Mark Stoops now has four open scholarships with four players entering the transfer portal. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Today is the opening day of the spring transfer portal for college football but Kentucky already knew of at least five players it was going to lose before the portal was even officially open.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops talked during spring practice about the need for some attrition to enable UK to have available scholarships to add a few more needed pieces to next year’s team.
The good news for Kentucky is that the five new transfer portal entries are not players who figured to have prominent roles for the Cats next season as opposed to the situation at Tennessee where the Vols lost their veteran starting quarterback the same day spring practice ended because Tennessee would not provide the pay raise he wanted.
Here are the five new Cats in the transfer portal — and if you recognize the names you truly are a die-hard Kentucky football fan:
— Defensive lineman Kendrick Gilbert. The four-star recruit from Indianapolis picked UK over Purdue, Iowa, LSU, and others. He originally committed to Purdue but didn’t sign after coach Jeff Brohm left for Louisville. He played in only two games and took a redshirt in 2023. Despite UK’s lack of depth in the defensive front in 2024 Gilbert got only 53 snaps.
The Cats brought in three defensive line transfers in David Gusta, Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace and Jaden Williams.
— Offensive lineman Anfernee Crease. He started his collegiate career at Division II Texas-Permian Basin in 2022. After a redshirt season, he transferred to Navarro College where he spent one season in junior college. He committed to SMU but flipped to UK. He played in only two games last season.
— Cornerback Jiquavious “Quavo” Marshall. He has four years of eligibility after being redshirted in 2024. He’s the fifth player in the 2024 signing class to transfer.
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— Offensive lineman Daniel Mincey. He was a late pickup in the 2024 recruiting class after his brother, offensive lineman Gerald Mincey, transferred from Tennessee to Kentucky. The Fort Lauderdale product was not a ranked recruit and played in just one game last season.
— Offensive lineman Marc Nave. The Ohio native will have four years of eligibility remaining after being redshirted last season. He only played in one game against Murray State. He was ranked as the nation’s No. 60 interior offensive lineman by 247Sports coming out of high school.
11 Responses
With a 4-8 record, maybe these players should have been given a lot of snaps instead of those who did not produce when given a lot of minutes. They could not have done much worse than the players who mailed in a 4-8 record.
With the same OC, OL coach and HC, the need to improve is once again hindered by the same stale staff.
How many 4-8 seasons at $9 Million per year can be justified by the AD & silent administration?
I agree and this what sucks about Stoops. He needs to get guys more playing time if he knows they will be back or if the starters aren’t producing. Wilcox should have gotten at the bare minimal 120-140 carries which averages to about 10-12 carries a game. He only received 90. Also I heard he was third on the depth chart coming out of spring practice???? How??? He was electric with the ball in his hands. He had over 200 yards called back from penalties??!! That’s a head scratcher. If we wouldn’t have committed stupid penalties on the opposite side of the field he would have had nearly 800 yards rushing on only 92 carries that about 8.3 ypc. Which is insane in the SEC. I don’t see how he’s the third best running back on the team. I know Dowdell is excellent between the tackles and Stoops loves a power back but I thought it would nearly be split down the middle between Dowdell and Wilcox but somehow Patterson is getting majority of the touches with Dowdell slightly behind him and Wilcox in third? Patterson must have really turned on the jets and has power as well. I watched the games last year and Wilcox was much more electric than Patterson but its been a year and things change. It seems like Stoops is trying to run Wilcox off so he must be toxic behind the scenes because he looks like a future NFL back to me. We’ve also had 4 offensive lineman in the portal so far and all 4 were only here for a year. I think they were all second team guys on the line but that has to hurt from a depth perspective?! Idk at this point? I would definitely get the best available wide receiver and the best available tight end. I would take as many talented offensive line man that I can fit on the offensive line. We need 2 good teams of offensive lineman and we need to be at least 9-10 deep of offensive lineman that can play in the games. Our defense is pretty much set in stone. But we could also use a running back if a great one becomes available.
You nailed a lot of issues, Terry!
Wilcox had a big sign that lit up when he would get big gains “give me more snaps!” But Stoops & his minor league OC never saw it!
I recall more than once when he carried the ball on 1st and 10, would get a BIG gain of 6 or more yards, and not be in the game again while UK had to punt.
It did not take a rocket scientist to recognize Wilcox as an energized bunny who could stir up the offense and get players motivated. How can UK expect to dig out of the hole being dug the past 3 seasons of collapse?
Didn’t Coach say he didn’t tie his shoes correctly?
That reduced his playing time.
Winning coaches want their RB to gain yards, break away for some big gains.
Other coaches (who may end up with a 4-8 season) look at shoe laces to decide who who should carry the ball.
The way Wilcox ran the ball, it may have been worth telling the other RB’s to tie their shoes the same as Wilcox 😊
Hahaha great excuse for less playing time!! He couldn’t figure out a excuse fast enough so he blamed it on shoe laces. The fans can clearly see the difference between Wilcox and the other running backs!!
I have pretty much given up on Stoops, but I will wait and see. You usually don’t see the coaches that caused the problem be able to fix the problems. I am not saying these coaches are the problems, but this year will tell. If he has losing season this year, I think he is gone.
Stoops not going anywhere unless he steps down. Too much money left in his contract.
Once Stoops settles on a guy, that guy will play no matter how bad he looks on the field.
Bam and that’s it. You are exactly right. Instead of playing the right man for the job Stoops has his pets as well. You can’t tell me Kattus is a SEC tight end. His numbers speak for themself. He graded dead last out of SEC tight ends and received the third most snaps. How in the hell does that happen?? He also thinks if you don’t weigh over 325 pounds you can’t block which destroys our passing game when defensive ends and tackles are destroying our line. Often times running right past them. Also the 3-4 only works with superior athletes. What’s wrong with running a 4-3 against running teams?? I don’t understand it. You have a bunch of smaller guys trying to tackle a bowling ball up the middle that’s why we were gashed for big gains over and over again. Another problem is he thinks only guys 6’2" or taller can play cornerback. Tell that to deion Sanders the greatest corner back of all time who said smaller defensive backs are faster and cover better. Now bigger cornerbacks work in a zone scheme a little better which we run every time a zone defense. When you play against a experienced quarterback with fast receivers they will make you pay for playing a zone. Look what Florida and south Carolina did to us last year and we never left the zone or the 3-4 defense. To me Stoops is a ego driven maniac who gets off by trying to prove people wrong which he fails 90% of the time.
Little Baron lol @ tie the shoes the same way. Why did that piss Stoops off so much when he just broke a big gain. Seems like hidden feelings against the kid. Gilmore is back in blue and white and him leaving and coming back should make Stoops keep him in the cellar all season. Gilmore has the most upside out of any receiver but we will see how much playing time he gets this year. With Gilmore Wilcox and Rodriguez you have a great nucleus of young guys Sophomores who can lead this program going forward. Maybe all 3 will hit the portal at the years end.