Kentucky Wildcats pursue Syracuse transfer as potential solution in portal
The Kentucky Wildcats will be busy in the transfer portal this offseason. That’s how modern college basketball works.
One player they might pursue is a steadying presence from the Syracuse Orange.
Kentucky reporter Wyatt Huff wrote on X that the Wildcats are “expected to be involved” with SU point guard Nait George, whose intention to enter the transfer portal was reported a few days earlier.
George is a 6-foot-3 point guard from Canada.
He just played his first season at Syracuse after two collegiate seasons elsewhere in the ACC at Georgia Tech.
In 2024-25, George led the ACC with 6.5 assists per game and also averaged 12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.
This season for Syracuse, George put up 10.9 points, 5.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
His outside shooting has left a bit to be desired in his college career, at just 31.8% from 3-point range.
Still, George can lead a team as a floor general, and with talent around him, he probably can be a winning player.
Kentucky will surely pursue other point guards, too, but the early inkling of a George pursuit suggests that he might be a priority.
All the moving parts in college basketball can make it tough to keep up, but Kentucky is going to do its best to have an improved roster for next season.
Syracuse guard Naithan George plans to enter NCAA transfer portal
Syracuse guard Naithan George plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, per CBS Sports’ Dushawn Lundon. George averaged 10.9 points, 5.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds for the Orange this past season.
The 2025-26 season was his first at Syracuse after spending his first two years in college at Georgia Tech. He’s been productive in all three years of his college career, averaging 11.1 points per game during his career and has started in 94 of the 95 games he’s appeared in.
His best performance at Syracuse came during the regular season finale. He scored 26 points, hauled in six rebounds and four blocks in an overtime loss vs. Pitt. He scored over 20 points on three occasions and was the team’s best passer with six games seeing him record 10 or more assists in a single game.
Syracuse went on to finish the year with a 15-17 record to go along with a 6-12 record against the ACC. It was the third season for Syracuse under Adrian Autry, who was fired after the season. Autry brought White into the program, so his portal entry isn’t entirely unexpected.
In his three seasons, the Orange missed the postseason every year. Syracuse hasn’t been back to the NCAA Tournament since the 2020-21 season.
They’ve since hired Siena coach Gerry McNamara, who played at Syracuse from 2002-2006 and was teammates with Carmelo Anthony on the Syracuse national championship team in 2003. McNamara’s Saints nearly upset Duke in the NCAA Tournament, firmly putting him on the radar for a job at a higher level.
As for George, before college he was a four-star recruit in the 2023 class. He was the No. 108 overall player and 21st-ranked shooting guard in his cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.
