Report: Kentucky 'actively pursuing' transfer guards Elijah Hawkins, Kadary Richmond

The Kentucky Wildcats are in hot pursuit of one of the more coveted guard prospects in the transfer portal, according to Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News. They have shown interest in All Big East guard Kadary Richmond from Seton Hall. They’re also in hot pursuit of transfer guard Elijah Hawkins from the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Richmond averaged 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 2.2 steals per game this year for the Pirates. He also shot 27% from beyond the arc, while hitting 80.7% of his free throws. Hawkins averaged 9.5 points, 7.5 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game this year for Minnesota.

Richmond earned 2024 All-Big East first team honors. He was also named to the NIT All-Tournament team after averaging 13.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists. He ranked 39th in Seton Hall history in scoring with 1,106 points, 10th all-time with 422 assists, and 10th all-time with 183 steals. As one of the more complete players in college basketball, he ranked second in Division I-A with nine 20-point, five-rebound, five-assist games this year. Richmond also managed to lead the Big East in total steals with 77.

He joined an exclusive club that includes Shaheen Holloway and a few others in Pirate basketball history. Richmond managed to score 1,000 points, grab 400 rebounds, and dish out 300 assists in his Seton Hall career. Showcasing his multi-faceted skill set, he grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in his team’s second round NIT win over North Texas (March 23rd). Richmond managed to stuff the stat sheet with just the second triple-double in Seton Hall history with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists against No. 18 Creighton (Jan. 20).

In guiding Seton Hall to the 2024 NIT Championship, Holloway stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points and 13 rebounds in a double-double against Indiana State (April 4th).

In 2022-2023, Richmond once again showed off a complete skill set, scoring 10.1 points per game, rebounding (5.2 rebounds per game), and three-point percentage (44%). He also led the Pirates in scoring against the Kansas Jayhawks (Dec. 1), pouring in 17 points, while adding five rebounds and five assists. Richmond erupted for a career-high of 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Providence (Dec. 17).

Hawkins averaged 12.9 points, 6.0 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 2022-2023. He also shot 46.6% from long range that year. His first year in Minnesota (2021-2022), he stuffed the stat sheet with 13.0 points, 5.6 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per outing.