Kenny Brooks has officially lost his first player in the ever-growing NCAA transfer portal as international sensation Clara Silva entered the transfer portal with a “do not contact” tag as first reported by On3’s Talia Goodman.

The DNC tag means that Silva possibly already knows where she is going, but has not officially announced her new landing spot. It could also mean she wishes for all contact to go through an agent.

The freshman from Portugal became only the second player in program history to reach the height of 6-feet, 7-inches, and one of only 15 players in the NCAA to stand at that height or above. 

Silva, like many, was initially committed to Virginia Tech but chose to follow Kenny Brooks to Kentucky after being announced as the program’s new head coach.

Silva was one of the world’s top international prospects in the 2024 class and shined playing overseas for the Portugal U18 team by going undefeated in the EuroBasket group phase during the FIBA U18 EuroBasket Championships. 

If she were American, many sources said she would have been named a top-10 player out of high school.

In her lone season at Kentucky, Silva started her first two games with 11 blocks, which tied the second-most BPG in the nation. Following this performance, she was quickly named SEC Freshman of the Week (Nov. 12, 2024).

Silva went 6-of-6 from the field in two games this season. Against USC Upstate, she became the first player since Makayla Epps in 2014 to go perfect from the field with at least five FGs made. Her other perfect performance came against No. 7 LSU on Feb. 23.

Against USC Upstate, she also recorded six blocks and was only one block shy of the single-game individual and freshman program record. By the end of this season, the performance tied Teonni Key for the third-most blocks in a single game in program history.

Silva played in 30 games this season and averaged 4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 0.5 APG, 1.1 BPG and 1 TO. She shot 56.5% from the field and averaged 1.6 offensive and defensive rebounds per game.

The portal announcement makes sense in some respects, as she shares the five-spot on the Wildcats with SEC Defensive Player of the Year Clara Strack.

Silva’s size and talent would greatly serve many teams and would allow her to get consistent starting minutes as she continues to develop and adjust to American basketball. Silva will have three years remaining of eligibility.