Three best Aaron Bradshaw transfer portal destinations after leaving Kentucky basketball

The college basketball season came to a close earlier this week when the UConn basketball team took down Purdue in the national title game. It was the second national title in a row for the Huskies, and with it, the season came to a close. Now, the offseason is upon us, and with coaching changes and the transfer portal, there will be no shortage of news in the coming months. We already saw a lot of big changes during the NCAA Tournament, and the transfer portal was open during that time as well. Now that is everything is done, however, things are really going to ramp up.

Today's era of college basketball is very different than it was just a few years ago before the NIL days and before players could transfer to other schools so easily. A lot of people have issues with the way that things are going in this era. Most people agree on the positives and see why NIL and the transfer portal are the way they are. Schools were making huge profits off of these players without them getting any money in the past. It also used to be much more difficult to transfer schools, and a lot of kids had good reason to do it but couldn't just because it was such a big ordeal and they would often have to sit out for a season.

Now, everything has changed, and for those two reasons, it has had a positive impact on the game. However, it also led to players asking for absurd amounts of NIL money from schools before they have even done anything, and some players decide to transfer the second that things aren't going perfectly at one school. Because of that, there are people that have an issue with this era of college sports. It's difficult to find the perfect balance.

Still, the transfer portal is there and it is a huge part of the game now. When a coach leaves a school, there is almost always a large amount of transfer exits from that school. However, a new coach comes in and has access to the transfer portal and can build up a roster before the season begins. With the portal being available for everybody, there is always hope in the offseason of revamping a roster when in the past there wasn't much of a chance to do that.

Kentucky big man Aaron Bradshaw is in the transfer portal

Kentucky basketball forward Aaron Bradshaw is in the transfer portal after a tumultuous stretch for the Wildcats. Kentucky had a good regular season and they earned a three seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats have struggled in the tournament in recent years, and this looked like a good opportunity for them to make a deep run. However, they were stunned in the first round by #14 seed Oakland, and it was another disappointing end to the season for Kentucky.

After that loss, a lot of Kentucky fans wanted head John Calipari fired. His buyout was big, but he hasn't made the Final Four since 2015. He had a ton of success before then as well, and the Wildcats have still had a lot of good teams since then. They just haven't been able to put it together when it matters most.

Kentucky didn't fire John Calipari. They decided that they wanted to keep him around, but Calipari then made the shocking decision to leave on his own and take the head coaching job at Arkansas. No one saw it coming, and now the Wildcats have hired Mark Pope away from BYU as their new head coach.

As for Aaron Bradshaw, he had an okay freshman season. It wasn't anything crazy, but he still averaged around 13 minutes per game and was a role player. He averaged 4.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG and .3 APG. Now, he is in the transfer portal, and he is looking for a new home. Here are a few good fits for him.

Arkansas

If Aaron Bradshaw wants to follow his head coach, then Arkansas is the place for him. That is a pretty common move for players in the transfer portal. When a coach leaves, it usually results in a lot of players leaving the team, and there are usually some that follow the head coach to the new destination. We will likely see this a lot of that in the portal this season. Arkansas will likely get some Kentucky guys, Kentucky will likely get some BYU guys, USC will likely get some Arkansas guys and so on.

Bradshaw following John Calipari could be a smart move. He clearly has a ton of potential and he is 7'1″, so he will likely get a good amount of attention, but after not putting up crazy stats next year, it wouldn't hurt to go somewhere with a coach that is already familiar with what he can do. It would also make for a much easier transition to a new school.

UConn

Obviously, the transfer portal is a two-way street, but what player wouldn't want to go UConn right now, especially a big fella like Aaron Bradshaw that just saw the success Donovan Clingan had there. The Huskies are losing their star big man to the NBA, and they are on the hunt for another one. Michigan transfer Tarris Reed is one example that is visiting soon. The interest has to be there from UConn, but if it is, it would be a hard destination to turn down.

Ohio State

Aaron Bradshaw is certainly interested in Ohio State and the Buckeyes are interested in him as well as he will be visiting there. Ohio State had an interesting season last year as they were one of the worst teams in the Big Ten before firing Chris Holtmann about halfway through the season. Assistant coach Jake Diebler took over, and the Buckeyes instantly turned things around. They looked like a completely different team after Diebler took over, and they made things interesting in the Big Ten Tournament, too. They needed to win it to get into the big dance, but they came up just short against eventual champ Illinois.

The point is, there is reason to be optimistic about the future at Ohio State with Jake Diebler. There appears to be mutual interest there, and it seems like it would be a good fit for Bradshaw.