After adding seven players and losing 13 in the winter transfer portal window, Kentucky football is expected to be active again in college football’s version of the free agent market during the spring window.
Players have from April 15 to April 30 to place their names in the portal. They do not have to commit to a new school during that window, but the timing was designed for players to be able to leave after spring practice and enroll at their next program in time for summer workouts.
Kentucky’s spring transfer portal work started with the addition of Southern California offensive tackle Courtland Ford. As expected, multiple Wildcats stuck at the bottom of the depth chart after spring practice have also entered the portal in search of bigger roles.
You can track all of the Wildcats’ offseason transfer portal movement below. This story will update as new transfers commit or current Wildcats enter the portal.
Kentucky football incoming transfers
LS Ron Gaines (Temple)
Few of even the most diehard fans know the name of the long snapper unless something goes wrong, but Kentucky fans became all too familiar with the position in 2022 after both Cade DeGraw and Clay Perry struggled at times. With DeGraw gone, new special teams coordinator Jay Boulware appears to have found a new option at the position. Gaines was added to the roster just before SEC Media Days. A UK spokesperson confirmed he will be on scholarship this season. At Temple, Gaines spent time as the primary long snapper for both punts and field goals, but he did not start in 2022 after Temple added a long snapper transfer from TCU. Perry will return to UK’s roster in 2023. The Wildcats also added freshman walk-on long snapper Walker Himebauch to the roster.
RB Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (NC State)
Despite leaving spring practice with four scholarship running backs on the roster and a four-star high school recruit set to join the team in the summer, Kentucky moved to further boost the depth in the room with a commitment from Sumo-Karngbaye. A former teammate of Devin Leary, Sumo-Karngbaye also received recruiting interest from South Carolina and Colorado. In eight games for NC State last season, Sumo-Karngbaye totaled 305 yards and three touchdowns on 55 carries. He caught 12 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown. Vanderbilt transfer Ray Davis is still expected to start for Kentucky, but Sumo-Karngbaye could still earn a featured role in the rotation.
DB Kevin Larkins (Livingstone)
For the second consecutive offseason, Kentucky has turned to Division II Livingstone to land a transfer defensive back. A year ago, it was cornerback Jordan Robinson. Now, it is Larkins, a sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale who grabbed eight interceptions in eight games played as a freshman. Listed at 6-foot-2, 168 pounds by Livingstone, Larkins brings the type of size and length Kentucky has been looking to add to its secondary. Robinson redshirted in his first season at UK, and it would not be a shock to see the staff follow a similar plan with Larkins. He is expected to play safety for Kentucky.
K Alex Raynor (Georgia Southern)
A year after Kentucky’s field goal unit was a consistent source of concern, Mark Stoops and new special teams coordinator Jay Boulware brought in more competition for Chance Poore with a commitment from Raynor, an honorable mention All-Sun Belt selection last season. In three years at Georgia Southern, Raynor, who initially committed to Memphis as a transfer in January, converted 45 of 59 field goals (76.3%) and 110 of 113 extra points (97.3%). His best season came in 2022 when he converted 18 of 20 field goals and 49 of 50 extra points. His career long field goal is 47 yards.
LB Daveren Rayner (Northern Illinois)
To address depth concerns at inside linebacker, Kentucky landed its second Northern Illinois transfer of the offseason. Trevin Wallace and D’Eryk Jackson are projected to start at the two inside linebacker positions in the base 3-4 defense, but history suggests at least multiple backups will need to contribute at a grueling position. Rayner totaled 126 tackles in 20 games across three seasons at Northern Illinois. As a junior, he was credited with 71 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in eight games.
OL Dylan Ray (West Virginia)
A walk-on, Ray is unlikely to play significant snaps in 2023, but he could provide some needed depth while developing for the future. West Virginia listed Ray at 6-foot-5, 293 pounds. He was used on 32 offensive snaps as a redshirt freshman in 2022.
Ben Christman (Ohio State)
A former four-star recruit, Christman committed to Kentucky shortly after the Wildcats lost projected rotation offensive linemen David Wohlabaugh and Deondre Buford to the transfer portal in the spring window. Christman played in just one game across two seasons at Ohio State but was projected to serve as a backup guard for the Buckeyes this fall before entering the transfer portal. 247Sports ranked Christman as the No. 7 interior lineman in the high school class of 2021. While Christman played guard primarily at Ohio State, he is expected to see time at both guard and tackle for Kentucky.
