LEXINGTON — With so many experienced players now readily available in the NCAA transfer portal each season, the Kentucky football program will once again rely on a key group of first-year Wildcats — a situation that has now become commonplace for 12th-year head coach Mark Stoops.
In 2021, UK brought in quarterback Will Levis and speedy wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, who hadn’t had opportunities to yet shine at Penn State and Nebraska, respectively. Robinson was drafted by the New York Giants the next season, and following a two-year stop in Lexington, Levis is now the projected starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. Last fall, the Cats repeated the process with quarterback Devin Leary (N.C. State) and running back Ray Davis (Vanderbilt). Both were drafted after a season, as well.
Now, it’ll be Brock Vandagriff (Georgia) or former Owensboro High School star Gavin Wimsatt (Rutgers) at quarterback and Chip Trayanum (Ohio State) or Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (N.C. State) at running back — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
In all, Kentucky brought in 13 transfers, which 247Sports ranks as the 21st-best class of transfers in the country.
The Cats have certainly found success in the portal, but Stoops knows it can’t solve every problem.
“I like our team,” Stoops said at UK’s media day Friday in Lexington. “I think we took a transfer at just about every position except tight end, so I just want to supplement our roster in that area.
“I still feel like the majority of our team is guys that we recruit out of high school and want to continue to follow that model — recruit and develop young men and then supplement them with the portal when we need to.”
This year, they needed to.
Other first-year transfers expected to contribute this fall include linebacker Jamon “Pop” Dumas-Johnson (Georgia), wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin (North Texas), offensive lineman Gerald Mincey (Tennessee) and defensive backs Kristian Story (Alabama) and DJ Waller Jr. (Michigan), among others.
Bringing in older, college-ready players, Stoops noted, allows inexperienced players to learn for a year or two while UK strives to be competitive in the SEC. And it all starts under center.
“Offensively, there are some guys who played a lot,” Stoops said. “I think we supplemented in some areas that we needed to. Certainly, in the quarterback position, we have gone to the portal for several years now.
“We feel really good about the high school guy we took in Cutter (Boley). He is going to be a special player, but we want to give him time to mature and grow. Brock has done a very good job, and we are excited about him. And then also Gavin and what he brings to the table, and he’s got some snaps under his belt in the Big Ten. He is a big, strong guy, and he can throw it and he can run.”
More than anything, though, Stoops wants to see cohesion among his players throughout fall camp.
“We have great leadership,” he said. “I feel like that the transfers that we brought in fit in well here. I believe that is an important piece — to make sure that transfers are coming for the right reason and they fit our system.
“With us (coaches), we just try to expedite that process and have them more in tune to our culture earlier than normal and try to continue to feed them that message, and sometimes it is like drinking with a fire hose.”
Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
