A year after leaving Kentucky football, Barion Brown still loves the Wildcats
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Barion Brown praises Kentucky staff and credits the program for his development.
- Brown transferred, had 53 catches at LSU and projects as a Day 3 pick.
- Kentucky staff and former LSU teammates maintain ties with Brown.
When the Senior Bowl marketing team asked players participating in the annual all-star game to name the best player in the NFL for a social media video, most of the responses were predictable.
Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Myles Garrett all got multiple mentions.
Wide receiver Barion Brown went off the board for his response though. Instead of choosing one player, he listed four.
But not four who were likely to end at the top of any other rankings of the best players in the league.
Maxwell Hairston. Deone Walker. Wan’Dale Robinson. Zion Childress.
If you sense a theme in those responses, it’s because there is one. All four played college football at Kentucky, where Brown started his career before transferring to LSU for his senior season. Brown played alongside Hairston, Walker and Childress at Kentucky, but Robinson graduated before he started his college career.
Brown may have left Kentucky via the transfer portal, but it was clear his love for the program had not disappeared.
“Kentucky helped me so much and matured me a lot,” Brown told the Herald-Leader at the NFL Combine when asked about his time in Lexington. “I just give thanks to Coach (Mark) Stoops and everybody at Kentucky who helped me. … They all seen me grow up and just mature a lot. It’s nothing but thanks and love for my Kentucky people.”
Brown burst onto the scene at Kentucky as a freshman with 50 catches for 628 yards and four touchdowns in 2022. The former four-star recruit from Nashville was quickly labeled as a game-changing talent, but he never quite duplicated his freshman success.
His total catches and receiving yards dropped in each of his three years in Lexington. Brown remained one of the most dynamic kickoff returners in SEC history with five career return touchdowns, but he failed to develop into the elite receiver he looked on the path to becoming as a freshman.
Part of those struggles can be attributed to team-wide issues from the Kentucky offense and inconsistent quarterback play, but Brown also received criticism at times for high-profile drops and other miscues. The high point of his career came on a 63-yard fourth-down completion that set up the game-winning touchdown in UK’s upset win at Ole Miss in 2024, but he did not catch more than three passes in a game the rest of the season.
After years of rumblings about interest from high-profile programs, Brown finally entered the transfer portal after the 2024 finale. He landed at LSU, where he caught 53 passes for 532 yards and one touchdown as a senior.
Without Brown and fellow receiver Dane Key, who left UK for Nebraska after the 2024 season, Kentucky’s passing attack struggled for much of the season again in 2025, but former Alabama wide receiver Kendrick Law, who essentially replaced Brown at UK, posted almost the same production as Brown did at LSU (53 catches, 540 yards, three touchdowns).
Brown still boasts the type of game-changing speed that could earn him a spot on an NFL roster. His kickoff return ability could be particularly attractive to NFL teams, but he will likely have to wait until day three of the six-round draft to hear his name called.
If Brown is drafted, he will be announced as an LSU player. But his Kentucky ties remain.
“Just being mature about my business and going about my things the way I do, that’s something (Kentucky fans) respect and I respected them for,” Brown said. “Nothing but love for Kentucky, and they know that.”
Brown might actually have more connections to Kentucky moving forward than several of the Wildcats’ best players last season who spent just one year in Lexington playing for a staff that was fired after the season.
New UK offensive coordinator Joe Sloan coached Brown at LSU. Wide receiver Nic Anderson, who is expected to be the top target for UK quarterback Kenny Minchey in 2026 if healthy, played alongside Brown in Baton Rouge last season.
Sloan was on hand at the combine Thursday to watch several of his former LSU players participate in drills. He made sure to connect with Brown while he was there.
“They always call me and tell me, ‘Everybody at Kentucky loves you,’” Brown said. “That’s the impression that I did want to leave, and I’m grateful that I left that.
“Shout out to them boys and wishing the best of luck to them.”