OT Courtland Ford (USC)
Offensive line coach Zach Yenser made it clear in spring practice the staff was open to adding a new right tackle through the transfer portal if none of the returning tackles emerged in that competition. Kentucky added that player on April 22 when Ford committed shortly after completing an official visit to Lexington. Ford appeared in 20 games across three seasons at USC with 12 starts. Most of his starts came at left tackle, but he is likely to start at right tackle for Kentucky in 2023. Ford was limited during USC’s spring practice due to what coach Lincoln Riley called a “small offseason procedure.”
DL Keeshawn Silver (North Carolina)
Kentucky replaced one former five-star recruit (Justin Rogers) with another one on its defensive line. There was initially some debate about which position Silver would play at Kentucky, but he has since confirmed he is focusing on nose guard for the Wildcats. There, he will compete with Jamarius Dinkins and Josaih Hayes to replace Rogers as the UK starter. Silver was rated as a five-star prospect as a North Carolina high school senior by the 247Sports Composite, but he played in just six games across two seasons at UNC.
QB Devin Leary (NC State)
The No. 1-ranked quarterback in the portal according to multiple national rankings, Leary picked Kentucky over Auburn. A torn pectoral muscle ended his 2022 season early, but he was one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which goes to college football’s best quarterback, in 2021. He threw 35 touchdowns with just five interceptions that season. Assuming he is healthy, Leary will replace Will Levis as Kentucky’s starting quarterback.
RB Ray Davis (Vanderbilt)
Kentucky fans need no introduction to Davis after he rushed for 129 yards and one touchdown in Vanderbilt’s November upset of UK, which snapped a 26-game SEC losing streak for the Commodores. Davis rushed for 1,042 yards for Vanderbilt last season, topping the 100-yard plateau in four SEC games. Davis, who started his college career at Temple, has rushed for 2,512 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns across four college seasons.
DB Jantzen Dunn (Ohio State)
The second former Kentucky high school star to commit to UK’s transfer class, Dunn, a South Warren High School graduate, is expected to play cornerback for the Wildcats. He was rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 2 prospect in Kentucky’s high school class of 2021 when he committed to Ohio State. Dunn appeared in six games across two seasons in Columbus but did not record any statistics.
OL Marques Cox (Northern Illinois)
Kentucky’s search for offensive line help brought the Wildcats to one of their 2022 non-conference opponents: Cox, who started 33 consecutive games at left tackle before suffering a season-ending injury against Kentucky in September. Now, the 6-foot-6, 309-pound Peoria, Illinois, native becomes the favorite to start at left tackle for the Wildcats in 2023, assuming he returns to full health. Signing Cox would allow UK to move Kenneth Horsey from left tackle back to his natural guard position if Horsey returns for his pandemic year of eligibility.
CB JQ Hardaway (Cincinnati)
A former four-star recruit who entered the transfer portal after Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell left for Wisconsin, Hardaway appeared in 11 games as a freshman for the Bearcats. He will have three years of eligibility — along with a redshirt season — at Kentucky. Hardaway’s commitment came just hours after Carrington Valentine declared for the NFL draft. Now Hardaway will compete with Maxwell Hairston, Andru Phillips and others to replace Valentine and Keidron Smith as Kentucky’s starting cornerbacks.
OL Tanner Bowles (Alabama)
Stoops kicked off his offensive line makeover with a commitment from former Glasgow High School standout Tanner Bowles on Dec. 8. Bowles played primarily on special teams at Alabama but did appear in 19 games across four seasons in Tuscaloosa. He is expected to compete for a starting offensive guard spot as a fifth-year senior at Kentucky next fall. As a four-star recruit in the high school class of 2019, Bowles committed to Alabama over Kentucky, Florida State, Georgia, LSU and Louisville.
Kentucky football outgoing transfers
Wide receiver Jordan Anthony did not catch a pass in one season playing for Kentucky football, but he broke multiple freshman records while running for the UK track team.
WR Jordan Anthony (Texas A&M)
Despite the spring transfer window closing in April, Kentucky was hit with another undergraduate departure in May when two-sport athlete Jordan Anthony announced he was leaving the program. Anthony did not catch a pass while redshirting on the football team in 2022, but he broke multiple freshman records during his first track season as a Wildcat. Anthony did not participate in spring football practice while focusing on his track season. He won the U20 national title in the 200-meter dash in the summer of 2022. In June, Anthony committed to Texas A&M, where he is expected to continue playing football and running track.
OL Deondre Buford (Cincinnati)
Buford entered the portal on the final day of the window, dealing another blow to Kentucky’s offensive line depth. The Detroit native appeared in 15 games with two starts across two seasons at Kentucky. Most of his game action came at right tackle, but he was listed as a backup guard on the depth chart fort part of the 2022 season too. Buford was unlikely to start for Kentucky this fall, but like David Wohlabaugh, who entered the portal a day earlier, Buford was going to be counted on as a rotational piece capable of developing into a future starter. In May, Buford committed to Cincinnati.
