James Madison forward Justin McBride commits to Kentucky

Kentucky has earned its third commitment of the transfer portal this cycle — and it’s at a position of desperate need for the Wildcats. After losing both Mo Dioubate (LSU) and Andrija Jelavic (Ohio State), the program was left with zero players at the power forward spot. That has changed with the official addition of James Madison’s Justin McBride, who joins Washington’s Zoom Diallo and Furman’s Alex Wilkins among incoming transfers.

McBride, a 6-foot-7 forward out of Plano, TX, took an official visit to Lexington earlier this month and it didn’t take long for him to move forward with a commitment. Louisville was also under serious consideration with SMU, Florida State and Baylor also expressing interest. His trip to UK would be the only he’d take before putting pen to paper.

“The biggest thing was to get back to high-major. With Mark Pope, the values of what he wants, playing that four-man, and being able to push the ball, and stretch the floor,” McBride told Jacob Polacheck of KSR+. “I can be that shooting factor and make a big impact there. I appreciate that he let me get the opportunity to be there.” 

The former Duke earned Third Team All-Sun Belt honors as a junior after averaging 15.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest in 2025-26 with shooting splits of 49/40/78. Before James Madison, he spent the 2023-24 season at Oklahoma State and the 2024-25 season at Nevada, averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds as a freshman and 7.8 points and 4.2 rebounds as a sophomore.

“For the Kentucky fans, you’re getting a person that’s determined to win and buy in,” McBride said. “I want the fans to be there for us. I can’t wait to jump aboard and get ready to play there.” 

Coming out of high school, McBride was rated as the No. 125 overall prospect and No. 40 power forward in the 2023 class, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.

NEWS: James Madison transfer forward Justin McBride has committed to Kentucky, he told @On3.

The 6-7 junior averaged 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season, shooting 40% from three. https://t.co/v0PBp5zZ1q pic.twitter.com/piKYR7RPdV

— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) April 28, 2026

After bouncing around to begin his career, he finally broke through under Preston Spradlin — the former Morehead State head coach who spent five years on John Calipari’s staff at Kentucky from 2009-14, starting as a graduate assistant before taking over as director of operations. In his first season leading the Dukes in Harrisonburg, McBride helped Spradlin to an 18-15 final record for an eighth-place finish in the Sun Belt. The newest Wildcat led the team in scoring on ten occasions with 31 games with 30 total starts.

“The addition of Justin will change the entire complexion of our team,” Spradlin said. “With his size, skill, and athleticism, he will be a true inside/out mismatch. His efficiency in limited minutes shows great promise for his future production as he steps into a larger role on our team.”