past season—became the first significant player to register on the transfer portal. McDaniel averaged 3.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 16.3 points per game. McDaniel is a native of the Washington, D.C., area, thus hometown universities like Georgetown and Maryland are likely to show interest in him.
Cal G Devin Askew
Askew, who still has two years of eligibility left, plans to play for his fourth college team. Prior to suffering a sports hernia injury that ended the season in January 2023, he averaged 15.5 points per game the year before, however he missed the most of the previous season due to a foot injury. Askew spent one season apiece as a player at Texas and Kentucky before that.