Kentucky expresses interest in Conference USA's Player of the Year

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Jax State's Jaron Pierre Jr. drives to the basket during college basketball action against New Mexico State in Jacksonville, Alabama February 20, 2025. Jax State fell to New Mexico State 61-52. (Dave Hyatt / Hyatt Media LLC - USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

No one in all of Division I basketball scored more points than Jaron Pierre Jr. did last season at Jacksonville State. As he searches for a new home to spend his final year of college eligibility, Kentucky is among the schools that have expressed interest.

After one season with the Gamecocks in 2024-25 where he was named Conference USA Player of the Year, Pierre entered his name into the portal on Monday. It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to reach out. Sam Kayser of League Ready was first to report UK’s interest on Tuesday. Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ has since confirmed the Kentucky staff has communicated with Pierre’s representatives.

The likes of Kansas, Louisville, Alabama, Texas, Baylor, and many more have also reportedly reached out.

During his redshirt senior season at Jacksonville State, Pierre averaged 21.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 37.6 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 42.4 FG%, 38.2 3PT%, and 81 FT%. The 6-foot-5 guard was named CUSA Player of the Year for his production. He’s also expected to test the NBA Draft waters.

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Pierre is searching for his fourth school in six seasons. He’s able to play one more year of college ball due to his first season happening in 2020-21, which did not count toward a player’s eligibility as a result of the pandemic.

The New Orleans native was a three-star prospect out of St. Augustine (LA) High School before starting his college career at Southern Miss for two seasons (2020-22). He averaged 9.4 points per outing across 51 games played before dipping into the portal and suiting up for Wichita State in 2022-23. With the Shockers, he started 22 of 31 games while scoring 10.6 points per contest.

From there, Pierre transferred again, this time to Jacksonville State where he redshirted the entire 2023-24 season. But upon his debut in 2024-25, he became one of the best scoring guards in the country. He also ranked second in the country in total minutes played (1,352). Pierre was a shot-heavy player (17.4 FGA) last season, which likely wouldn’t be the case if he were to ultimately choose Kentucky, but he’s a portal piece to at least keep an eye on.