OT David Wohlabaugh (Syracuse)
After Kentucky added two new starting offensive tackles in the portal, it was not a shock to see some of the tackles already on campus reevaluate their futures. The first post-spring practice departure from that group came when Wohlabaugh entered the portal. The son of a former NFL offensive lineman, Wohlabaugh appeared in 10 games across two seasons at UK. He started the 2022 season opener at left tackle but never seemed to recover from a poor showing agianst Miami (Ohio) in that game. Still, he was going to be counted on to provided needed depth at tackle before entering the portal. On May 15, Wohlabaugh committed to Syracuse, where his father played in college.
DL Tomiwa Durojaiye (West Virginia)
Durojaiye became the first player from Delaware to commit to Kentucky in the recruiting website era in December 2021 then enrolled early for the spring 2022 semester. He appeared in three games during a redshirt season in 2022, including the Music City Bowl loss to Iowa. During spring practice, defensive coordinator Brad White praised Durojaiye for the work he had done in the weight room, saying, “His twitch and his physicality down there is going to help us,” but Durojaiye announced he was entering the portal on April 26. Durojaiye committed to West Virginia after also taking a visit to Colorado.
CB Andre Stewart (Towson)
After redshirting as a freshman in 2022, Stewart left the team during spring practice. He was on the roster provided reporters at the beginning of spring but had been removed from it by March 23. Stewart tweeted on April 18 that he had entered the transfer portal. A former three-star recruit, the Atlanta, Georgia native enrolled early at UK for the spring 2022 semester but did not appear in a game as a Wildcat. With the addition of transfer cornerbacks JQ Hardaway and Jantzen Dunn it was going to be difficult for Stewart to break into the rotation in 2023.
S Vito Tisdale (Colorado)
Unlike the other outgoing Wildcats on this list, Tisdale did not have the option to return to Kentucky. He was dismissed from the team for an undisclosed violation of team rules during spring practice. Once considered one of the most promising young talents on the UK defense, Tisdale missed all of the 2022 season with a knee injury. On April 23, Tisdale announced he was joining Deion Sanders’ massive transfer portal overhaul of the Colorado roster.
DB Kobi Albert (Mississippi State)
A four-star recruit in Kentucky’s much-hyped 2022 class, Albert appeared in 10 games as a freshman, playing primarily on special teams. When Albert flipped from Auburn to Kentucky on signing day it was considered a major coup for the Wildcats, but he arrived on campus at a position with several veteran contributors in front of him on the depth chart. Kentucky is set to return safeties Jordan Lovett, Jalen Geiger, Zion Childress and Vito Tisdale in 2023, making Albert’s path to regular snaps difficult. In January, Albert committed to SEC rival Mississippi State.
NG Justin Rogers (Auburn)
Rogers started every game at nose guard for Kentucky in 2022. He was believed to be considering a jump to the NFL draft after the season but instead decided to enter the portal shortly after the Wildcats’ Music City Bowl loss to Iowa. Rogers did not quite live up to the hype of his five-star recruiting ranking, but he was easily the Wildcats’ top option at nose guard. If he follows through on his plan to transfer, Kentucky might need to add its own transfer at the position to compete with Josaih Hayes and Jamarius Dinkins. On January 13, Rogers committed to Auburn.
OT Kiyaunta Goodwin
The highest-rated recruit to sign with Kentucky in the Stoops era, Goodwin entered the portal just one year and one day after signing with the Wildcats. Despite arriving on campus with the hype of a five-star recruit and extensive struggles from UK’s veterans, Goodwin was unable to break into the offensive line rotation as a freshman. He did not redshirt though as he appeared in every game on the field goal unit. Goodwin initially transferred to Florida but left Gainesville after one semester due to a family issue, according to multiple reports.
RB Mike Drennen
One of the crown jewels of Kentucky’s 2020 high school recruiting class, Drennen was unable to live up to his four-star hype in three years in Lexington. He started his career as a slot wide receiver then moved to running back before the 2021 season. Drennen appeared in 14 games as a Wildcat, totaling 46 yards on 17 carries and five receptions with one touchdown. Drennen did not appear in a game this season.
OL John Young (Miami, Ohio)
A former four-star recruit from Louisville’s Christian Academy, Young was unable to break into UK’s primary offensive line rotation in three years on campus. He did play in every game the last two seasons as a member of the blocking group on the field goal unit. Young was listed as Kentucky’s backup left guard on the depth chart throughout the season, but Kentucky rarely rotated away from its starting linemen. He announced on Dec. 18 that he had committed to continue his college career at Miami (Ohio).
