Kentucky’s 2025-26 roster now complete

With Wednesday’s announcement that Otega Oweh would return to Kentucky next season, the Wildcats’ roster for 2025-26 is now complete. 

After all the dust settled, head coach Mark Pope returns four scholarship players from a year ago and added a total of 10 newcomers, six transfers, three high school seniors, and one international prospect.

UK returns its leading scorer and starting shooting guard in Oweh as well as reserves Brandon Garrison, Collin Chandler, and Trent Noah. 

For the second straight offseason, Pope signed a top-5 transfer portal class, which includes five of the top 65 prospects in the portal according to 247Sports, with some estimating Kentucky’s roster at or around $20 million in NIL.

According to 247Sports final transfer rankings, Pope has the No. 5 class nationally behind only St. John’s, Michigan, Louisville and Kansas State with five transfers ranked among the top 65 prospects in the portal, including 12) Arizona State center Jayden Quaintance, 38) Pittsburgh point guard Jaland Lowe, 44) Tulane forward Kam Williams, 56) Florida combo guard Denzel Aberdeen, and 63) Alabama forward Mouhamed Dioubate in addition to 335) Miami (Ohio) center and Lexington native Reece Potter.

In addition to his top-5 transfer portal class, Pope also inked a top-15 high school class, which features 4-star combo guard Jasper Johnson (No. 24 overall), 4-star center and McDonald’s All-American Malachi Moreno (No. 28) and 4-star wing Braydon Hawthorne (No. 33).

Kentucky also signed coveted Croatian power forward Andrija Jelavic, who is not rated by 247Sports, but is widely projected to be among the biggest international additions in college basketball next season. 

“Standing just under 7-feet with an already strong build, solid athleticism, and clear inside-out skill set, Jelavic averaged 11 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1 steal this year for Mega Superbet in the Adriatic League,” wrote 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein. “He’s spent the last two years with Mega and will celebrate his 21st birthday later this month. Jelavic projects as a versatile mismatch threat at Kentucky who will ideally prove capable of playing either the four or the five.”

When combining the transfer portal and high school classes, the Wildcats’ 2025 haul ranks No. 4 overall according to 247Sports behind only Duke, Houston and BYU.

“Competitive, deep, skilled,” Pope said when asked about his 2025 signing haul. “I think the guys that have chosen to be here are guys that are just starving to come test themselves every day in practice to come get better. I’ve got hungry, hungry, hungry guys. I’ve got guys that have unique, distinguishable skill sets that fit us really well. I’m excited about this group. This is going to be a really special group.”

Kentucky’s 2025-26 schedule includes 11 confirmed non-conference opponents for next season, including at Louisville, Michigan State in the Champions Classic, vs. Gonzaga in Nashville, Indiana, vs. St. John’s in the CBS Classic as well as exhibitions vs. Purdue and Georgetown at Rupp Arena.