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Justin McBride has committed to play for the Kentucky Wildcats Basketball team, providing a significant boost to their roster. He is coming off the best season of his collegiate career.
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Nevadaâs Justin McBride shoots while taking on Colorado State at Lawlor Events Center in Reno on Dec. 21, 2024. | JASON BEAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Kentucky Basketball needed a win in the transfer portal, and Mark Pope just delivered one.
Following a frustrating stretch of misses, the Wildcats have bounced back. Justin McBride has decided that he is committing to play for the Cats, giving the roster a high-upside offensive weapon who is coming off the best season of his collegiate career.
UK Sports Network broke the news first.
This gives the Wildcats badly-needed addition in the frontcourt, as thereâs a very real chance McBride will be the starting 4 when the 2026-27 college hoops season tips off.
Before we talk about the fit, we have to address the elephant in the room: Kentucky will be McBrideâs fourth team in four years, after he began his career at Oklahoma State, transferred to Nevada, and then made his way to James Madison this past season.
In the old days, that would raise massive red flags about the player. But this is the NIL and portal era. In the near future, seeing kids play for five teams in five years is going to become standard.
The reality of the game today is that players will move each year to a better situation for more money, more playing time, or even better weather. You have to adapt, and Pope is doing exactly that by securing a player who fits what Pope did well in Year 1.
McBride brings a true âstretch 4â option back to Lexington. In year 1, Andrew Carr wasnât great from deep, but teams had to respect him. It opened up a lot of passing lanes and allowed the offense to flow more freely.
Justin McBride is a basketball player from Nevada, known for his impressive performance during his collegiate career, particularly in his last season.
McBride's commitment adds a high-upside offensive weapon to the Wildcats' roster, enhancing their competitiveness in upcoming seasons.
Justin McBride announced his commitment to the Kentucky Wildcats Basketball team following a successful season, with the news first reported by UK Sports Network.
Kentucky Wildcats Basketball has experienced a frustrating stretch of misses in the transfer portal before successfully securing Justin McBride's commitment.
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While McBride is slightly undersized for the position at 6-foot-7, he carries a grown-man, 240-pound frame. He will be asked to use that sheer strength to bang in the post and hold his own on defense, forcing opposing bigs to step out of the paint and match up with his elite shooting on the other end of the floor.
His offensive leap last season at James Madison (shoutout to UK womenâs coach Kenny Brooksâ alma mater, we see you) was staggering. McBride poured in 15.3 points and grabbed 5.6 rebounds per night while shooting a blistering 40.0% from 3-point range.
He shot just 24.1% shooting from deep the previous season at Nevada and 28.6% in his one year at Oklahoma State. We hope that doesnât mean he is due for a regression.
Pope has found another frontcourt option that seamlessly fits his system. This addition makes infinitely more sense than last yearâs options. We saw the offense completely bog down because Mo Dioubate simply couldnât shoot, and Andrija Jelavic was wildly miscast as a high-volume 3-point shooter.
McBride is built to step directly into that perimeter-shooting frontcourt role and actually convert his looks. And he is a former 4-star recruit, so itâs not like the talent was never there. Maybe his upward trajectory continues.
This commitment is a massive sigh of relief, but no celebration can happen just yet. The roster still has a couple of open spots. Here is where the scholarship chart currently stands:
Returners (5)
Portal Additions (3)
HS Signees (2)
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