LEXINGTON — After assuming the reins of his alma mater, coach Mark Pope had to build the Kentucky basketball roster from scratch. The dozen scholarship players who were part of the 2023-24 team? All of them left. Some because their college eligibility was up. Others departed for the NBA draft or transfer portal.

Pope shouldn’t have quite as much heavy lifting heading into Year 2.

That’s because four players could return from last season.

Three already have publicly stated they’ll be back: Forward Brandon Garrison announced April 12 he’d return for his junior season, with rising sophomores Collin Chandler and Trent Noah doing the same April 17 and April 18, respectively. UK now is awaiting a decision from leading scorer Otega Oweh, who is going through the NBA draft process but could return to college.

The Wildcats have signed two high school prospects in the 2025 recruiting cycle — which had been three before four-star guard Acaden Lewis decommitted April 10. The class rose back to three once more April 12, when Croatian forward Andrija Jelavic gave his pledge.

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UK must replace its seven-member senior class. Only one of them will play college hoops during the 2025-26 campaign, though: Kerr Kriisa revealed March 31 he would enter the transfer portal (and found his new team April 6).

Pope and his staff already have six portal players in the fold for next season: Former Tulane wing Kam Williams committed March 28. Ex-Pittsburgh guard Jaland Lowe joined April 5. Then the Wildcats landed commitments on back-to-back days: Former Alabama forward Mouhamed Dioubate gave his pledge April 7, with former Arizona State forward Jayden Quaintance following April 8. Ex-Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen cast his lot with UK on April 21. And former Miami (Ohio) center Reece Potter pledged May 5.

Bookmark this page as The Courier Journal tracks offseason news related to UK’s 2025-26 roster.