Hardley Gilmore IV has been dismissed from Nebraska before taking a single snap

Remember all of the offseason drama with Hardley Gilmore IV, the promising freshman receiver who surprisingly entered the transfer portal in December, mulled over a possible return to Kentucky, then followed Dane Key to Nebraska? Just over three months after trading out the blue for red, he’s no longer on the team.

Gilmore, a four-star ranked as the No. 367 overall recruit and No. 56 wide receiver in the 2024 high school class, decided to transfer on the final day of the portal on December 28. It was seen as a massive hit at the time considering the timing, but also considering the talent, racking up 153 yards and a touchdown on six catches in five games after missing the first seven games of the season with a broken collarbone.

The loss stung because the staff obviously thought of him as a potential rising star — they said so themselves.

“He is in my opinion as complete of a young receiver as I’ve been around,” Bush Hamdan said in 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. Every once in a while you get these freshmen where they 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.”

Two days after entering the portal, there were reports suggesting he was strongly considering a second season in Lexington, only to commit to the Cornhuskers two days after that. Snip, snap, snip, snap.

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola said in the spring that adding the likes of Key and Gilmore was like having “Ferraris and Lamborghinis” on the outside.

“It’s a blessing, honestly, to go out there and look right, look left, and you have multiple options to choose from. It’s been a lot of fun,” he said last week.

Today, head coach Matt Rhule broke the news that Gilmore had been dismissed from the team while not providing any further details.

Key will continue working with old friend Daikiel Shorts, who left Kentucky as the team’s wide receivers coach for the same position at Nebraska. As for Gilmore, though, he will not be joining in on the fun for the Huskers.

As for Kentucky, the Wildcats pivoted to add the likes of Kendrick Law, Troy Stellato and J.J. Hester while returning Ja’Mori Maclin and Fred Farrier to make up the core pieces in the receiver room in 2025, led by coach L’Damian Washington.