Record setting Barion Brown says “I am not going nowhere”

Barion Brown had 10 catches for 145 yards, both freshman records, and one touchdown against No. 1 Georgia. (Vicky Graff Photo)

After his record-setting game against Georgia, freshman receiver Barion Brown was not available to the media.

That’s a bit unusual at Kentucky since the players who have the best games are normally available for interviews and Brown certainly had a big game with 10 catches for 145 yards, both season highs, and one score. It was the most catches by a UK freshman since Chad Scott had 10 in 2000 and most yards by a freshman since Garrett Johnson had 154 in 2014.

The 145 receiving yards were also the second-most for a UK player against a No. 1 ranked team since Rick Kestner had 185 in a win over Mississippi in 1964.

Brown, a highly-rated recruit from Nashville, has been the subject of a lot of speculation about whether a more elite program must hope to land him in the transfer portal with a big NIL deal.

While Brown was not available to the media, he went on Instagram Live after the game and someone asked if he might transfer when the season ended.

“I keep telling y’all I am not going nowhere,” Brown said.

Brown has a freshman-record 41 catches — Derek Abney had the previous record of 40 in 2000 — for 560 yards, another freshman record.

Quarterback Will Levis understands how special Brown is and has tried to help him all he can.

“It’s been important for me to make sure I get him to keep his head up and keep his confidence up to know he’s a really special player and we’re going to target him and his big plays are going to come,” Levis said after the game.

“I’m just glad that he’s been able to keep that right mindset throughout the last few weeks, trusting us, trusting the calls and trusting my throws to get him the ball down the field like that. It was really cool to see him go up and make a few of those plays today.”

He made three catches of 30 yards or more and scored on an 8-yard pass on a fourth-and-two play in the fourth quarter.

He also has a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown this season but most SEC teams have not given him a chance to return kicks by either putting kickoffs into the end zone or kicking away from him.