Alex Wilkins had a standout freshman season at Furman, averaging 17.8 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.0 rebounds in 35 games. His efforts helped the Paladins earn a bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament, where they fell to UConn in the first round.
Wilkins officially entered the transfer portal on March 31, and since then, at least five schools have expressed interest in securing his commitment.
5 Schools in the Hunt To Add Alex Wilkins From Transfer Portal
Wilkins, who earned the 2026 Southern Tournament MVP honors and was named to the 2025-26 All-Southern Team, has attracted interest from major conference schools, including Kentucky, Alabama, Kansas, UConn, and Syracuse.
The Wildcats have reached out and are attempting to secure the commitment of the 6’5″ guard. According to Kentucky Sports Radio reporter Jacob Polacheck, Wilkins met with head coach Mark Pope in South Carolina over the weekend and held a Zoom call with the team’s staff last Wednesday. He is scheduled to make an official visit to Lexington soon.
The SEC team is trying to bounce back from its second-round ouster in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and hopes to win its ninth national title (and its first under Pope). However, the offseason has been difficult for Kentucky, as guards Jaland Lowe, Denzel Aberdeen, and Collin Chandler have left the team to enter the transfer portal.
Wilkins is also expected to visit UConn after his trip to Lexington, while the three other schools pursuing the shooting guard have yet to announce their official visit dates.
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If Kentucky successfully acquires the young star, he would likely play in his usual spot at shooting guard, although Pope might use him as a point guard in special situations.
Offseason projections indicate that Wilkins is expected to secure a lucrative NIL deal next season after an excellent season with the Paladins. The guard ranks ninth among shooting guards and 30th overall in the On3 Transfer Portal Industry Ranking.
Recently, after Chandler transferred from Kentucky to BYU, college basketball insider Jeff Goodman said that Kentucky is in for a “full reboot.”
“It hurts Kentucky… You want to keep and retain as many of your top-eight [players] as you can and now you’re looking at Kentucky being kind of a full reboot for the most part, right? Like, what are they?” Goodman said.
“Malachi Moreno? We’ll see if they get him back. They better! They better get him back. Because, again, what you don’t want to do is start completely over; then you’re rolling the dice if you’re Mark Pope. However, with the way the season went last year, I understand, you don’t want to bring everybody back. It didn’t go well, so you’ve gotta do some housecleaning. But I feel like Collin Chandler was one of those guys that you wanted back.”
Adding talent from the transfer portal (like Wilkins) will be critical for the Wildcats to build a team that can compete for a national championship.
