Chip Trayanum has been through plenty of ups and downs throughout his lengthy college career. Now the former Kentucky running back is ready to make one final stop not too far from his hometown of Akron, Ohio.

On3’s Pete Nakos reports Trayanum will spend his final year of college eligibility in the MAC, suiting up for the Toledo Rockets. It’s his fourth school in six years.

Trayanum had a ton of potential as a Blue Chip recruit. After all, that’s how he got the nickname “Chip.” Some schools wanted him to play linebacker, but he had his mind set on playing offense. That’s why he left the Midwest to play for Arizona State. After tallying 691 yards and 10 touchdowns over two seasons, he decided it was time to try out playing defense.

He returned to Ohio to play linebacker for Ohio State. When injuries hit the Buckeyes’ running back room, he moved back to offense. He performed well vs. Michigan, finding a new permanent home in Columbus. Trayanum’s best moment happened in the final moments against Notre Dame, punching in the game-winning touchdown as time expired.

Looking for a larger role as a bell-cow back, Trayanum transferred to Kentucky. He was poised to be RB1 until he suffered a broken hand during fall camp. Complications forced him to miss an extensive amount of time. He appeared in only three games and carried the ball 19 times for 101 yards.

Chip will finish his career by playing for the most consistent program in MAC. Jason Candle has led Toledo to four straight winning seasons, including an 11-win campaign in 2023. Hopefully, Trayanum can finally find the consistency that’s eluded him throughout his college career, just not in week one. The Rockets are traveling to Kroger Field to open the season.

There have been 21 transfer portal departures this offseason. There is still time for that number to grow. The transfer portal officially closes on Dec. 28.

• DL Keeshawn Silver (Committed to USC on Dec. 19)
• DB Avery Stuart
• LB Jayvant Brown
• TE Tanner Lemaster (Committed to Eastern Michigan on Dec. 22)
• TE Khamari Anderson (Committed to Arizona State on Dec. 22)
• TE Jordan Dingle (Committed to South Carolina on Dec. 18)
• OL Courtland Ford (Committed to UCLA on Dec. 17)
• OL Ben Christman
• OL Dylan Ray (Committed to Minnesota on Dec. 21)
• OL Koby Keenum (Committed to Mississippi State on Dec. 22)
• DL Tommy Ziesmer (Committed to EKU on Dec. 15)
• WR Dane Key
• WR Barion Brown (Committed to LSU on Dec. 14)
• WR Anthony Brown-Stephens
• WR Brandon White
• EDGE Tyreese Fearbry (Committed to Wisconsin on Dec. 22)
• EDGE Noah Matthews
• EDGE Caleb Redd (Committed to Kansas on Dec. 20)
• RB Chip Trayanum (Committed to Toledo on Dec. 24)
• QB Gavin Wimsatt

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. Keep closer tabs on the Cats with our staff-only sticky thread on KSBoard, which will have updates on departures and targets throughout the offseason. Not a KSR+ member? Try it out today.

The Kentucky Wildcats are 10-2 on the young season and are coming off their worst performance of the Mark Pope era thus far.

Playing in the annual CBS Sports Classic, the Cats faced off against the Ohio State Buckeyes in a game many viewed as a likely win for UK in New York City.

No one told the Buckeyes that as they came out and dominated the Cats from the tip in Madison Square Garden, scoring a 20-point win.

On his Monday radio show, Coach Pope talked about the loss, and you can really tell how much he wanted to win this game for the BBN.

“What a bad night. Just devastating. It was just the worst, the worst ever. To do it in that venue wearing this jersey, it’s devastating.” Pope said.

The hope is that this loss will help Kentucky will learn from this performance and use it as fuel to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“There’s nothing you can do with it but help dig in and help it make you better, right?” Pope stated. “And in long conversations with our guys and our staff and digging into the numbers, the nuts and bolts, it’s also exciting to grow and get better and to move forward.”

Once again, this is a message that just shows that Coach Pope gets what this program means to the Bluegrass State.

Now, the Cats will turn their attention to a matchup with Brown on New Year’s Eve as they look to get back into the win column before the gauntlet of the SEC begins.

Who does conference play start with? None other than a top-10 team in the Florida Gators coming to Rupp Arena.

Going to be an interesting few weeks to see how Kentucky responds.

Kentucky’s Collin Chandler made it an even more memorable weekend for himself for the holidays in New York.

While in The Big Apple for the Wildcats’ game in the CBS Sports Classic against Ohio State, Chandler got down on a knee in Central Park and proposed.

Chandler is a freshman on the roster this season at UK. He has appeared in 10 games off of the bench and, in eight minutes a contest, is averaging 2.0 points, 0.7 rebounds, 0.7 steaks, and 0.4 assists per game while shooting 41.2% from the field and 25% from three. That includes six minutes played with an assist, a steal, and a pair of fouls against the Buckeyes.

This comes after Chandler, who originally committed to Mark Pope at BYU, followed him to Lexington. However, as the No. 35 recruit in the country and a four-star in 2022, he did not immediately come to college as he went on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sierra Leone as well as London. That makes him a 21-year-old freshman for them to continue to develop over his career there.

However, this, along with the other off-court plans, was all that went well for Kentucky in NYC. The Wildcats, coming in ranked fourth in the nation, were upset by Ohio State by a final score of 85-65. That one really got away from the Wildcats in the end, especially in the second half, in the 20-point margin as they shot just 29.8% from the field and 18.2% from three while the Buckeyes shot 56.6% overall.