Elijah Hawkins to visit Kentucky Basketball; Deivon Smith looks unlikely for

The Kentucky Wildcats landed a commitment from Lamont Butler on Friday, which comes on the heels of a major weekend of transfer visitors.

Utah point guard Deivon Smith was expected to be among the group of college transfers making their way to Lexington in the coming days.

However, it appears that’s no longer happening.

Earlier Friday, KSR’s Matt Jones reported that Kentucky was no longer likely to get Smith. The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker later added that there were hurdles needed to get through for Smith to land at Kentucky.

It sounds like the issue is transcripts-related, which Kevin Sweeney discussed on Twitter about being an issue across the sport with multi-time transfers.

Remember, Smith began his career at Mississippi State, transferred to Georgia Tech, then to Utah, and is now about to be on his fourth school, so that may explain where the issue is coming from.

With hopes of landing Smith fading, another point guard is moving up Kentucky’s big board.

According to On3’s Joe Tipton, Minnesota transfer point guard Elijah Hawkins is visiting Kentucky early next week. The three-year veteran is currently set to visit Texas Tech this weekend.

Hawkins was originally an unranked prospect in the class of 2021. He played for DeMatha Catholic in Maryland, one of the biggest names in high school hoops, and ultimately signed with the Howard Bison of the MEAC. Hawkins spent two years at Howard, then entered the transfer portal in 2023 before committing to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

This past season, he averaged 9.5 points on 39.3% shooting (36.4% on 3-pointers), 7.5 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 33.3 minutes per contest. He had 17 assists in a December win over IUPUI and 15 dimes in an NIT victory over Butler, so he’s as good of a passer as you’ll find in college basketball.

While Kentucky has several visits lined up this weekend, none of them are true point guards like Hawkins is. That spot is the biggest need for this roster currently.

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