In just over a week, Kentucky’s frontcourt went from being absolutely terrifying to suddenly far less imposing after the abrupt departure of forward Mark Mitchell. With Mitchell’s departure, the door has reopened for other forwards to earn a larger role, and James Madison transfer Justin McBride is one player I’m particularly interested in seeing take advantage of the opportunity.

McBride makes his way over from Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he recently spent the 2025-26 campaign with the James Madison Dukes; there, he highlighted the Dukes’ stat sheet with a career year, leading all players in rebounds (5.6 per game) while also averaging 15.3 points and 1.5 rebounds. The difference in talent between the SEC and Sun Belt is drastic; however, the level of consistency that McBride produced last season is something worth noting.

McBride reached double digits in 22 of the 31 games he played in, and included in that were 11 different 20-plus-point performances. The 6-foot-7 Texas native even turned it up a notch higher at times, reaching 30-plus points twice, scoring 33 points against Norfolk State in December and 30 points against South Alabama in January.

McBride went on an absolute tear towards the middle of the season, scoring 15-plus points across seven different games spanning from mid-November to late December, and with the help of those outings by McBride, the Dukes went 5-2 over that stretch.

Overall, McBride finished the season shooting 49.4% from the field and 40% from deep, averaging 3.1 3-point field goal attempts per game, so he can unleash the deep ball to complement his ability to score inside the paint.

McBride teams up with fellow forwards Milan Momcilovic (Iowa State transfer), Kam Williams and Ousmane N’Diaye; together, all three of the four (Williams, N’Diaye and McBride) will have to compete for minutes.

There’s a bit of an expectation with Momcilovic, as he was the No. 2-ranked transfer in the transfer portal, coming off a season where he shot the nation’s highest 3-point shooting percentage at 48.7%, while averaging a team-high 16.9 points per game. Momcilovic shouldn’t have to compete for minutes.

In terms of Williams and N’Diaye, though, Williams is rehabbing a broken foot, which he suffered in late January of last season, while N’Diaye’s abilities are a mystery as he makes the move to Lexington following three seasons in Europe.

Depending on how well Williams comes back and how well N’Diaye adjusts, McBride could very well turn out to see a lot of time on the court, but as of now, it’s unknown. Ultimately, Mitchell’s departure may have created an unexpected opportunity for McBride to carve out a meaningful role in Kentucky’s frontcourt.

While Momcilovic appears to have a firm grip on significant minutes, questions surrounding Williams’ recovery and N’Diaye’s transition to college basketball could leave the door open for McBride. If he can carry even a portion of the scoring efficiency and consistency he displayed at James Madison into SEC play, McBride could quickly become one of Kentucky’s most important, and perhaps most overlooked, frontcourt pieces.

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