Washington basketball's starting center transfers to Kentucky
Former Washington Huskies center Franck Kepnang found a new home for his final year of eligibility in the transfer portal.
After spending the last four seasons as one of the faces of the Washington Huskies , Franck Kepnang will spend his final season with the Kentucky Wildcats. On Saturday afternoon, the 6-foot-11 center from Yaounde, Cameroon, utilized the transfer portal for the second time in his college basketball career to spend what is widely expected to be his final year of eligibility with coach Mark Pope in the SEC. He will also join his former UW teammate, Zoom Diallo, who announced his intentions to make the move to Lexington in April.
After battling various injuries that limited him to just 32 games over his first three seasons on Montlake, Kepnang was able to stay healthy for the majority of the 2025-26 season for coach Danny Sprinkle, playing in 27 games and posting 6. 2 points, 6. 3 rebounds, and 2.
1 blocks per contest. BREAKING: Washington transfer center Franck Kepnang has committed to Kentucky😼 https://t. co/DPpwUanDsI pic.
twitter. com/Kj7FvtdIP5 — Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) May 9, 2026 During his UW career, Kepnang established himself as a tenacious defender with high-end athleticism who plays with a seemingly endless amount of energy no matter if he was in the starting lineup or coming off the bench. Over 59 career appearances, he averaged 7.