New Mexico guard Donovan Dent entered the transfer portal at the beginning of the week after the Lobos exited the NCAA Tournament and coach Richard Pitino left for the Xavier Musketeers. The talented guard was heavily linked with a move to Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats.
On Friday, Dent announced that he had committed to the UCLA Bruins, coached by Mick Cronin. He led the Lobos to a famous win against the Bruins earlier in the season, tallying 17.0 points and 8.0 assists.
Cronin recruited the guard when he starred for Centennial High School, California in 2022 but ultimately passed on him because of the commitment of guard Dylan Andrews. While speaking to reporters after news of Dent's commitment broke, Cronin revealed that he had advised Richard Pitino to recruit the point guard.
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“Dylan had committed to us,” Cronin said. “I told Richard – not that he needed me to tell him, his staff was on this – that this guy is going to be tremendous. We already had Dylan Andrews coming in in the same class. I saw Donny (Dent) play a million times whether it was AAU or with Centennial.”
College basketball fans on X had mixed reactions to Donovan Dent committing to the Bruins.
Some fans debated the viability of Dent going to UCLA over Kentucky.
"Bad to worse for Kentucky fans," one fan tweeted.
"He was never going to Kentucky it was ucla all the way," another fan tweeted.
"I’m a LOBOS fan, and I wish he had gone to Kentucky….UCLA is close to home, so maybe that was the deciding factor…" one fan tweeted.
Donovan Dent's stellar season for New Mexico
Donovan Dent had a season to remember for the New Mexico Lobos and he finished the season in stellar fashion scoring 20.0 or more points in nine of his final 10 games including 21.0 points in a win against the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Dent won the Mountain West Player of the Year award and was named first-team All-Mountain West after averaging 20.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists for the Lobos. He was ranked top 15 in points and assists in the nation.
During Friday's segment of the "Hoops Head" podcast, analyst Kevin Lucas highlighted the impact that Dent could have on the Bruins next season.
"One of the most dynamic point guards in America," Lucas said. "Immediately gives UCLA another offensive gear that they just didn’t have this past season. Can make something out of nothing and is an elite finisher at the rim"
Donovan Dent will replace Dylan Andrews, who was the UCLA Bruins' starting point guard for the past two seasons but entered the transfer portal on Wednesday evening.
