Kentucky Football Plays the Transfer Portal Hokey Pokey

You know the song. ‘You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out…’ The Hokey Pokey is not so different from the phenomenon the Kentucky football program experienced during the first two weeks of this transfer portal cycle.

When players enter their names into the transfer portal, they can also remove it and return to school. People forget that because it rarely happens. In the first five years of the transfer portal, backup quarterback Nik Scalzo was the only Kentucky Wildcat to throw his name into the portal, then subsequently return to school.

This year it has happened twice. WR Shamar Porter and TE Jordan Dingle each tested the transfer portal waters before returning to Kentucky. That’s gotta be kinda awkward, right?

“Nothing changed,” said super senior tight end Brenden Bates. “(Vince) Marrow handled the situation well, was super upfront about it, the same with Dingle. I think the room as a whole we just have a different brotherhood and nothing changed.

“When he left, we were like, ‘Cool man. Go do your thing. We love you and support you.’ When he came back it was like, ‘Cool man. This is awesome. We love you and support you.'”

Communication is key in the middle of the transfer portal Hokey Pokey. Each player was honest and upfront with their intentions and the coaches were happy to have them back on board after considering other options for about a week.

“It all depends on the situation. It’s a case-by-case basis situation. If a player just wants to go and look at other opportunities, that’s his decision to do that. But we’re never really trying to kick somebody out,” said Liam Coen.

“When you have an opportunity to get really good players back that you’ve invested time into that you want to continue to invest time into that are good students, that do things right on and off this field, those guys are always welcome back. Those have been pleasant conversations and been really positive conversations that we’ve been able to get some of those guys back. There’s no hard feelings. It’s just the landscape of where we’re at right now.”

Porter was Kentucky’s biggest recruiting win in the 2023 cycle. They’d like to see what the outside wide receiver can do against Clemson in the Gator Bowl. The tight end room was looking a little shaky without Jordan Dingle. Not only was depth a concern, they spent three years developing Dingle and want to see the results firsthand. The change of heart is welcome, but it comes with a cost — friendly barbs from his teammates.

“(Josh) Kattus will take care of that,” said Bates.