A big name enters the college basketball transfer portal. Kentucky has now reached out.

Morehead State basketball star Johni Broome has entered his name in the transfer portal.

Broome — a 6-foot-10 post player from Plant City, Fla. — has been a star player for the Eagles over the last two seasons, leading them to the NCAA Tournament last year. Morehead State returned to the Ohio Valley Conference title game this season, losing narrowly to Murray State with another NCAA bid on the line.

He had 32 points in that game, which could be his final appearance with Morehead State.

Broome averaged 16.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.9 blocked shots per game for the Eagles this past season, tallying the third-most blocks in the country, behind only Western Kentucky’s Jamarion Sharp and Auburn’s Walker Kessler.

He will immediately be one of the top names in the transfer portal. Broome has also entered his name in the 2022 NBA Draft, but it’s unclear what his prospects will be there. He is not ranked among ESPN’s top 100 players for the draft.

On Tuesday morning, 247Sports analyst Travis Branham reported that Broome had been in contact with every member of Kentucky’s coaching staff since putting his name in the transfer portal the previous day. Broome had already heard from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Cincinnati, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Gonzaga, Louisiana State, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Texas, Texas Tech and West Virginia, among other schools, by Monday night.

UK is indeed likely to emerge as a possible landing spot for Broome, though the Cats’ chances could largely be dependent on what UK star Oscar Tshiebwe decides to do this offseason.

The national player of the year could return to Lexington for a second season with the Wildcats, though he is also expected to test the NBA Draft waters, where he’s currently projected as a second-round pick with possible first-round upside.

If Tshiebwe decides to keep his name in the draft, Broome would be one of the top post player options in the portal. Home-state Florida has some buzz as a possible favorite for Broome, who likely will be in no hurry to make any kind of transfer decision.

Kentucky is expected to return McDonald’s All-American power forward Daimion Collins, a high-potential prospect who played sparingly in his freshman season. Sophomore forward Lance Ware would be the only other potential returnee in the post if Tshiebwe leaves.

Broome’s coach the past two seasons has been Preston Spradlin, a former UK staffer who left Lexington to be an assistant coach at Morehead State. Spradlin was named the team’s interim head coach during the 2016-17 season and landed that job on a full-time basis in 2017. He led the Eagles to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 last year and recently signed a contract extension to stay with the program through the 2025-26 season.