New Mexico guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. enters transfer portal

After a successful career at New Mexico, Jamal Mashburn Jr., son of former Kentucky great Jamal Mashburn, has decided to enter the transfer portal, On3 has learned.

Mashburn Jr. played under Richard Pitino with the Lobos, who is the son of Rick Pitino, coincidentally, the same coach who was at Kentucky when his father was a star in the blue and white.

After averaging 18, 19 and 14 points in each of his last three seasons, the New Mexico star hits the market and ought to be a highly-sought-after talent with that sort of production in his background — and for a team that also made the NCAA Tournament in 2024.

The Lobos did lose in lopsided fashion to Clemson, but the year as still a massive success for a UNM program that’s been on the rise and finally broke through for their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years.

College hoops fans would actually recognize plenty of names on the 2024 New Mexico team, especially if you’re a Kentucky fan. The Lobos had four players averaging 14 points or more per game and three of them plus the head coach have ties to basketball elites.

Eddie House’s son, Jaelen House, is the lead scorer at 16.1 points per game, followed by Jamal Mashburn’s son, obviously, at 14.4 points per game. Then, averaging just over 12 points is the brother of Obi and Jacob Toppin, JT Toppin. And who’s the head coach? The son of the guy who coached Mashburn Sr. back in college: Richard Pitino.

For Pitino, this season was massive as well. He’s no up-and-coming mid-major coach. Instead, he’s trying rebuild his name in the Mountain West after he was previously let go after a stint at Minnesota. He actually made the NCAA Tournament twice with the Golden Gophers, their only two in the last 10 years, but flamed out early and put together a couple of tough years before being let go.

At New Mexico, though, Pitino is finding success again, and with a cast of characters his father is quite familiar with.