Kentucky Offers Transfer Portal Offensive Tackle

Kentucky got some bad news at the transfer portal deadline. At least there is a development on the offensive line that fans have been anxiously waiting to see.

The Wildcats are rebuilding the Big Blue Wall through free agency. Kentucky has already signed four offensive linemen from the transfer portal: RT Alex Wollschlaeger (Bowling Green), OG Josh Braun (Arkansas), C Evan Wibberley (Western Kentucky), and OL Wallace Unamba (New Mexico).

That’s a solid haul, but there’s one big piece missing. Kentucky still needs a starting left tackle. We might have found the guy.

Shiyazh Pete shared on Saturday night that he’s received a scholarship offer from Kentucky. A 6-foot-8, 320-pounder from Missoula, Pete has 31 career starts at left tackle in 33 games at New Mexico State. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Pete was a First-Team All-Conference-UCA selection following the Aggies’ 10-win season in 2023. An injury forced him to miss the first half of the 2024 season. He returned for the final six games of the season and only allowed five pressures while committing zero penalties. PFF gave him a grade of 70.9 on the season thanks to a sack allowed against Texas A&M.

This guy checks a lot of boxes that Kentucky is looking for at left tackle. The problem is that he’s going to check a lot of boxes for a lot of teams.

Pete has already taken a visit to Oklahoma State. Michigan, USC, and Iowa State have offered him a scholarship. The real one to watch is Vanderbilt. He teased a trip to Nashville where he will reunite with a bunch of other Las Cruces exports. He’s seemingly the only offensive starter who didn’t transfer from New Mexico State with Diego Pavia last offseason.

Vanderbilt appears to be the team to beat and after getting beat by Florida State for Vanderbilt LT Gunnar Hansen, the Cats need to get a win at left tackle before they run out of options in the transfer portal.

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