After the misfortune that has befallen the Kentucky Wildcats over the past two college basketball seasons, there was a clear priority going into Mark Pope’s latest foray into transfer portal recruiting.
The Cats must land a point guard, and he better be a good one.
Pope doesn’t necessarily require one of the highest-ranked playmakers in the 2026 portal class, but getting a commitment from a player capable of running the show for a Final Four contender was at the top of the UK coach’s to-do list going into the offseason.
Year 1 on the job featured backup point guard Kerr Kriisa’s season-ending injury in December and shoulder issues that plagued starter Lamont Butler’s productivity in the postseason. Year 2 was hampered by the preseason injury to Jaland Lowe — and an offseason decommitment from Acaden Lewis — that left the Cats short-handed once again.
Everyone who followed Kentucky basketball over the past two years knew exactly what Pope would need heading into this offseason, with Lowe hitting the portal once again and no point guards among the Cats’ potential returnees.
The Kentucky coach has already cast a wide net at the position. Here’s where Kentucky stands with some major names as the first full week of portal madness begins.
Given the urgency to find a quality point guard this spring, it should have come as no surprise that a player at that position would be the first transfer to visit Lexington.
Washington point guard Zoom Diallo was in town starting Friday, the first day since the portal opened that recruits were allowed to take campus visits. The timing of Diallo’s trip, along with the chatter behind the scenes, suggests that he is at the top of Kentucky’s recruiting board and a player who Pope would like to secure a commitment from as soon as possible.
As of Sunday morning, that commitment hadn’t come yet, and Diallo’s situation will be worth monitoring in the coming days. The further removed he gets from the trip to Lexington without announcing a commitment, the less likely the Cats will be to land him.
Arizona, a Final Four team this past season, also looms large as a contender for Diallo, who could still take a visit to Tucson in the coming days. UK’s staff will hope it can secure a commitment from the 6-foot-4 guard from Tacoma, Washington before that happens.
Diallo isn’t the highest-rated point guard in the portal — though he’s still ranked No. 25 overall, regardless of position, on the 247Sports board — but he could be a great fit for Pope’s system.
The 20-year-old had assist and turnover metrics as a sophomore last season that were even better than Lamont Butler’s numbers as a fifth-year senior at Kentucky, and Diallo would project as a more impactful offensive player than Butler was in his one season under Pope.
Diallo’s across-the-board shooting numbers are also better, despite hitting just 31.5% on 73 3-point attempts this past season. He was an 82.5% free throw shooter as a sophomore, and some underlying metrics appear to show a player who can continue to improve from the perimeter.
He likely wouldn’t be as effective defensively as Butler, who was one of the best perimeter defenders in the country, but Diallo wouldn’t be a liability on that side of the ball either.
Diallo’s ability to smoothly run Kentucky’s offense from a playmaking perspective is a big draw, and he should be able to thrive offensively — as a passer, finisher at the rim, mid-range scorer and possibly even 3-point shooter — if Pope can put quality talent around him.
But Kentucky will need to land his commitment first, of course.
One of the first point guards linked to Kentucky when the portal opened Tuesday morning was LSU’s Dedan Thomas Jr., who is ranked as the No. 15 overall player in the portal by 247Sports.
There had been consistent contact between UK and Thomas over the past few days, but no visit dates were yet, and Houston landed his commitment Saturday afternoon.
Thomas, who was also a UK target in the portal last year, averaged 15.3 points and 6.5 assists per game as a junior for the Tigers this past season, but he made his final appearance on Jan. 28 and missed the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign with a foot injury. He had surgery in February.
One interesting wrinkle to Kentucky’s brief pursuit of Thomas is that the Cats have been flirting with the possibility of landing two-starter level point guards in this year’s portal class, and one potential scenario could have been Diallo and Thomas in the same backcourt.
That obviously isn’t happening now, with Thomas headed elsewhere, but Kentucky will continue to pursue talented playmakers as Pope keeps searching for more “creators” heading into next season.
UK does have a commitment from four-star high school recruit Mason Williams to add some depth at the point guard spot, but after Pope has been burned at the position two years in a row, he’ll take as much help as he can get for next season.
Another playmaker linked to Kentucky in recent days has been BYU’s Rob Wright, who ended the first week of portal activity as the No. 1-ranked player at that position and the only point guard transfer on the 247Sports board with a five-star designation.
Wright is now scheduled to visit Lexington on Monday, but there’s a lot going on in his recruitment. A return to BYU is still a possibility, and the Cougars have already landed former UK guard Collin Chandler — presumably their starting 2 next season — to go along with 6-7 wing Bruce Branch III, a top-10 recruit in the 2026 high school class.
St. John’s is also making Wright a major part of its offseason plans after Rick Pitino’s program struggled to bring in a high-level point guard for the 2025-26 campaign. Ohio State, which made a major push in the opening days of the portal, and Arkansas are others that could still be in the mix for Wright, who is No. 4 overall in the 247Sports rankings.
The only players ranked ahead of him as of Sunday morning were Kansas center Flory Bidunga, Wisconsin shooting guard John Blackwell and Arizona State center Massamba Diop, though those rankings will continue to be updated regularly and will likely see a shakeup at the top as recent entries like Santa Clara’s Allen Graves — a UK target — are added to the list.
The timing of Wright’s visit — a day after Diallo wrapped up his trip to Lexington — is interesting, and the 6-1 point guard is going to be one of the most-watched players in the portal over the next few days.
It’s also worth noting that Pope will be hosting No. 1 high school prospect Tyran Stokes for a visit starting Monday, and Kentucky is holding back the necessary NIL and revenue-sharing funds in case it can land the game-changing recruit. Wright is likely to be one of the priciest transfers in the country this offseason, and while UK definitely has the resources to sign both players, doing so could limit some moves elsewhere across the positional spectrum.
Diallo goes into the week as the top name to watch for Kentucky’s point guard recruiting purposes, but there are plenty of playmakers that have been linked to the Wildcats or are worth keeping an eye on for other reasons.
This story was originally published April 12, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
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