The Three Biggest Winners and Losers from the Basketball Transfer Portal in the SEC

Winner: Kentucky

While the Kentucky Wildcats have seen a ton of departures this off-season a majority have been from their highly-ranked recruiting class rather than via the transfer portal. The Kentucky transfer class is ranked third in the nation as they've brought in five transfers to its seven departures.

New Head Coach Mark Pope has brought in an impressive class to balance out the losses that followed John Calipari to Arkansas. The Wildcats have brought in seven transfers all of which will likely play massive roles in 2024. The class is headlined by Kerr Kriisa who at times has looked like a lottery pick and Andrew Carr who scored 13.5 PPG in 2023. The entire class for Kentucky has a chance to help push the team into National Contention in year one of Mark Pope.

Loser: Auburn

The off-season has been a disappointment for the Auburn Tigers after a disappointing early exit in March. The Auburn Tigers have brought in just one transfer in JP Pegues a highly talented scorer transferring in from Furman. The Tigers, however, have lost three key rotational players in Tre Donaldson who left for Michigan, K.D. Johnson who left for George Mason, and Aden Holloway who left for rival Alabama.

After winning the SEC Tournament there were high expectations for the Auburn Tigers in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers likely should've made a bigger push in the transfer portal to give Bruce Pearl a team with serious upside. The Tigers will bring in the 33rd-ranked recruiting class headlined by two top-75 recruits but, in the transfer portal, they've been a loser so far.