DB Adrian Huey (Tulsa)
A former three-star recruit, Huey did not appear in a game in two years as a Wildcat. He was named to the First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll as a freshman. Huey did help leave at least one important legacy at Kentucky as the first commitment from the Wildcats’ Nashville recruiting pipeline that later sent Barion Brown, Keaten Wade and Destin Wade to Lexington. On Jan. 18, Huey committed to Tulsa.
TE Keaton Upshaw (Georgia Southern)
At the end of the 2020 season, Upshaw looked like a blossoming star for Kentucky, but he missed the entire 2021 season with an injury. By the time he returned to the field, Kentucky’s tight end room had grown more crowded. With redshirt freshman Jordan Dingle and freshman Josh Kattus emerging as the Wildcats’ top tight end options in the second half of the 2022 season, Upshaw found snaps harder to come by. he did start two of 12 games as a senior but totaled just four catches for 50 yards. Upshaw will have one season of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer. On Dec. 21, he committed to Georgia Southern.
WR Tae Tae Crumes
The fifth wide receiver to announce plans to enter the transfer portal in the week following the regular-season finale, Crumes was never able to translate his elite speed into on-field production for Kentucky. The Louisville native and former Butler High School star recorded just one reception for 10 yards in four years as a Wildcat. He did not appear in a game for Kentucky in 2022. Crumes will have two seasons of eligibility remaining at his next school.
WR Rahsaan Lewis (Georgia Southern)
Lewis’ departure does not free up a scholarship for Kentucky because he was a walk-on, but it does open more snaps in the wide receiver rotation. The son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, Rahsaan caught six passes for 65 yards and one touchdown in 2022. He spent most of the year as the Wildcats’ No. 2 slot receiver, filling in late in the year when starter Tayvion Robinson was sidelined by an injury. This would be the third transfer of Lewis’ college career. He previously played at Central Florida and Florida Atlantic. In August, Lewis pleaded guilty to a DUI charge resulting from a March arrest. In February, Lewis committed to Georgia Southern.
RB Kavosiey Smoke (Colorado)
One of the best names in college football will suit up for a different school next season. Smoke totaled 1,583 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns across five seasons for Kentucky but he was never quite able to cash in on the excitement he created with several long touchdown runs early in his career. Smoke opened the 2022 season as UK’s fill-in starter at running back while star Chris Rodriguez was injured, but he recorded just eight carries in the eight games after Rodriguez returned. Smoke will have one year of eligibility remaining at Colorado, where he committed on Jan. 11.
WR Chris Lewis (Troy)
A former four-star recruit, Lewis appeared in 12 games across two seasons at Kentucky. He caught two passes as a Wildcat with one going for a 2-yard touchdown against Youngstown State. Lewis missed the final four games of the 2022 regular season with an ankle injury. UK coaches frequently spoke of their high hopes for Lewis’ future potential, but he was stuck behind star freshmen Barion Brown and Dane Key on the depth chart. On Dec. 20, Lewis committed to play for Troy. Troy head coach Jon Sumrall previously recruited him to Kentucky as an assistant coach.
WR Chauncey Magwood (UCF)
Magwood appeared in 25 games across two seasons at Kentucky with one start but caught just nine passes for 121 yards and nine touchdowns. He backed up Wan’Dale Robinson as UK’s slot receiver in 2021 during Robinson’s record-breaking year in Lexington then backed up Virginia Tech transfer Tayvion Robinson in 2022. But when Tayvion Robinson was sidelined by an injury, the majority of the slot receiver reps went to walk-on Rahsaan Lewis down the stretch. Magwood was listed as a true sophomore on Kentucky’s roster, leaving him two years of eligibility plus a redshirt year at Central Florida, where he committed on Dec. 20.
WR DeMarcus Harris (Marshall)
A graduate transfer, Harris signaled he was likely to move on from Kentucky when he participated in Senior Day festivities before the regular-season finale versus Louisville. Two days later, Harris confirmed reports he had entered the portal. In 39 games as a Wildcat, including nine starts, Harris totaled 30 catches for 327 yards and one touchdown. It appeared Harris was on the verge of a breakout with multiple catches in four of the final seven games in 2021, but he was passed on the depth chart by freshman Barion Brown as a fourth-year junior and totaled four catches for 90 yards in 2022. Harris will have two years of eligibility remaining at Marshall, where he signed on Dec. 20.
Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year.Support my work with a digital subscription
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