Kentucky Basketball: Wildcats make Matt Haarms final 3, interested in VCU transfer?

Help may be on the way for Kentucky Basketball, now an official finalist for Purdue grad transfer Matt Haarms.

Kentucky Basketball may be able to fill their biggest 2020 needs after all. The Wildcats are desperately in need of adding a quality big man with experience, and the Cats received good news, on Tuesday, as they made Purdue transfer Matt Haarms final three, per 247Sports’ Evan Daniels.

Haarms is now down to Kentucky, BYU, and Texas Tech. Meaning that Arizona, Arkansas, Boston College, Gonzaga, Memphis, Minnesota, and UNC Greensboro didn’t make the cut from his initial list. Arizona and Gonzaga were thought to be the biggest challengers to Kentucky to obtain the 7-3 center’s services.

However, Jeff Goodman of The Stadium thinks that the battle is now between the Wildcats and Red Raiders. Although it should not be a huge surprise that former Wildcat and NBA player Mark Pope has BYU as a finalist. Haarms is expected to make his decision sometime this week.

Regardless of where the 7-3 center ultimately ends up, he is expected to make an immediate impact. But I think the best fit for him is Kentucky. The Wildcats have the ability to surround him with a lot of talent. Therefore they should be able to allow him to do what he does best, which is protecting the rim and scoring around the basket.

Haarms may not be the only one headed to Lexington as SBNation’s A Sea of Blue Aaron Gershon tweeted out late last night. Kentucky has three scholarships left for the 2020 season.

"“SOURCE: Kentucky has indeed landed a graduate transfer to improve their front court for next season. Should hear more in coming days.”"

Obviously, it is assumed that Gershon is talking about Haarms. But A Sea of Blue’s Jason Marcum and Adam Haste is reporting that incoming freshman Terrence Clark is also recruiting VCU transfer Marcus Santos-Silva to become the next Wildcat. Santos-Silva entered the NCAA transfer portal on Monday.

Despite standing at just 6-7, the 250-pounder is a talented post player. Santos-Silva produced 10 double-doubles and averaged 12.8 points along with 8.9 caroms and 1.3 blocks while shooting 56.9% from the field last season for the Rams. He topped the 20-point mark four times and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds against Dayton in mid-February. Foul trouble has been an issue for the Taunton (WA) native.

However, Santos-Silva may or not be eligible to play immediately. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello recently tweeted that while he is not listed as a grad transfer, his goal is to graduate in three years though the Washington native has a few summer classes to take. Even if Santos-Silva does not graduate this summer, there is a chance that the NCAA passes the one-time transfer waiver that allows transfers to be immediately eligible. It is believed the rule, if passed may not go into effect until 2021, so we will have to see.

Another possibility for the Big Blue, according to Marcum, is Evansville transfer, DeAndre Williams. Williams averaged 15.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and one block in his first season for the Purple Aces.

The 6-9, 190-pound sophomore forward also shot 64.8% from the field as well as 45.5% from beyond the arc. He produced 1.7 points per shot and scored in double-figures on 10 occasions, including topping the 20-point mark seven times. However, back issues cost him most of January and February. The Houston native also fouled out in five of his 18 appearances and picked up three technical fouls.

While Williams is slated to sit out the 2020-21 season per NCAA rules, he would still be a quality pickup for a Kentucky team that recycles its roster annually.