Transfer Portal Bio Blast: Mackenzie Mgbako

The NCAA Tournament is still ongoing, but the transfer portal waits for no one. With seven outgoing seniors/graduates and one outgoing transfer, the Kentucky Wildcats will have to reload through the portal once again this offseason.

Tulane freshman forward Kam Williams is already on board. Who could be next?

Indiana sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako is in the portal after two seasons with the Hoosiers. According to Travis Branham of 247Sports, Mgbako is in Lexington today (Wednesday, April 2) to check out the campus scenes and listen to what Mark Pope has to offer.

Indiana transfer Mackenzie Mgbako will visit Kentucky tomorrow, sources tell @247Sports.

Former McDonald’s All American and five-star recruit. Was named to the Big Ten All Freshman Team in 2023-24.https://t.co/ik3oo6VVfm pic.twitter.com/a1KURR09AE

— Travis Branham (@TravisBranham_) April 2, 2025

A former McDonald’s All-American, Mgbako will have plenty of suitors as a transfer prospect. Kentucky is the first school he’s visited since jumping into the portal. KSR’s Transfer Portal Bio Blast is taking a closer look at the college basketball free agent with two years of eligibility remaining. Mgbako is ranked as the 39th-best player to enter the portal so far this season by On3.

[KSR’s Kentucky MBB Transfer Portal Tracker]

Two similar seasons at Indiana

A five-star high school recruit, Mgbako lived up to the billing in his first season at Indiana under now-former head coach Mike Woodson. The 6-foot-9, 220-pound wing/forward posted per-game averages of 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 27.1 minutes as a freshman in 2023-24. Starting all 33 games played, Mgbako wasn’t the most efficient shooter: 39.5 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from deep. But his overall numbers were solid for a rookie and good enough to earn him Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

A leap was expected in year two. And while his basic per-game stats mostly remained the same, his shooting efficiency went in the right direction. As a sophomore in 2024-25, Mgbako averaged 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 25.2 minutes per outing. His two-point efficiency jumped from 45.3 percent as a freshman to 52.6 percent the following season. While only a 32.8 percent shooter from deep (4.6 attempts per game) in his college career, he’s at 81.7 percent from the free-throw line.

As Mgabko’s two-point efficiency went up, his free-throw rate went down. He was one of the best in the country at drawing fouls as a true freshman, getting to the line 112 times. That number dropped to just 79 attempts as a sophomore. But Indiana as a whole went from a top 60 team in the country at getting to the free throw stripe in 2023-24 to outside the top 170 in 2024-25. Playing next to a non-shooting big in Oumar Ballo this past season did not help Mgbako’s ability to find lanes to the rim. The Hoosiers, in general, played with minimal floor spacing compared to what Pope employs through his offense.

It’s tough to pin down the right position for Mgabko. Is he best served as a small-ball four? Or would he do best as a wing, similar to his role at Indiana? Defense has never been his strong suit (although it did improve from year one to year two), but with more spacing around him, his offensive strengths should be highlighted at his next stop — whether that’s Kentucky or somewhere else.

A former Kentucky high school target

Followers of recruiting will remember Mgbako’s name well from his high school days. A native of New Jersey, he grew up as close friends with DJ Wagner and Aaron Bradshaw — two talented prospects from the same high school class who also lived in New Jersey. Those three all played AAU basketball together for the NJ Scholars on the Nike EYBL circuit. Of course, Wagner and Bradshaw committed to John Calipari and Kentucky for their freshman college seasons.

There was hope that Mgabko would join them both in Lexington. He visited the likes of Memphis, Duke, Ohio State, and Kentucky — his final four preferred schools — before ultimately committing to Duke the first time around in April 2022. A year later, he backed out of his National Letter of Intent with the Blue Devils, but Calipari elected not to engage the second go. One month after that, he was signed with Indiana.

The last time Mgbako was in Lexington was Oct. 2021 under Calipari. Roughly 3.5 years later, he’s back on campus to see a different UK coach.