Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
Kentucky had seemingly made some headway in the transfer portal.
The portal window followed what was largely a disappointing season where a $22 million roster resulted in one NCAA tournament win and a lot of disappointing losses.
Mark Pope promised good news when he first took over as head coach. More than a year later, Kentucky is still waiting.
Two days after getting a verbal pledge from the No. 5 ranked player in the transfer portal Rob Wright, he changed his mind. The BYU transfer decommitted from Kentucky and is now considering pulling his name out of the transfer portal.
BREAKING: BYU star guard Rob Wright III
will return to BYU for his junior season, source tells @247SportsWright averaged 18.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists.
Wright is ranked as the No. 1 point guard in the transfer portal.https://t.co/EWzeaSN1vX pic.twitter.com/hyEas6jBxT
— Dushawn London (@DushawnLondon1) April 15, 2026
Wright wasn’t just the highest ranked player at his position, he was the highest ranked player that committed to an SEC school. Wright was also Kentucky’s only commitment.
There are signs every year that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and the last year and a half of Kentucky basketball may be the best example. A restless fanbase that grew tired of not winning it all decided that feeling was somehow worse than not winning at all. John Calipari was forced out after over a decade of service and postseason shortcomings.
Kentucky powers that be traded that for offseason shortcomings. Now they’re not only not winning national championships, they currently haven’t won a single offseason portal recruiting battle.
How bad is it? Kentucky has lost eight players to the portal and brought in none. Their team ranking on On3 is 77th in the country – out of 77 teams.
The disappointment continues.
More SEC News
