Notre Dame transfer Jacob Lacey commits to Oklahoma

On Oct. 6, Bowling Green (Ky.) South Warren product Jacob Lacey decided to enter the transfer portal and spend his redshirt senior season somewhere else after a four-year run at Notre Dame. Kentucky quickly emerged as an immediate player in this transfer recruitment.

The Cats hosted the transfer for a visit on Oct. 15 for Kentucky’s impressive 27-17 home win over Mississippi State. However, Lacey also took visits to Oklahoma and LSU in November.

Head coach Brent Venables and his coaching staff appeared to make a big impression. On Thanksgiving, Jacob Lacey ended his transfer recruitment with a commitment to Oklahoma.

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃. #BoomerSooner⚪️🔴 pic.twitter.com/Ly8TCpQ4SD

— Jlacey.M©️🩸 (@JacobLacey6) November 24, 2022

The former top-200 recruit was the No. 3 player in Kentucky back in 2019 and chose the Irish over Clemson, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, and Tennessee. The interior lineman played in 38 career games for the Irish tallying 35 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks. In a win over California this season, Lacey recorded two sacks and was a force for the Irish.

Unfortunately, Lacey will be heading to Norman to help bolster a defense that currently ranks No. 59 in points per drive, No. 64 in yards per play, and No. 70 in success rate. Venables is trying to flip the script at Oklahoma by building a championship-caliber defense and Lacey will be a part of that rebuild in 2023.

For Kentucky, this is a disappointing result. The in-state prospect felt like a transfer recruitment that the Cats should win. Lacey would have been a great fit to platoon with Justin Rogers next season at nose and give Kentucky some quality interior depth. That is now off the table.

The transfer portal officially opens on Dec. 5 for non-graduates. Expect Kentucky to be heavily involved as a crazy roster-building offseason will be upon us.