Kentucky has added a really developmental piece to its 2025-26 roster. On tuesday night, 2025 Top-35 wing Braydon Hawthorne announced his commitment to the Wildcats in an interview with 247 Sports. He chose Mark Pope and Kentucky over heavy contenders West Virginia and Pitt, with Duke and Virginia Tech also in consideration.
The 6-8 forward de-committed from West Virginia following the departure of former head coach Darian DeVries, who is now at Indiana. Kentucky got involved soon after his de-commitment from the Mountaineers, as the Wildcats were even his first visit after entering the transfer portal. He then took visits to his other finalists, incliuding meeting with Ross Hodge and the new coaching staff at West Virginia. Hawthorne was seen as “biggest riser” in his last season of high school at Huntington Prep in West Virginia.
Kentucky is getting a promising developmental piece in the 6-8 Hawthorne. Hawthorne really was arguably the biggest rising prospect of the high school season, as 247 Sports had him slotted outside of the Top-150 of the rankings, before now being ranked No. 33 overall in the class. It’s not often you get a Top-35 recruit as a development piece, but Kentucky seems to have gotten a steal in Hawthorne. Mark Pope and his staff have assembled a really good roster, now with 14 spots filled, counting Otega Oweh, who is currently testing the NBA Draft process.
If things work out right, Hawthorne will be a star over the next few years in Lexington as a multi-year guy out of high school. Check out some of his highlights from last season below.