3 Kentucky Football Players No Longer with the Team

Roster construction has become a 365-day-a-year job for college football coaches around the country. Ahead of spring practice, we learned about a few missing pieces on the Kentucky football team.

Two former four-star offensive linemen, Tanner Bowles and Nik Hall, are not on the most recently updated roster available at UKAthletics.com. The third roster absence is Jaquez Keyes.

A UK spokesperson confirmed the departures. Keyes initially signed to play linebacker with Wake Forest, but transferred to Kentucky as a gray shirt running back just ahead of the 2023 season. Bowles has decided to exhaust his eligibility, rather than use a Covid waiver for one more season. Nik Hall has medically retired from football.

Bowles is a Glasgow, KY native who was a four-star prospect in the class of 2019. He initially signed to play for Nick Saban at Alabama. He spent four years at Alabama before deciding to return home to complete his collegiate career.

Bowles actually spent his final season in Tuscaloosa working with offensive line coach Eric Wolford. He did not go through Senior Day activities with the Wildcats last season against the Crimson Tide and could have been a Super Senior in 2024.

Nik Hall was a revelation late in the recruiting process. A late riser who earned a spot in the All-American Game, Hall was just beginning to unlock his potential. The son of former Wildcat Antonio Hall, one of the most prolific recruits in Kentucky football history, the younger was in line to compete for playing time as a redshirt freshman.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans. The 6-foot-6, 320-pound tackle who was ranked as the No. 92 overall player in the country by On3, never saw the field at Kentucky thanks to a career-ending injury.

Impact on the Kentucky Football Roster

It’s not unusual for there to be a few surprise absences from the depths of the roster. In 2023 Sam Anaele and Josh Jones medically retired from football just a few weeks prior to the start of fall camp.

In Hall’s case, it’s just a sad, unfortunate situation that you can’t really do anything about. Following in his father’s footsteps at Kentucky was a great story, one we never got to see play out on the field. It also forces Kentucky to face a harsh reality. The Wildcats signed three four-star offensive linemen in 2022 (Kiyaunta Goodwin, Grant Bingham) and none of them are on the team after just two seasons.

Bowles is a bit of a different story. It could be a significant loss if Eli Cox is sidelined for an extended period of time. The Glasgow native backed up his fellow Kentuckian throughout the 2023 season. If Cox goes down again, like he did with a finger injury in 2021, redshirt freshman Koby Keenum will be thrown into the mix at Center, a challenging position for a second-year player.

Hall had a high ceiling, while Bowles raised the floor and provided depth to the Big Blue Wall. Don’t be surprised to see Kentucky stay in the market for an offensive lineman to join Jalen Farmer and Gerald Mincey following spring practice.