Mark Stoops addresses transfer portal plans entering window

College football programs across the country are preparing themselves for portal mania once again. The second transfer portal window will open for 15 days on Saturday, allowing for plenty of movement on and off rosters this spring. In Lexington, though, Mark Stoops isn’t exactly sure how Kentucky will approach it just yet.

Stoops addressed the opening of the spring window during his press conference after UK finished their final spring practice. As of now, he isn’t sure who, if anyone, on their roster is interested in seeking an opportunity elsewhere. He says the staff is going to get a feel for it over the next day or so but that they all accept that it could happen considering how many players they have.

“I’m not sure. We’ll have to look at that and meet with our players,” Stoops said. “It’s definitely a different time. I don’t anticipate it. (But) it certainly wouldn’t surprise me with a big roster like we have. We will see where that goes.”

However, Stoops also went on to say that Kentucky could get active here again if the right players and the right fit become available. With some extra spots to fill on their roster, he thinks that they’ll likely go shopping a bit depending on how the next two weeks unfold.

“As far as coming in? We have some room. So we’ll look around, poke around a little bit,” said Stoops.

Kentucky is looking at an 83-man roster at the moment. That would leave two spots for them to fill right now before anyone else decides to depart over the 15-day period.

The Wildcat faithful wouldn’t say no to more success in the portal either. Stoops and company earned commitments from eight talented players the last time around as they finished with a Top-10 class in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings.

It seems everyone is going to take a wait-and-see approach to any additions or subtractions on their roster during the spring window. Even so, it appears Stoops and the Wildcats could be set to make some more noise if things break the right way.

Stoops sends thoughts to Louisville following tragedy

Tragedy struck Louisville, Kentucky on Monday morning as a 25-year old used an AR-15 rifle in a building downtown. Five people were killed, and eight others were injured, including two officers. The shooting occurred on Monday morning at Old National Bank, the place where the attacker worked.

On Wednesday, Mark Stoops said that he was thinking of the many people affected by the shooting.

“I’d also like to mention that, before I get into the news conference, I just want to say I’m thinking about all the folks involved in that shooting in Louisville. It affects so many people in so many different ways. And, just, we have a lot of heavy hearts just thinking about them. And just all the different people it affects. Not only the terrible tragedy to the folks directly injured, killed. But just all the people around it. So (we’re) always supportive and thinking about them. We want to help in any way we can,” Stoops said.