{"id":703697,"date":"2026-04-07T17:03:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T17:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/703697\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T17:03:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T17:03:20","slug":"stay-go-decisions-on-portal-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/703697\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay-Go Decisions on Portal Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The transfer portal is officially open, and stay-go decisions are rolling in. Andrija Jelavic<\/a> is the latest Kentucky Wildcat to make his plans known. The sophomore forward from Croatia has entered the portal<\/a> after one season at Kentucky; however, he tells KSR he will leave open the option to return. <\/p>\n

Jelavic averaged 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game. He started Kentucky\u2019s final 20 games of the season, becoming a reliable presence inside with scoring and rebounding. He finished with four double-figure scoring performances along with 12 outings of five-plus boards. <\/p>\n

Jelavic came to Kentucky after two seasons playing professionally for Mega Superbet in Belgrade, Serbia, where he was considered one of the top players in his age group. His first year of American college basketball was an adjustment, but he has the tools to be a good player and two years of eligibility left. While he didn\u2019t close the door on a return to Kentucky, he will explore his options.<\/p>\n

While we wait for more news, here is our updated Roster Tracker. For a rundown of who Mark Pope and the staff are pursuing in the portal, check our Transfer Portal Tracker<\/a>, which will be updated regularly.<\/p>\n

GRADUATED (2)<\/p>\n

EXPECTED DEPARTURES (1)<\/p>\n

PORTAL (5)<\/p>\n

REMAINING ELIGIBILITY \u2013 STATUS UNKNOWN (4)<\/p>\n

EXPECTED RETURNERS (2)<\/p>\n

HS SIGNEES (1)<\/p>\n

PORTAL ADDITIONS:\u00a0N\/A<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT DATES<\/p>\n

April 7: Transfer Portal Opens<\/p>\n

April 21:\u00a0Transfer Portal Closes<\/p>\n

60 days before NBA Draft: NBA Early Entry Deadline<\/p>\n

May 8-10:\u00a0NBA G League Combine (Chicago)<\/p>\n

May 10:\u00a0NBA Draft Lottery<\/p>\n

May 10-17:\u00a0NBA Draft Combine (Chicago)<\/p>\n

May 27:\u00a0NCAA Division I Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline<\/p>\n

10 days before NBA Draft: NBA Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline<\/p>\n

Late June: 2026 NBA Draft (Date not announced)<\/p>\n

Take advantage of our KSR+ SPRING SALE to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including the latest intel on Kentucky\u2019s efforts in the Transfer Portal, Spring Football, and the search for a new Athletic Director \u2014 plus a year of access to The Athletic. Annual subscriptions are 50% off for a limited time.<\/a><\/p>\n

UPDATES<\/p>\n

April 7: Andrija Jelavic enters the Transfer Portal<\/a><\/p>\n

Started Kentucky\u2019s final 20 games, averaging 5.5 points and four rebounds in 16.2 minutes on 48.4 percent shooting.<\/p>\n

Will leave open the option to return to Kentucky<\/p>\n

April 6: Malachi Moreno signs return deal, will test NBA Draft waters<\/a><\/p>\n

Moreno signed a deal that will keep him at Kentucky, but he will also test the NBA Draft waters. He has until May 27 to remove his name to retain his eligibility. <\/p>\n

Earned SEC All-Freshman Honors after appearing in all 36 games with 30 starts, finishing with season averages of 7.8 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest<\/p>\n

April 6: Mo Dioubate will enter the Transfer Portal<\/a><\/p>\n

The former Alabama transfer brought toughness and physicality to Kentucky, but was never a fit on the offensive end. He will reenter the portal to find a new home for his senior season.<\/p>\n

April 3:\u00a0Brandon Garrison joins Johnson in the portal<\/a><\/p>\n

After two seasons with the Wildcats as the team\u2019s backup center, Garrison will look for a starting job going into his final college season.<\/p>\n

April 3:\u00a0Jasper Johnson will enter the Transfer Portal<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Pope<\/a>\u2018s highest-ranked recruit of all time will look for a fresh start elsewhere after an up-and-down freshman season.<\/p>\n

The other finalists in his high school recruitment were Alabama and North Carolina.<\/p>\n

March 30:\u00a0Mo Williams to join staff as assistant<\/a><\/p>\n

Expected to join his son, Mason, in Lexington, filling one of the vacant assistant coaching positions<\/p>\n

Head coach at Jackson State (2022-26) and Alabama State (2020-22), Assistant coach at Cal State Northridge (2018-20)<\/p>\n

March 28:\u00a0Jaland Lowe will enter the Transfer Portal<\/a><\/p>\n

March 27: Associate head coach\u00a0Alvin Brooks will not return next season<\/a><\/p>\n

March 27: 4-star Mason Williams commits to Kentucky<\/p>\n

Son of former NBA All-Star\/current UK assistant coach Mo Williams<\/p>\n

6-foot-2 point guard ranked No. 124 overall in the 2026 recruiting class by Rivals<\/p>\n

March 26:\u00a0Keegan Brown announced as Director of Roster Management<\/a><\/p>\n

March 24:\u00a0Jason Hart leaves for SMU<\/a><\/p>\n

Left Kentucky after two seasons to become the associate head coach under Andy Enfield<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The transfer portal is officially open, and stay-go decisions are rolling in. Andrija Jelavic is the latest Kentucky…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,231,772,1544],"class_list":{"0":"post-703697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-basketball","12":"tag-ncaab"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116364509571678021","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}