Louisiana star with prior Kentucky interest, Jordan Brown, enters transfer portal

From the moment Jordan Brown entered the transfer portal, he instantly became one of the most talented available players in the country. The former McDonald’s All-American put his name into the portal on Friday and is currently considered the No. 2 overall prospect available according to On3’s rankings.

Will Kentucky reach out? News has yet to surface that head coach John Calipari has made contact with Brown, but there is a previous connection that could lead to it happening soon. Let’s back up for a second though.

Brown was rated as a five-star recruit out of high school, where he played for Prolific Prep (CA). 247Sports considered the 6-foot-11 forward as a top 20 prospect from the class of 2018. He wound up choosing Nevada for college (coached at the time by Eric Musselman, who’s now the head coach at Arkansas) where he played a minimal role for the Wolfpack.

Louisiana F Jordan Brown has entered the transfer portal, per @JamieShaw5

Averaged 19.3 points and 8.6 boards this past season. The former McDonald’s All-American made stops at Nevada and Arizona before landing in Lafayette. https://t.co/Zivi2G9OfP pic.twitter.com/ah0Nd6MrZw

— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) June 9, 2023

He would then enter the portal for the first time following the 2018-19 season and transferred to Arizona. After sitting out in ’19-20, Brown averaged 9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 19.6 minutes for the Wildcats the following season, earning Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year along the way. He would enter the portal again after Arizona fired Sean Miller, paving the way for him to transfer to Louisiana and play immediately, which is where he’s spent the last two seasons.

While playing for the Ragin’ Cajuns, Brown turned into a mid-major star. He averaged 15.3 points and 8.6 rebounds in ’21-22 and was named Second-Team All-Sun Belt. This past season, Brown’s numbers jumped to 19.3 points and 8.6 rebounds in 31.8 minutes per game en route to winning the Lou Henson Award, which is handed out to the country’s most outstanding mid-major player. Across his two seasons with Louisiana, he shot 54.8 percent from the field and 61.3 percent from the free throw line.

Now, back to his connection with Kentucky. When Brown elected to transfer away from Nevada after the ’18-19 season, the Wildcats were one of several teams he was considering as his next landing spot, according to Adam Zagoria. That was over four years now ago at this point, but there is at least some precedence for UK interest.

Thanks to the extra year of eligibility granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown can suit up for one more year of college — his sixth. Kentucky is still looking to add a trio of freshmen to next season’s group in Jordan Burks, Joey Hart, and Somto Cyril, but bringing in an established, veteran frontcourt piece with clear talent should be a priority for Kentucky at this stage in the offseason.