Report: Kentucky in lead for transfer guard Chaz Lanier

The Kentucky Wildcats and newly appointed head coach Mark Pope are zeroing in on another top-tier player currently in the transfer portal. According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, the Wildcats are close to landing North Florida guard Chaz Lanier. Lanier opted to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal back in late April and has been the target of several elite men’s college basketball programs, including some of the Wildcats’ rivals in the SEC, like the Tennessee Volunteers.

According to On3’s RPM (recruiting prediction machine), the six-foot-four shooting guard was nearly a lock to commit to the Volunteers. Many experts believe that, given that Lanier is a product of Tennessee, growing up in Nashville and attending Enworth High School, it all but assured that he would join Rick Barnes and company in Knoxville for the upcoming 2024-25 campaign.

According to On3’s transfer portal rankings, Lanier is currently ranked as the 8th best player in the college basketball transfer portal and second among shooting guards.

Although the two SEC schools are likely the odds-on favorites to acquire the services of the former North Florida shooting guard, there are still a number of top-end programs still in the hunt, such as Illinois, Villanova, and fellow blue blood the Duke Blue Devils from who have the No. 1 rated recruit from the 2024 recruiting class, Cooper Flagg, set to shine for them on the court this season. It is also worth mentioning that Lanier did enter his name into the NBA Draft back in March and has yet to withdraw his name from contention.

More on Lanier

Lanier spent the entirety of his collegiate career at North Florida before opting to enter the transfer portal. He joined the Ospreys’ back in 2020, playing in 10 games and starting in one as a true freshman. From there, in the following two seasons, he would play in 31 games apiece while starting in eight and nine games, respectively. However, in his first three years at North Florida, Lanier had very little impact on the outcome of games, as he averaged under five points, nearly two rebounds, and one assist per contest.

Last season, things changed for the shooting guard as he earned a full-time starting role in North Florida. It was then that Lanier was able to fully showcase his array of scoring capabilities and efficiency on the floor. Last year, the junior shooting guard averaged 19.7 points on 51 percent shooting from the field, 44 percent from beyond the three-point line, and 88 percent from the charity stripe. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.9 steals while starting in 31 of the 32 games he played at North Florida.