The college basketball transfer portal has only been open for a few days, but there are already a lot of intriguing names that have been entered. Perhaps the most intriguing so far is Donovan Dent. Dent is transferring from New Mexico after winning Mountain West Player of the Year. Dent reportedly had some initial interest in the Kansas basketball program, and despite rumors about him following head coach Richard Pitino to Xavier, the Jayhawks are still in contention.
“I was told that Dent still has #kubball in the running and they’ve talked to Kansas at least once since the initial call,” Shreyas Laddha said in a post.
Donovan Dent’s high school basketball coach has been involved with the transfer process, and he noted that Kansas was initially in the mix.
“I’ve been on the phone for 8 1/2 hours today, so I’m doing great,” Josh Giles said, according to an article from The Kansas City Star. “I’ve spoken to the highest of the highest majors today. The bluest of the blue bloods, so I’d consider Kansas in that mix. I had a conversation with one of the assistants.”
Dent is looking for a school that will allow him to develop as a player, and he also wants to go to a program that can win.
“It’s going to come down to which school is the best fit for him and gives him the best chance to compete to play in the Final Four,” Giles said.
Right now, it feels like Xavier has the best chance to land Dent because of the recent Richard Pitino hire. Pitino and Dent were together at New Mexico, and Dent is a big reason why the Lobos had so much success this season. New Mexico’s season came to an end on Sunday as they lost in the round of 32 against two-seed Michigan State.
Now, the New Mexico basketball season is over, and Dent and Pitino are both gone. Pitino is working hard to bring Dent over to Xavier, but programs like Kansas will be tough to hold off.
The Jayhawks also saw their season end in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament as Kansas went down against 10-seed Arkansas in the first round. The Kansas basketball team started the season ranked #1 in the country and they had a roster filled with elite transfer portal talent. They ended up being a seven-seed in the tournament, and they didn’t win a game. That could hurt future chances in the portal with guys like Donovan Dent.
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