BYU basketball is not out of the running for Rob Wright III, as Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 reported that the Cougars are one of two final choices for the Cougars' most recent starting point guard. Per his report, BYU will have to wrestle with familiar foe Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats for Wright's services.
Sounds like it’s pretty much down to Kentucky or back to BYU, source told @TheFieldOf68.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 12, 2026
Obviously, things can change in this day and age where big money is involved.
But that’s how is looks right now. https://t.co/5YuUzT4Vpi
Though not completely relieving, this report suggests that Rob Wright's declarations of intent to return to BYU following the Cougars' NCAA Tournament exit weren't empty promises -- he's simply negotiating and weighing his options before making a final decision on the setting of his junior season.
That, or he's leveraging a potential return to BYU to get the highest possible offer from Kentucky. That argument could go both ways.
A player who's entered the transfer portal after both his freshman and sophomore seasons, Wright received waves of interest upon entering the transfer portal, but has quickly narrowed down his options to just two: transfer and join Mark Pope at Kentucky or stay with Kevin Young and BYU. The latter is becoming more and more of a legitimate possibility.
He'll take an official visit to Lexington on Monday, April 13th.
Source: BYU transfer Rob Wright will visit Kentucky on Monday.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 12, 2026
Averaged 18.1 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 3.5 RPG last season.
Per Robby McCombs, Wright's initial asking price to be retained at BYU was too hefty for even the deep pockets of the university's NIL fund, and would have made Wright one of the highest-paid athletes in all of college basketball. Whether BYU couldn't or wouldn't meet his fee, the athletic department declined, sending him to search elsewhere.
Either Wright had a change of heart, or the market wasn't as lucrative as he expected, because the junior point guard's asking price has gone down, and BYU is firmly back in the running to run it back for another season, finally retaining one of Kevin Young's starters from last season.
BYU wants Wright back badly, both for consistency's sake -- college basketball teams are historically stronger when they return a high percentage of the previous year's players -- and because, at face value, Wright may be the most valuable point guard currently on the market. Win-win.
Kentucky is also involved with Washington transfer Zoom Diallo, and his commitment could play a major factor if he opts to go Big Blue before Wright can fill that spot, essentially defaulting a return to Provo for Rob Wright.