After two seasons with Kentucky basketball, Adou Thiero is sticking with John Calipari
Adou Thiero was the first Kentucky basketball player to enter the NCAA transfer portal this offseason. And now, he’s announced his new college home. On Monday, Thiero — a 6-foot-8, 222-pound player with two seasons of college basketball experience — announced on Instagram he is following former Kentucky coach John Calipari to Arkansas. Thiero chose the Razorbacks from a final list of five schools that also included Indiana, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and a return to UK.
Despite being a lightly regarded high school recruit from near Pittsburgh in the 2022 recruiting class, Thiero had an outsized impact on the UK program over the last two seasons. Thiero played sporadically as a freshman, deputizing in a variety of roles for UK due to injuries and other player availability issues on that 2022-23 roster. Last season as a sophomore, Thiero was one of the best defensive players on the UK team and probably its most physical. He started 19 of 25 games as a sophomore, missing eight games due to injury and a continued growth spurt. Thiero provided a physicality and toughness that was often praised by Calipari. He also brought a distinct blend of athleticism, size and skill to the court.
My role — I don’t know. Once again, it changes every game,” Thiero said in March about his role at UK. “Sometimes I have to score. Sometimes it’s just rebounding. Like the Tennessee game, I didn’t really score. I just had a couple of rebounds and blocked shots. But I think if I can just bring energy — always try and get offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, a couple of blocks, some steals — if that’s what I have to do for us to win, then I’ll do that. I think I just gotta come in and play … as hard as I can, and we should be in the right place.” Thiero averaged 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 blocks as a sophomore at Kentucky. He only played seven minutes in his final UK game, a first round NCAA Tournament defeat to Oakland in March. According to college basketball statistician Evan Miyakawa, Thiero ranked as the No. 132 overall player in the transfer portal, as of Monday afternoon.
MARK POPE CONSTRUCTS HIS FIRST KENTUCKY BASKETBALL ROSTER Mark Pope is building his first UK basketball roster from scratch. Along with Thiero, Aaron Bradshaw (Ohio State), Joey Hart (Ball State) and Zvonimir Ivisic (Arkansas) are players from the 2023-24 Kentucky squad that will transfer to new schools. Additionally, Jordan Burks, Ugonna Onyenso and D.J. Wagner are still in the NCAA transfer portal.
Also from last season’s team, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard have declared for the 2024 NBA draft. Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves have exhausted their college eligibility. Five of the six players that Calipari had lined up as part of Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class decommitted from the UK program and will be going to new schools. Three of these players — Boogie Fland, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond — have committed to Calipari and Arkansas. Somto Cyril will be going to Georgia and Jayden Quaintance will be going to Arizona State.
