UK Basketball is recruiting Kentucky native and 7-foot-5 transfer center Gabe Dynes

The Kentucky Wildcats have now landed a pair of transfer portal commitments in Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins, but both of those guys are backcourt players.

When it comes to the frontcourt, Kentucky has a lot of work to be done, as Malachi Moreno is set to be the only returning player who logged significant minutes last season.

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On Saturday, On3’s Joe Tipton reported that the Wildcats were among the schools to reach out to USC Trojans transfer Gabe Dynes, who entered the portal on Friday and is a native of Independence, Kentucky. Other schools showing interest include Tennessee, Arizona, Louisville, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and NC State.

Now, KSR’s Jacob Polacheck says Mark Pope had a FaceTime call with Dynes, who even said he grew up a fan of Pope and has watched a lot of Kentucky games.

The 7-foot-5, 214-pound product of Simon Kenton High School was an unranked class of 2023 recruit who signed with Youngstown State, where he became an elite shot-blocking presence. He averaged 2.3 blocks in 13.6 minutes per game as a freshman and 3.1 across 21.8 minutes per outing as a sophomore.

The following offseason, Dynes entered the transfer portal and was ranked 195th overall in the portal by 247 Sports Composite before signing with the Trojans. He played in 30 games (six starts), averaging 2.9 points (78.8% shooting), 2.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 11.9 minutes per contest. He shot just 35.3% on free throws and is a career 43.6% shooter from the charity stripe.

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Dynes is an intriguing prospect, but with just one season of eligibility left, he may be looking to play for someone where he’ll be assured of getting heavy minutes.

Unless, maybe he’s willing to take on a similar role that he had at USC for a program like Kentucky that will allow him to return home for his final year.

We shall see.

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/uk-basketball-recruiting-kentucky-native-232100723.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-18 23:21:00

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