With Travis Perry transferring out, will Kentucky look to add another piece to 2025-26 roster?

On Monday, it appeared that the 2025-26 Kentucky men’s basketball roster was locked in. All that was left was Otega Oweh‘s expected return this summer after he wraps up the NBA Draft process. But by Wednesday morning, a new roster spot had suddenly opened up.

Bluegrass native Travis Perry is hitting the transfer portal. It’s a bummer to lose the state’s all-time leading high school scorer after just one season. Perry wasn’t spectacular as a true freshman, playing minutes he likely never expected in year one, but Kentucky would have been much worse off in Mark Pope‘s first season in charge without him filling in for the injured backcourt pieces.

Perry wants to play college basketball, though. That likely wasn’t going to happen as a sophomore in Lexington. From the perspective of wanting to get on the floor sooner rather than later, it makes sense. The long-term effects of his decision are a bit murkier, but the fan base will continue to cheer him on regardless. Perry will eventually be a productive and effective college basketball player — it just would have been nice to see that happen at his dream school.

By most accounts, Perry’s decision was unexpected — news didn’t break until two hours before the portal headline hit. What does this move mean for Kentucky going forward? Notably, Pope once again has another roster spot to play with. Including Oweh, Kentucky is now at 12 players on board for the 2025-26 season.

Pope will be able to reach as many as 15 scholarship players, but after the Wildcats landed Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen on Monday, reports surfaced indicating UK was done adding to the roster. That suggests Pope likes the idea of having a 13-man team. If he does elect to find a Perry replacement, there will be options out there.

Just don’t expect that option to be someone wanting a big role and tons of cash. Kentucky is two-deep at every position as is. Perry was likely going to be the 12th or 13th man on the 2025-26 squad. The team, as currently constructed, already has the depth Pope was searching for. Everything else is just gravy. If he wants to bring in another body, it would likely be someone willing to accept a bench spot in his first season.

Could that be Braydon Hawthorne, a four-star former West Virginia commit out of Huntington Prep (WV)? The top 50 class of 2025 prospect took an official visit to Kentucky last week before the addition of Aberdeen happened Monday. Hawthorne is also being recruited by the likes of Virginia Tech and WVU. He would likely see more playing time at one of those schools, but there is clear mutual interest between him and UK. If he’s willing to take a limited role as a freshman, going to Kentucky makes sense.

There will be players available, whether that be through the portal or pulled from the high school ranks. But it would be a shock if Pope brings in someone expecting a major role from day one. Hawthorne is a legitimate candidate to fill that spot. Could Pope dip back into the international level after landing Croatian native Andrija Jelavic? Is there a chance Perry comes back to UK anyway? Or is Pope simply comfortable with what he has?

There’s a lot of offseason left for moves to be made.