Nebraska transfer WR Hardley Gilmore signs with Kentucky

Hardley Gilmore IV was a significant recruiting win for Kentucky in the 2024 high school cycle, but left the Wildcats in the winter portal window for Nebraska. Now he is returning to the Bluegrass State.

Gilmore has signed with Kentucky out of the portal early Thursday morning, On3 has learned. When wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr. left for Nebraska, Gilmore followed him. But now the former four-star recruit is headed back to Kentucky just months after leaving.

Gilmore IV was dismissed from the Nebraska program recently. The sophomore receiver has three years of eligibility remaining after playing in seven games for Kentucky in 2024. As a freshman at Kentucky in 2024, Gilmore missed the first five games due to injury but finished with six catches for 153 yards. He was expected to be part of Nebraska’s wide receiver rotation in 2025 and will now have a role in Kentucky’s.

“He is, in my opinion, as complete of a young receiver as I’ve been around,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said of Hardley Gilmore last August. “He’s got top-end speed, he’s a good route-runner, he’s tough, he’s physical. There’s a lot of things there.”

Gilmore’s return is a notable addition for a Kentucky wide receiver room that lost Dane Key, Barion Brown and Anthony Brown-Stephens to the portal. The Wildcats return Ja’Mori Maclin, who finished with 13 catches for 314 yards and four touchdowns last year.

In high school, Gilmore reclassified to the class of 2024 to enroll at Kentucky a year early. Prior to his arrival in Lincoln, he was involved in an off-the-field incident at UK.