Another son of a former Kentucky basketball star has entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Note: On April 28, Jalen Blackmon committed to Miami (Fla.) out of the NCAA transfer portal.
Another son of a former standout Kentucky men’s basketball player has entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Just a few days after Jamal Mashburn Jr. — the son of ex-Cat Jamal Mashburn — entered the portal after previous college stops at Minnesota and New Mexico, a mid-major star has followed the same route.
Jalen Blackmon — a standout guard at Stetson and the son of ex-Cat James Blackmon — put his name in the transfer portal Wednesday.
The younger Blackmon began his college basketball career at Grand Canyon in the 2021-22 season before transferring and playing the last two seasons at Stetson, a Florida school in the ASUN Conference. Since that transfer to the Hatters, Blackmon’s scoring numbers have exploded.
He averaged 15.4 points per game across 31 games last season and 21.3 points across 35 games, all starts, this season. Blackmon ranks in the top 15 in the nation in points per game for the 2023-24 season.
This included a 43-point performance in the ASUN Conference Tournament championship game to lead Stetson to a win and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
According to college basketball statistician Evan Miyakwa, Blackmon ranks as the No. 447 overall transfer portal player.
Stetson, a 16 seed, lost to No. 1 overall seed and defending national champions UConn 91-52 in the first round of March Madness. Blackmon, a native of Marion, Indiana, had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists in that game.
The Blackmon family has been synonymous with college basketball in recent decades.
James Blackmon was a 1983 McDonald’s All-American who played four seasons at UK from 1983 to 1987. Blackmon was a freshman member of Kentucky’s 1984 Final Four team. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1987 NBA draft.
James Blackmon Jr, an older brother to Jalen, was also a McDonald’s All-American, in 2014, and played at Indiana from 2014 to 2017. Another of Jalen’s older brothers, Vijay, played at three colleges: Saint Francis (NAIA), Indiana and Lindenwood.
The NCAA transfer portal is open until May 1, and comes with some changes this year. The most significant change relates to the December news that the NCAA is allowing all athletes to transfer for a second time through the end of the 2023-24 season, without having to sit out a season.
Other transfer portal conditions include players having a 30-day window to enter the portal following a coaching change and graduate transfers being allowed to enter the portal at any time.
This story was originally published March 27, 2024, 1:25 PM.
Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas.
