Kentucky

Kentucky football transfer portal tracker for 2025

Published

2 years ago

December 4, 2024

Kentucky football transfer portal tracker for 2025

The college football transfer portal is set to open on December ninth, and hundreds of players will be looking for new homes. The Kentucky football team is no different. They will have some players leave, and some will come to Lexington from other schools.

Though the portal hasn’t officially opened yet, there have already been a number of players to announce their intention to transfer. Several Wildcats are on that list, including some important players.

Dane Key will enter the transfer portal

Kentucky fans will have a lot of interest in the movement of players once the portal opens. Coach Mark Stoops will be looking to add talent as they attempt to bounce back from the program’s worst season since 2013.

The following is a list of every Kentucky player who has either announced he is leaving the Wildcats, or a player who has committed to transfer to Lexington. It will be updated as things change.

Outgoing: Dane Key – Wide receiver

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Dane Key has been one of Kentucky’s best players over the past three seasons. He was their best receiver in 2024 and his absence will be felt. His production will be difficult to replace.

Outgoing: Keeshawn Silver – Defensive line

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The defensive line will likely have big changes next season, and Keeshawn Silver leaving only adds to that. The former five-star recruit figured to be a key starter next season, but will move on instead.

Outgoing: Courtland Ford – Offensive line

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Injuries have hampered Courtland Ford throughout his career so far, but he’s a talented lineman with potential. He’ll look to be fully healthy, and find a starting job in the portal.

Outgoing: Khamari Anderson – Tight end

Caitie McMekin/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Khamari Anderson is another former highly rated recruit leaving the Wildcats. He hadn’t managed to see the field and contribute as much as he would like, so his decision makes sense.

Outgoing: Jayvant Brown – Linebacker

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Jayvant Brown was a top 500 player in the 2023 recruiting class, but hadn’t played much for Kentucky. He played in just four games this year, and had just one tackle.

Outgoing: Avery Stuart – Defensive back

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Avery Stuart was another player who was a very good recruit, but hadn’t managed to see the field much for the Wildcats. He still has plenty of talent to contribute somewhere.

Outgoing: Walker Himebauch – Long snapper

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Though he played quite a bit in 2023, Walker Himebauch found himself as a backup long snapper in 2024. He does have experience, which will serve him well in the portal.

Outgoing: Tommy Ziesmer – Defensive line

Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Tommy Ziesmer is a Kentucky product, but wasn’t able to break into the rotation in 2024. He was a three-star recruit, and should quickly find a new home once the portal opens.

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Kentucky

Kentucky’s Otega Oweh headed to Thunder in 2026 NBA Draft trade

Published

39 minutes ago

June 24, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky’s Otega Oweh headed to Thunder in 2026 NBA Draft trade

LEXINGTON — Otega Oweh will begin his NBA career on the move.

The Miami Heat drafted Oweh in the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft on Wednesday, June 24. Oweh was the No. 41 overall pick (and the 11th selection of the second round).

But he won’t remain in Miami: Oweh reportedly is part of a trade that will send him to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Oweh starred for Kentucky basketball the past two seasons. He was a primary component of the first and second squads of coach Mark Pope’s tenure at UK.

Here’s what to know about Oweh, the Wildcats’ newest draft selection:

Oweh began his time as a collegian at Oklahoma, where he spent two seasons. He played in 32 games (28 starts) for the Sooners in 2023-24, averaging 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1 assist per outing.

But he was a revelation at Kentucky, inarguably the team’s top player the past two seasons.

During his debut in 2024-25, Oweh paced the Wildcats in points per game (16.2) and double-digit efforts (33 times in 36 games). He started the season scoring 10 or more in the team’s first 26 games, which was the longest streak by a Kentucky player since Malik Monk did so 30 times in a row in 2016-17.

After going through the draft process and returning to UK, Oweh entered the 2025-26 campaign as the SEC’s preseason Player of the Year.

He wound up being every bit as consistent as in Year 1, scoring 10-plus points in 35 of the Cats’ 36 games. Oweh, who was named to the All-SEC Second Team by the league’s coaches, averaged a team-high 18.6 points per game.

