Back in blue, Bush Hamdan believes "sky's the limit" for Hardley Gilmore IV

Oh, what a difference a year makes. Back in August 2024, Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan sang then-freshman Hardley Gilmore IV‘s praises as a four-star newcomer ranked No. 367 overall and No. 56 among wide receivers. He wasn’t willing to say he’d be a superstar from day one, but at some point? Yeah, the Belle Glade, FL native just had it, and the first-year playcaller was ready to get the ball in his hands.

“He is, in my opinion, as complete of a young receiver as I’ve been around,” Hamdan said during last fall camp — Gilmore’s first as a Wildcat. “He’s got top-end speed, he’s a good route-runner, he’s tough, he’s physical. There are a lot of things there. Every once in a while, you get these freshmen who don’t even recognize the lights. They don’t know if it’s big lights, small lights — they don’t know what it is. They’re just excited to be in the SEC at a place like Kentucky playing for Coach Stoops, and he kinda had that vibe. There’s no, ‘I gotta save myself for a long year.’ He knew one speed.

“If we can get him healthy and can consistently take that mindset, I think the world of Hardley Gilmore.”

The four-star freshman broke his collarbone during a preseason scrimmage and missed the first seven games of the season, but went on to pick up a catch in all five outings to close out the year for a total of 153 yards and a touchdown with an average of 25.5 yards per reception. Then he made the shocking decision to enter the transfer portal in December before ultimately committing to Nebraska on New Year’s Day.

Fast forward to the spring, and Gilmore found himself back in the portal after being dismissed from the team in Lincoln for undisclosed reasons. Meanwhile, speculation had already ramped up that the former Wildcat was pushing for a return to Lexington if the staff would have him back. He entered the portal on April 16 and signed with Kentucky for a second stint on April 17.

As Mark Stoops put it ahead of Gilmore’s second fall camp at UK — with a brief detour along the way — the standout receiver never wanted to leave and he was happy to welcome him back with open arms.

“Hardley is a great young man,” Stoops said at SEC Media Days. “I don’t want to speak for him — I think he’s on the record of saying I don’t think he really wanted to leave. There are sometimes things that happen that I don’t need to get into and speak for him, but I’ve always had a strong relationship with Hardley and he has with our staff, and he’s a great young man that’s young and that’s continuing to mature, and continuing to get better. Just like all our players in our program to some level, right?

“We’re glad to have him. He came back and fit right in and is trying to improve.”

With some run under his belt last week, Hamdan — who couldn’t have been higher on Gilmore this time a year ago — picked up right where he left off on the former four-star.

He’s not perfect and there’s more to being a star than having talent, but he’s still the same player Hamdan fell in love with out of high school.

“He can really play,” the UK OC said. “It’s going to come down to his focus level. It’s going to come down to him understanding the game extends past the field. I think the sky’s the limit for him.”