As Kentucky fans were heartbroken to watch their squad fall short in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen versus Tennessee, the hits kept coming in the transfer portal.
Despite Kentucky being a frontrunner for New Mexico star point guard Donovan Dent, the former Lobo instead chose to commit to UCLA and Head Coach Mick Cronin while Kentucky was still on the court against the Vols.
Joe Tipton of On3 Sports first broke the news on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Dent, a guard out of Riverside, California, averaged 20.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists per night with the Lobos, helping lead Richard Pitino’s squad to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
In New Mexico’s first-round upset of Marquette, Dent dropped a team-high 21 points with six assists to help secure the 75-66 victory.
While the Lobos would fall to Michigan State in the second round, Dent still scored double digits, walking away with 14 points and six assists in the 71-63 loss. The Lobos finished the year 27-8 and Pitino accepted the head coaching job at Xavier.
Dent had several star-making performances across the season, scoring 40 against VCU in December, 34 at UNLV in January and 33 at Nevada in early March. In fact, he scored 20+ in seven of the Lobos’ last eight regular season games and eight of the Lobos’ last 10 on the season.
Earning Mountain West Player of the Year honors, Dent quickly became one of the highest sought after transfers in the portal after throwing his name into the mix.
Dent himself posted a highlight reel of his time with UNM when his transfer intentions were made public with the caption, “Forever grateful 
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He quickly became a hot commodity for Kentucky, which is losing its starting point guard, Lamont Butler, at the end of the season due to the former San Diego State Aztec having exhausted all of his collegiate eligibility.
Pushing heavily to recruit Dent, Jacob Polacheck of KSR reported on Thursday that Kentucky was gaining momentum after the point guard confirmed he’d been contacted by UK Assistant Coach Jason Hart and Pope on Tuesday.
Regardless, Dent chose to commit to Cronin and UCLA, going back to his home state of California and moving to Los Angeles.
Kentucky will likely continue its search for a veteran point guard in the transfer portal as the loss of Butler will be felt significantly.
