Kentucky center Ugonna Onyenso has entered the Transfer Portal

Kentucky Wildcats center Ugonna Onyenso has entered the Transfer Portal, according to On3’s Pete Nakos.

This decision came following head coach John Calipari making the decision to leave Kentucky for Arkansas. He did so following a first round exit from the NCAA Tournament. It was the second season in three years that the Wildcats failed to get out of the first round under Calipari.

Not only that, Onyenso previously declared for the 2024 NBA Draft and hired an agent.

Ugonna Onyenso played his high school basketball at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut and is a native of Nigeria. There, he was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was also the fifth-ranked center in his class and the 31st-ranked player overall in that cycle.

He had reclassified to the Class of 2022, making him one of the youngest players with multiple years of college experience in the country at 19 years old.

In two seasons at Kentucky, Ugonna Onyenso played in 40 games and had 14 starts. All of those starts came during the 2023-24 season.

A strong presence on the inside, during the 2023-24 season, Ugonna Onyenso averaged 14 minutes per game. During the season, he also averaged 3.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.2 assists per game. On the defensive side of the ball, he averaged 2.8 blocks and 0.3 steals per game.

Going into the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Ugonna Onyenso was ranked as the 25th-best available NBA Draft prospect by ESPN. So, the option to try moving onto the NBA does still exist for the big man.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, the former Kentucky big is ready to take his game to the next level as he will be not only declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft but also hiring an agent. And Onyenso made his intentions clear with this statement about his future.

“I am ready to go to the next level. I’m not thinking about coming back to play college basketball. I’m 100% focused on the NBA,” said Onyenso.

ESPN currently has the seven-foot-tall big man ranked in their ESPN top 100 NBA draft prospects. Onyenso currently sits at No. 47 on their list despite limited productivity and playing time at Kentucky this past season. Being ranked No. 47 puts Onyenso right in the middle of the pack with a strong potential of being drafted, but with an even stronger likelihood of being invited to the NBA Summer League and possibly securing a spot on an NBA roster through those means.