Kentucky
Jaxson Robinson eyeing a move to UK? Dallin Hall and Aly Khalifa are already in the transfer portal
Since the Kentucky Wildcats recently hired Kenny Brooks, we’ve seen a host of former Virginia Tech players join him in Lexington.
Look for something similar to happen with the men’s team now that former BYU Cougars head coach Mark Pope is leading the charge.
The big fish to watch for is Jaxson Robinson, a 6-foot-7 guard who would immediately become one of the best players in the transfer portal ‘if’ he decides to enter it.
Robinson is not currently in the portal, but the buzz for him entering has been building since Thursday night, and we now have this from KSR’s Matt Jones, who thinks this could move quickly.
BYU’s best player Jaxson Robinson is someone I am hearing could be a quick addition to the Cats by Pope
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) April 12, 2024
Robinson is actually very familiar with Kentucky and the SEC. He began his career as a class of 2020 signee of Texas A&M who transferred to Arkansas after one year before landing at BYU, where he’s spent the last two years.
This season, Robinson averaged 14.2 points on 42.6% shooting from the field and a 35.4% clip from 3-point range on 6.9 (nice) attempts per game. He hit 8/16 attempts from deep in a 90-74 win over Denver on December 13th, so he’s not afraid to let it rip from deep.
While Robinson is not yet in the portal, one of his teammates already is.
Per On3’s Jamie Shaw, BYU point guard Dallin Hall is in the portal.
Originally a class of 2020 recruit, Hall served a two-year Mormon mission before officially joining the BYU program for the 2022-23 season. That year saw him average 7.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists while shooting 41.2% from the field and 36.7% from deep.
This season, the 6-foot-4 Hall averaged 9.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per outing while shooting 42.2% from the field and 35.9% from 3-point land.
In BYU’s win over the No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, Robinson and Hall combined for 36 points on 11/23 shooting in the 76-68 victory.
In the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament loss to Duquesne, those two combined for 36 points on 11/21 shooting in the 71-67 defeat. Hall chipped in a game-high six assists and four steals.
Robinson would have one year of eligibility remaining, while Hall would have two.
And just as I was about to post this, BYU had another player go portaling.
Per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, Cougars center Aly Khalifa is going into the portal with a ‘Do not contact’ tag, meaning he likely already knows where he’s going.
BYU center Aly Khalifa has entered the transfer portal, per source. Started 26 games this past season for the Cougars, averaged 5.7 points and 4.0 assists. One of the elite passing big men in the country.
His entry has a “Do not contact” classification, for what it’s worth.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 12, 2024
The 6-foot-11, 270-pound native of Egypt was originally a class of 2020 signee of Charlotte, where he spent three years while redshirting in his first year.
After a limited role in 2021-22, Khalifa became one of the top players for a 49ers team that won the CBI in the 2022-23 season. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 51% shooting from the field and 38% shooting from 3-point range that season.
After going into the portal last offseason, Khalifa landed at BYU, where he averaged 5.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists while shooting 38.6% from the field and 31.5% from 3-point land this season.
At first glance, Robinson and Hall look like two potentially solid additions for Kentucky if they come to pass. Not quite sold on Khalifa, but he still has some potential. If nothing else, he could be a quality big man off the bench who can also space the floor.
I would anticipate Kentucky adding at least a couple of players from BYU, not just to fill out the roster but also to help implement Pope’s system. I don’t think we’re going to see the entire BYU roster of eligible players in Lexington next season, but there are absolutely going to be multiple additions to help usher in the Mark Pope era of Kentucky Basketball.
What are your thoughts about Kentucky potentially adding one of these players to the roster for next season? Let us know in the comments section!
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Which teams need to nail the NBA Draft the most?
Listing the teams that can least afford to mess up this year’s NBA draft.
LEXINGTON — Otega Oweh will begin his NBA career on the move.
The Miami Heat drafted Oweh in the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft on Wednesday, June 24. Oweh was the No. 41 overall pick (and the 11th selection of the second round).
But he won’t remain in Miami: Oweh reportedly is part of a trade that will send him to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oweh starred for Kentucky basketball the past two seasons. He was a primary component of the first and second squads of coach Mark Pope’s tenure at UK.
