Former Lafayette standout, UK quarterback Walker Wood enters NCAA transfer portal
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Mark Stoops during a Wednesday news conference said that a scholarship quarterback was exploring a transfer. That quarterback’s name was revealed shortly thereafter.
A spokesperson for the University of Kentucky confirmed multiple media reports that Walker Wood has entered the transfer portal. The former Lafayette High School standout is expected to graduate and will have two years of eligibility remaining at his next school.
He will remain with the team until after its game against Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl.
Wood was a January enrollee as part of UK’s 2017 signing class but was plagued by injuries and surgeries early on. He made his debut for the Wildcats this season, rushing three times for 22 yards and throwing for 15 yards on 2-for-3 passing.
Stoops during his news conference — scheduled as part of UK’s signing day — was asked about how many quarterbacks he expects to have on his roster heading into spring.
“We’ll see where that goes,” Stoops said. “I think for sure at least one has talked to me about going in the portal at this point in time. So we’ll see where that heads with those guys.”
At Lafayette, Wood was a Mr. Football finalist and Class of the Commonwealth selection his senior season and led the Generals to back-to-back appearances in the Class 6A state championship game, a first for a Lexington public school. He threw 30 touchdowns and rushed for 31 scores in his senior year, after which he was named the 2016 Paul Hornung Award high school winner.
UK after Wood’s departure would have six scholarship quarterbacks on its roster in January: Beau Allen, Joey Gatewood, Amani Gilmore, Nik Scalzo, Sawyer Smith and Terry Wilson.
Expect more attrition
When accounting for scholarship seniors who will soon graduate and Lynn Bowden, who’s said he will forego his senior season and enter the NFL Draft in April, Kentucky will have 67 players on scholarship before new commitments enter the fold.
UK officially welcomed 20 new players on Wednesday (Gatewood, junior-college transfer Jeremy Flax and 18 freshmen signees). It has one other high school senior committed — running back Torrance Davis — and are favored to land Bowling Green’s Vito Tisdale and Louisiana’s Joel Williams, both four-star defensive backs from whom UK feels good about landing commitments.
“We’ll add a couple more,” Stoops said. “And it’s going to be really good.”
Even if the amount of newcomers remains at 20, Kentucky probably would have to lose two more players as early entrants to the NFL Draft or as transfers in order to accommodate them. It has only 18 open scholarship slots of the 85 allowed by the NCAA, and would have only 17 left if senior Phil Hoskins is granted an appeal for a sixth year of eligibility, in the midst of which UK is pursuing.
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 5:56 PM.
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