The 2026–27 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team will represent the University of Kentucky during the 2026–27 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, founding members of the Southeastern Conference, play their home games at Rupp Arena and are led by Mark Pope in his third season as head coach for the Wildcats.
Previous season The Wildcats finished the 2025–26 season with a record of , in SEC play to finish in a 3-way tie for seventh place in the SEC. The Wildcats earned a number nine seed in the SEC tournament, they won their first-round and second-round games against LSU and Missouri then lost to Florida in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where the Wildcats made it to the second round by defeating Santa Clara, 89–84, in overtime. The Wildcats lost to Iowa State, 82–63, in the second round, finishing the season with an overall record of 22–14.
Offseason Staff changes Following the conclusion of the 2025–26 season, head coach Mark Pope reorganized the Kentucky coaching staff after consecutive departures. In April 2026, associate head coach Alvin Brooks III left the program to accept an assistant coaching position at NC State, while assistant coach Jason Hart departed to join the staff at SMU.
To fill one of the vacant assistant roles, Pope hired Mo Williams, a 13-year NBA veteran, 2009 All-Star, and former head coach at Jackson State. Coinciding with the hire, Williams's son, four-star point guard Mason Williams, committed to play for Kentucky for the 2026–27 season after previously committing to his father at Jackson State.
Departures Kentucky had 3 departures from the 2026 team that were lost to exhausted eligibility. On March 28, Jaland Lowe announced his entry into the NCAA transfer portal. On April 3, Brandon Garrison and Jasper Johnson put their names in the transfer portal. On April 6, Mouhamed Dioubate entered the transfer portal after one season at Kentucky. On April 7, Denzel Aberdeen and Andrija Jelavic entered the transfer portal On April 8, Collin Chandler entered the transfer portal. On April 10, Aberdeen committed to play for Florida, where Aberdeen previously played for three seasons prior to transferring to Kentucky for the 2025–26 season. On April 10, Jelavic committed to play for Ohio State for the 2026–27 season. On April 11, Chandler committed to BYU, where Chandler signed to play out of high school. On April 12, Garrison committed to play for Alabama for the 2026–27 season. On April 13, Lowe committed to play for Georgetown for the 2026–27 season. On April 14, Jayden Quaintance declared for the 2026 NBA Draft. On April 18, Johnson committed to play for Oregon for the 2026–27 season. On April 20, Dioubate committed to play for LSU for the 2026–27 season.
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure 1 G 6'5" 180 Senior Orlando, FL Transferred to Florida 23 F 6'7" 215 Junior Flushing, NY Transferred to LSU 10 C 6'11" 245 Junior Oklahoma City, OK Transferred to Alabama 4 F 6'11" 225 Freshman Zagreb, Croatia Transferred to Ohio State 2 G 6'5" 180 Freshman Lexington, KY Transferred to Oregon 15 G 6'1" 180 Junior Missouri City, TX Transferred to Georgetown 00 G 6'5" 210 Senior Somerset, NJ Graduated 21 F 6'10" 225 Sophomore Cleveland, OH 2026 NBA Draft
Incoming transfers Kentucky received its first transfer commitment for the 2026–27 season from guard Zoom Diallo, who transferred from Washington, on April 15. On April 18, guard Alex Wilkins, transferring from Furman, committed to play for Kentucky. On April 28, former James Madison forward Justin McBride became the third transfer commitment. The next day, on April 29, former local prep guard Jerone Morton transferred from Washington State to play for Kentucky for the 2026–27 season. On May 9, Washington center Franck Kepnang committed to play for Kentucky. On June 1, Kentucky added Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic for the 2026–27 season.
Name Num Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous college 5 G 6'6" 195 Junior Tacoma, WA Transferred from Washington 11 C 7'0" 275 Senior Yaoundé, Cameroon Transferred from Washington 21 F 6'8" 250 Senior Plano, TX Transferred from James Madison 22 F 6'9" 220 Senior Pewaukee, WI Transferred from Iowa State 1 G 6'4" 190 Senior Lexington, KY Transferred from Washington State 10 G 6'6" 170 Sophomore Boston, MA Transferred from Furman
Class of 2026 signees
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style=""| SEC regular season
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Rankings
References