The football transfer portal reopened Wednesday. These UK players are leaving
The college football transfer portal did not officially reopen for its spring window until Wednesday, but the expected post-spring football practice exodus from Kentucky’s roster began earlier this week.
In the four days between the end of UK spring practice and the opening of the transfer portal five Wildcats announced their intentions to enter the portal: defensive lineman Kendrick Gilbert, cornerback Quavo Marshall and offensive linemen Marc Nave, Anfernee Crease and Daniel Mincey. On Wednesday reports surfaced that defensive lineman Dennious Jackson and offensive lineman Wallace Unamba were entering the portal.
As expected the first wave of post-spring transfers came from players down the depth chart looking for more guaranteed playing time elsewhere. Of the seven players listed above, only Unamba was expected to be a part of UK’s primary rotation at their position, but at least a couple from that group could have developed into important players down the road.
UK coaches frequently pointed to Gilbert as a possible contributor last year in the leadup to the 2024 season opener when injuries decimated the Wildcats defensive line depth, but he ended up playing in just eight of 12 games, finishing the season with five tackles and one tackle for loss. Still, it would not be a surprise to see the former four-star recruit from Indianapolis land at another Power Four conference program.
After Kentucky added five transfers to its offensive line during the winter window, the three linemen who announced transfer plans appeared blocked from the 2025 rotation. Nave was the highest rated of the group as a recruit. Crease, a former junior-college transfer, was the only lineman added to the 2024 roster after the hiring of offensive line coach Eric Wolford last spring. The fact that neither will stick around at Kentucky long enough to develop into contributors will make it even harder for UK to break out of the cycle of having to rebuild a large portion of its offensive line from the transfer portal each year.
Mincey’s transfer did not come as a surprise since he joined the 2024 signing class well after signing day as a package deal with his older brother, Gerald Mincey, who signed with Kentucky as a transfer from Tennessee but did not live up to preseason expectations in one year as a Wildcat. Jackson was another late add to the 2024 class as a junior college transfer to help address the injury situation at nose guard but did not appear in a game last season.
The departures of Mincey, Nave and Marshall mean Kentucky has already lost five members of its 2024 high school class before that group even spent a full year on campus.
The most surprising of the departures so far is Unamba, who only signed with Kentucky in December as a transfer from New Mexico. Based on two open practices this spring, it does not appear Unamba had broke into the starting lineup on UK’s offensive line, and he now appears likely to use his final season of eligibility at a school where he has a clearer path to starting snaps.
It is unlikely these are the last departures during the spring portal window, which runs from April 16 to April 25. Kentucky now has room to fit its entire 2025 high school signing class in the 85-man SEC scholarship limit, but UK coach Mark Stoops acknowledged his staff will look to add additional impact transfers in the coming weeks.
Every transfer addition makes it more likely a player down the depth chart at that position looks elsewhere. SEC rules prohibit players from transferring from one SEC team to another during the spring window, but it is also possible some of Kentucky’s key players will illicit transfer interest from programs outside the league.
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 7:33 AM.