Kentucky transfer target Richie Saunders will return to BYU

Joe Tipton Kentucky 4-25-24

Before a huge recruiting weekend officially begins on Friday for Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope and his newly hired staff, the Wildcats had a familiar visitor on campus. After playing under Pope at BYU, Richie Saunders visited Lexington.

That visit ended without a commitment after Pope personally welcomed the transfer to town at the Lexington airport. Richie Saunders announced on Thursday night that the junior has withdrawn his name from the transfer portal and will return to BYU in 2024-25.

The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 36.4% from three as a sophomore at BYU. After a mission trip following high school, Saunders will be the age of a fifth-year player next season but still has two seasons of eligibility remaining. As time goes on, it looks like Collin Chandler could be the only BYU player who follows Pope to Lexington.

Aly Khalifa was considered a Kentucky lean at one point but ultimately committed to Louisville and announced that he will take a redshirt next season as he recovers from injury. Starting point guard Dallin Hall quickly entered the transfer portal and Kentucky is currently not pursuing. Jaxson Robinson entered the NBA Draft and has not entered the transfer portal yet. The Wildcats worked swiftly to get Saunders on campus, but the bench player in the Big 12 last season is returning to Provo for another year.

Oklahoma wing Otega Oweh and Wake Forest big Andrew Carr are each visiting Kentucky this weekend. Stanford wing Andrej Stojakovic is finalizing his visit plans with Kentucky. Some other win options are emerging for the Cats after Saunders decided to stay at BYU.

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