He finished his Kentucky career with 1,255 points, the most ever by a player in his first two seasons with the program.

Along with his scoring prowess, Oweh also set single-season personal bests for rebounds (4.8), assists (2.7) and steals (1.8) per game.

Despite his standout two-year career with the Cats, Oweh was not a highly touted transfer portal prospect following the 2023-24 season. He was 31st according to 247Sports, while ESPN ranked him 59th and On3 didn’t even include him in its top 100.

Hailing from Blair Academy in New Jersey, Oweh was unanimously rated as a four-star prospect in the 2022 class, earning that ranking from Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN.

Oweh was slightly taller than 6-foot-4 (without shoes) at the NBA Draft Combine. During that testing, he weighed 216 pounds. That’s nearly identical to Oweh’s figures on Kentucky’s official 2025-26 roster, where he was listed at 6-4 and 220 pounds.

NBAdraft.net wrote that Oweh’s most logical pro comps are the Harrison twins — ex-UK greats Aaron and Andrew — and Josh Okogie.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

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Kentucky

INTERACTIVE MAP | Find free summer lunches around Kentucky, Indiana

Published

11 hours ago

June 24, 2026

Press Room

INTERACTIVE MAP | Find free summer lunches around Kentucky, Indiana

During the school year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program provides low-cost or free lunches to children at nearly 100,000 public schools, nonprofit private schools and residential childcare institutions.

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Kentucky

Top knee doctor confident Jayden Quaintance’s injury not a long-term concern, but clean-up procedure possible

Published

21 hours ago

June 24, 2026

Press Room

Top knee doctor confident Jayden Quaintance’s injury not a long-term concern, but clean-up procedure possible

One of the nation’s top knee doctors shared a positive diagnosis with former Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance going into the 2026 NBA Draft, revealing that his knee is not expected to be a long-term concern, KSR has learned.

That may include a second procedure to officially put the injury suffered in February 2025 behind him, however.

Dr. Riley Williams III — head team physician and orthopedic surgeon for the Brooklyn Nets and famous for performing surgery on Paul George’s gruesome open tibia-fibula fracture with USA Basketball in 2014 — gave a second opinion on Quaintance’s injured right knee that limited him to four games in Lexington and recommended a follow-up procedure that could keep him off the floor for six months. The 6-foot-11 prospect’s ACL remains fully intact and his knee can be maintained at its current state, but a clean-up is preferred for a permanent resolution.

Medical concerns led to his slide in final mock drafts — he was projected to go No. 27 overall to the Boston Celtics, according to ESPN — before ultimately landing with the San Antonio Spurs at No. 20. This procedure could lead to a delayed start to his rookie season, but the long-term reward of a healthy 15-year career in the NBA is the prize on the table. It kept teams in the lottery and late teens intrigued, despite rumors of a potential fall to the second round. Sources close to Quaintance felt San Antonio at No. 20 was a backstop for the talented forward going into draft night, an educated hunch that proved to be accurate.

Quaintance worked out for the Dallas Mavericks (No. 9, No. 30), Milwaukee Bucks (No. 10), Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 12, No. 17), Chicago Bulls (No. 15), Toronto Raptors (No. 19), San Antonio Spurs (No. 20) and Boston Celtics (No. 27) ahead of the draft, but the Thunder and Spurs were the most aggressive throughout the predraft process, sources tell KSR. Once OKC snagged Michigan’s Aday Mara at No. 12 overall, it opened the door for a move to San Antonio for the former Wildcat.

There was disappointment in Quaintance’s absence on draft night after failing to receive a green room invite, but receiving confirmation of no long-term knee concern was the biggest priority — and that came after meeting with arguably the nation’s top knee doctor before the 2026 NBA Draft began in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Quaintance was not the top-five pick he was expected to be going into his lone season at Kentucky, but he found himself in a perfect winning situation in San Antonio next to the future face of the NBA in Victor Wembanyama, even if that includes a short-term setback.

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