Kentucky football loses a second quarterback to NCAA transfer portal this week
The University of Kentucky’s quarterback room will be a little less full heading into 2021.
Nik Scalzo, a former three-star recruit who’s spent two years with the Wildcats, has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal. Scalzo has not yet announced his transfer but the school’s athletic department confirmed a report from Alabama.com’s Matt Zenitz that the redshirt freshman was leaving UK.
Scalzo, who was featured on the Netflix series “QB1: Beyond the Lights,” suffered a season-ending knee injury that required surgery on his ACL in his final high school game. He arrived at Kentucky as part of the 2019 signing class and was in contention for the backup job behind Terry Wilson heading into the 2019 season before suffering a second ACL tear on the same knee during fall camp. He was believed to be available during the 2020 season, if needed, but he was never listed on the depth chart and never appeared in a game for the Wildcats.
On Monday, Scalzo posted to Twitter a video package of personal highlights from his time on scout team during practices this season. Along with that post he wrote that his knee is “100%.”
Because of the NCAA’s blanket eligibility waiver in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its expected adoption of a rule allowing immediate eligibility for first-time transfers this month, Scalzo would have four years of eligibility at his next school.
Scalzo’s departure means both quarterbacks who signed as part of the 2019 class are no longer on the roster. Amani Gilmore, who played a handful of snaps as a true freshman in 2019, transferred to North Texas following the end of that season.
He is the third Kentucky player to announce his transfer in the offseason, joining defensive back M.J. Devonshire, another member of the 2019 signing class, and Terry Wilson, the Wildcats’ starting quarterback at the beginning of the last three seasons.
Joey Gatewood, who will be a junior academically but could play up to three seasons still at UK, and Beau Allen, who will be a redshirt freshman, are the expected front-runners for Kentucky’s open quarterback job. Kaiya Sheron, a Somerset High School standout, was the only quarterback UK signed as part of the 2021 class. Graduate student Sawyer Smith could remain on the roster because of the NCAA’s waiver eligibility, but he has not made his intentions known.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 4:38 PM.
