Former Auburn Forward Re-Enters Transfer Portal After One-Year Stint at Utah

A former Auburn Tigers small forward, and a member of last year’s 2025 Final Four squad, is on the move again.

Utah forward Jahki Howard has entered the transfer portal after one year out west with the Utes, according to a report from On3 earlier this week.

Former Utah forward Jahki Howard plans to enter the @TransferPortal, he told @On3.

The 6-foot-6 sophmore began his college career at Auburn and is a former 4⭐️ recruit. https://t.co/kY6oWuY4VP pic.twitter.com/dvP1rOAWMn
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) March 17, 2026

Howard spent one season on the Plains before hitting the portal at the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament and landing at Utah. The Overtime Elite product signed with Auburn as one of the highest-touted small forward prospects in the nation and a top-100 player nationally, per 247Sports, but he never exactly found his way into the rotation with the Tigers.

In what turned out to be Bruce Pearl’s final season as Auburn’s head coach, Howard played in 21 games in the orange and blue, and he came off the bench in all of them. He averaged 4.2 points and 1.1 rebounds per game in his freshman campaign, shooting 53.6% from the field and 40.9% from behind the arc.

Howard’s two best games as an Auburn Tiger, statistically, came during their non-conference slate. The former four-star posted 13 points against Richmond and 11 in Auburn’s blowout win over Ohio State in Atlanta, Ga., at Holiday Hoopsgiving.

He saw minimal action in the homestretch of the season, though, as he played just two minutes in Auburn’s first and second round games of the NCAA Tournament.

Following his transfer to Utah after Auburn made its second-ever Final Four appearance, Howard found even less success with the Utes. According to ESPN, he touched the court in just six games during the 2025-26 season, in which 6.8 minutes per outing.

Howard played for 10 minutes or more in just two games, during which he scored three points combined, before reports emerged in mid-January that he had stepped away from the program “to attend to family matters.”

It’s difficult to predict where he will play his third season of college basketball, but it will certainly be interesting for Auburn fans to see his potential progression at his next stop.