As usual with the transfer portal, Kentucky got some negative news before Saturday, but it had gained a probable starting point guard Saturday morning.
Pittsburgh transfer point guard Jaland Lowe committed to the Wildcats, marking the second portal pickup of a top 26 player in this cycle.
Lowe joined Kam Williams, a guard/forward transfer from Tulane, who committed to Kentucky a little over a week ago.
Lowe will have two seasons of eligibility remaining, and will likely replace Lamont Butler as Kentucky’s starting point guard for the 2025-26 season. Lowe can also help the transition for incoming four-star freshman point guard Acaden Lewis.
Lowe is a 6-foot-3, 175-pounder who was a four-star transfer portal prospect ranked as the fifth-best point guard in the portal and the 20th-best player in the transfer portal overall, according to 247sports’ rankings.
He was third-team All-ACC this season as he started all 31 games for the Panthers at point guard and put up team-high 16.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while also pulling down 4.2 rebounds per game.
He shot 37.6% from the field, 26.6% (41-for-154) from three and 88.6% (147-for-166) from the free throw line.
Lowe was the leading scorer for Pitt in an 82-78 loss to Louisville this season with 24 points after going a perfect 13 for 13 at the free throw line. Lowe also had six assists, two rebounds and a steal.
When Louisville finished the regular season sweep of Pitt with a 79-68 win March 1 in the KFC Yum Center, Lowe was big again with a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds.
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey didn’t need convincing after seeing Lowe up close score 40 points for Pitt in the two matchups with the Cardinals.
“No. 15 (Lowe) is a dynamic guard,” Kelsey said. “He puts fouls on you. He’s as fast and quick twitch as any guard we’re going to play against. He’s got this uncanny knack when he gets to the rim. He’s got this ability, like, at the last second, to go whoop and fire that thing for threes. We call it matrix, right? So, you’ve seen the movie The Matrix, you know, like when the bullets are flying over the guy’s head, and they watch it. Well, [Lowe] throws these passes that, if you ball watch, he’s going to find that dude.
“They got too many open looks off of that. We actually got lucky a couple times that they missed some of those open looks. But we knew it was going to come to a one-on-one challenge, because [Lowe is] a terrific one-on-one player. He wants to go left, and you try everything in your power to keep him from going left, and he gets to his left somehow, some way.”
UK is still looking for a power forward, a center and a strong outside shooter.
Lowe’s commitment helped offset the news that Michigan had landed Yaxel Lendeborg, the No. 1 rated player in the portal, although Kentucky put up a pretty good chase for the former UAB standout.
But, whether Lendeborg actually plays another year of college basketball is up for grabs. The top-ranked transfer, fresh off a season at UAB in which he averaged a double-double, will go through the NBA Draft process in the coming months before he decides whether to play for the Wolverines.