Here’s what to know about Oweh, the Wildcats’ newest draft selection:
Oweh began his time as a collegian at Oklahoma, where he spent two seasons. He played in 32 games (28 starts) for the Sooners in 2023-24, averaging 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1 assist per outing.
But he was a revelation at Kentucky, inarguably the team’s top player the past two seasons.
During his debut in 2024-25, Oweh paced the Wildcats in points per game (16.2) and double-digit efforts (33 times in 36 games). He started the season scoring 10 or more in the team’s first 26 games, which was the longest streak by a Kentucky player since Malik Monk did so 30 times in a row in 2016-17.
After going through the draft process and returning to UK, Oweh entered the 2025-26 campaign as the SEC’s preseason Player of the Year.
He wound up being every bit as consistent as in Year 1, scoring 10-plus points in 35 of the Cats’ 36 games. Oweh, who was named to the All-SEC Second Team by the league’s coaches, averaged a team-high 18.6 points per game.
He finished his Kentucky career with 1,255 points, the most ever by a player in his first two seasons with the program.
Along with his scoring prowess, Oweh also set single-season personal bests for rebounds (4.8), assists (2.7) and steals (1.8) per game.
Despite his standout two-year career with the Cats, Oweh was not a highly touted transfer portal prospect following the 2023-24 season. He was 31st according to 247Sports, while ESPN ranked him 59th and On3 didn’t even include him in its top 100.
Hailing from Blair Academy in New Jersey, Oweh was unanimously rated as a four-star prospect in the 2022 class, earning that ranking from Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN.
Oweh was slightly taller than 6-foot-4 (without shoes) at the NBA Draft Combine. During that testing, he weighed 216 pounds. That’s nearly identical to Oweh’s figures on Kentucky’s official 2025-26 roster, where he was listed at 6-4 and 220 pounds.
NBAdraft.net wrote that Oweh’s most logical pro comps are the Harrison twins — ex-UK greats Aaron and Andrew — and Josh Okogie.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
Kentucky
Top knee doctor confident Jayden Quaintance’s injury not a long-term concern, but clean-up procedure possible
One of the nation’s top knee doctors shared a positive diagnosis with former Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance going into the 2026 NBA Draft, revealing that his knee is not expected to be a long-term concern, KSR has learned.
That may include a second procedure to officially put the injury suffered in February 2025 behind him, however.
Dr. Riley Williams III — head team physician and orthopedic surgeon for the Brooklyn Nets and famous for performing surgery on Paul George’s gruesome open tibia-fibula fracture with USA Basketball in 2014 — gave a second opinion on Quaintance’s injured right knee that limited him to four games in Lexington and recommended a follow-up procedure that could keep him off the floor for six months. The 6-foot-11 prospect’s ACL remains fully intact and his knee can be maintained at its current state, but a clean-up is preferred for a permanent resolution.
Medical concerns led to his slide in final mock drafts — he was projected to go No. 27 overall to the Boston Celtics, according to ESPN — before ultimately landing with the San Antonio Spurs at No. 20. This procedure could lead to a delayed start to his rookie season, but the long-term reward of a healthy 15-year career in the NBA is the prize on the table. It kept teams in the lottery and late teens intrigued, despite rumors of a potential fall to the second round. Sources close to Quaintance felt San Antonio at No. 20 was a backstop for the talented forward going into draft night, an educated hunch that proved to be accurate.
Quaintance worked out for the Dallas Mavericks (No. 9, No. 30), Milwaukee Bucks (No. 10), Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 12, No. 17), Chicago Bulls (No. 15), Toronto Raptors (No. 19), San Antonio Spurs (No. 20) and Boston Celtics (No. 27) ahead of the draft, but the Thunder and Spurs were the most aggressive throughout the predraft process, sources tell KSR. Once OKC snagged Michigan’s Aday Mara at No. 12 overall, it opened the door for a move to San Antonio for the former Wildcat.
There was disappointment in Quaintance’s absence on draft night after failing to receive a green room invite, but receiving confirmation of no long-term knee concern was the biggest priority — and that came after meeting with arguably the nation’s top knee doctor before the 2026 NBA Draft began in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Quaintance was not the top-five pick he was expected to be going into his lone season at Kentucky, but he found himself in a perfect winning situation in San Antonio next to the future face of the NBA in Victor Wembanyama, even if that includes a short-term setback.
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