UK shows interest in Great Osobor and Aidan Mahaney
Mark Pope continues to thoroughly vet the NCAA transfer portal, contacting seemingly everyone who’s in it.
However, Kentucky needs to hit a few home runs in the portal for next season’s roster to have a chance to make some noise in March, and we’ve got two big names for you.
First, On3’s Joe Tipton reports that the Wildcats have contacted Utah State forward Great Osobor.
Second, Recruits Zone reports that Kentucky has reached out to Saint Mary’s guard Aidan Mahaney.
A class of 2022 recruit from California, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Mahaney was a 4-star prospect ranked 134th overall and 18th among shooting guards in his class, per 247 Sports Composite.
As a freshman, Mahaney averaged 13.9 points on 42.8% shooting while hitting 40% of his 3s. He had 12.1 field-goal attempts per game, 5.3 coming from deep.
This past season, he averaged 13.9 points on 38.6% shooting while hitting 35.5% of his 3s. Of his 12.8 field-goal attempts per game, 6.9 came from deep, so that’s why his overall percentage is a bit low. He also chipped in 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
As for Osobor, the class of 2021 recruit was a relatively unknown prospect who originally signed with Montana State. After two productive seasons, he entered the transfer portal and landed at Utah State during the 2023 offseason.
This past season, the 6-foot-8, 250-pound native of England averaged 17.7 points (57.7% shooting), 9.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.3 steals, and 2.8 assists per contest.
Osobor is ‘capable’ of shooting it from deep, but he’s only attempted 18 career triples, hitting four of them.
Kentucky recruiting Duke transfer Jeremy Roach, per report
Could we actually see a Duke player end up at Kentucky?
On Tuesday, news broke that Blue Devils point guard Jeremy Roach was entering the transfer portal while also testing the NBA Draft process.
And according to KSR’s Matt Jones, Kentucky is going to be a player in this recruitment. Roach will have one season of eligiblity remaining if he chooses to utilize it.
Originally a class of 2020 recruit, Roach signed with Duke out of high school after being offered by Kentucky when John Calipari was still in town. The Virginia product played at Paul VI Catholic and was ranked 23rd nationally by 247 Sports Composite. He held additional scholarship offers from North Carolina, Miami, Maryland, Texas, USC, Villanova, and Virginia, among others.
Over the next four years, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Roach would appear in 130 games (108 starts) while being voted a team captain in each of the past two seasons. This past season, he averaged 14 points (43.9% shooting and 42.9% on 3-pointers), 3.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 32.7 minutes per game.
Roach instantly becomes one of the best players in the portal and someone just about every program could use. Because he’s testing the NBA prosess, this could be a recruitment that lasts until closer to the May 29th deadline to withdraw from the draft.
