The transfer portal never sleeps, and Kentucky Basketball
is still working frantically to fill out next season’s roster.Now, we have a new target emerging in James Madison Dukes forward Justin McBride.
McBride is keeping Kentucky on his list of options and, according to KSR’s Jacob Polacheck, is eyeing a visit to Lexington on Tuesday, April 21. There are still some transcript details to sort out before it’s all locked in, but the interest looks real.
McBride is a 6-7 forward out of Plano, Texas who
just put together his best college season yet at James Madison. He averaged 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 49.4% from the floor and 40% from 3-point range on 3.1 attempts per game.
Efficient, consistent, and productive.
McBride has been around the block a little, starting his career at Oklahoma State before a stop at Nevada and then landing at JMU, where things finally clicked in a big way. He primarily played at the 4 spot for the Dukes.
Coming out of high school in the 2023 class, McBride was ranked 134th overall, 29th among power forwards, and 11th in the state of Texas that cycle, according to 247 Sports.
As for Kentucky, the roster picture for 2026-27 is still developing. The Cats are bringing back Malachi Moreno, Kam Williams, Trent Noah, and Reece Potter, and they’ve already landed Zoom Diallo from Washington in the portal, along with high school commit Mason Williams. There’s still work to do, though, and a forward who can score and rebound at McBride’s level would be a nice piece to add to what Pope is building.
A visit doesn’t mean anything is close to being done, but it’s a step. If McBride does make it to Lexington on Tuesday, it’ll be worth watching how things develop from there.
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