College basketball expert predicts Kentucky's biggest impact transfers

Mark Pope dug far and wide in the transfer portal looking for players to give him an elite 2025-26 roster, and he found some great players that have the Kentucky Wildcats looking like one of the best teams in the nation.

Jon Rothstein put out an article yesterday talking about the top 15 impact transfers in the SEC this season, and four of those players happen to be Kentucky Wildcats. This was the most of any SEC team, so clearly Pope dominated the portal.

The four players Rothstein listed were Jayden Quaintance, Mo Dioubate, Denzel Aberdeen, and Jaland Lowe. Once Quaintance is back at 100% many anticipate three of these four players starting for Pope's team.

Lowe is going to play a very important role for the Wildcats this season as the starting point guard, but he is going to have a lot of areas to improve. Last season, he didn't shoot the ball very efficiently, and he will need to improve this for the Wildcats to be elite.

Dioubate is a player who had a lot of success coming off the bench last season at Alabama, and he is one of the best defenders in college basketball. He will take his game to the next level this season at Kentucky.

Aberdeen was an elite rotation piece for the national champion Florida Gators last season, and many project him to be an All-SEC performer in a larger role.

Quaintance is going to be the star player for the Wildcats this season as he is expected to be a top ten pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. JQ is coming off an injury to his ACL but is hoping to suit up for game one.

All four of these Wildcats are going to be a big part of this team that has a real shot to win a national title.