KSR Today: Travis Perry to Ole Miss, TE Elijah Brown signs, and Happy Hour

ZGeogheganKSR

Good morning, folks! Monday already, huh? I don’t know how it happened either, but here we are. So let’s make the most of it, shall we? Maybe Mark Pope will add another piece to the roster? We already saw a new addition to the football team earlier this morning (more on that in just a second). We welcome any and all surprises in the offseason.

It’s also officially final exams week at the University of Kentucky. So make sure to get that college student in your life a free cup of coffee sometime this week — they’re going to need it. Now let’s dive into this morning’s top news and notes.

Kentucky signs UCF transfer TE Elijah Brown

We were treated to a surprise Yahtzee this morning in the form of Central Florida transfer tight end Elijah Brown. On3’s Pete Nakos reports that Brown has signed with the Wildcats, which will be his fourth school in four years. The Dayton, OH native clocks in at 6-foot-6, 250 pounds.

Brown was considered a four-star recruit and a top 300 prospect from the 2022 class out of Wayne (OH) High School. He redshirted his true freshman season at Alabama before transferring to FAU for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Brown appeared in eight games this past year (132 snaps), recording one catch for 22 yards. He went into the portal again back in the winter and ended up at UCF, but only lasted the spring before jumping ship for Kentucky after visiting Lexington over the weekend.

Brown will have two years of eligibility remaining.

BREAKING: UCF transfer TE Elijah Brown has signed with Kentucky, @PeteNakos_ reports😼https://t.co/RXTEsagLXG pic.twitter.com/gOpG7nJ2o2
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) May 5, 2025

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Kentucky Football 2025 Transfer Portal Class

Player	Position	Former School	Year
Sam Greene	EDGE (6-2, 248)	USC	Redshirt Sophomore
Landyn Watson	LB (6-1, 245)	TCU/Marshall	Redshirt Senior
Joshua Braun	iOL (6-6, 342)	Florida/Arkansas	Super Senior
Alex Wollschlaeger	T (6-7, 310)	Bowling Green	Super Senior
J.J. Hester	WR (6-5, 201)	Missouri/Oklahoma	Super Senior
Zach Calzada	QB (6-4, 230)	Texas A&M/Auburn/Incarnate Word	Super Senior
Henry Boyer	TE (6-6, 265)	Illinois	Redshirt Junior
Kendrick Law	WR (6-0, 203)	Alabama	Senior
Dante Dowdell	RB (6-2, 227)	Oregon/Nebraska	Junior
Jaden Williams	iDL (6-4, 291)	Wyoming	Redshirt Junior
Kevis Thomas	CB (6-0, 181)	Maryland	Junior
Evan Wibberley	iOL (6-5, 301)	WKU	Redshirt Junior
Kam Olds	EDGE (6-4, 252)	Buffalo/Kent State	Senior
David Gusta	iDL (6-3, 316)	Washington State	Redshirt Senior
Troy Stellato	WR (6-1, 178)	Clemson	Redshirt Senior
Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace	DL (6-4, 265)	South Dakota	Redshirt Junior
Tru Edwards	WR (6-2, 200)	Hawaii/Louisiana Tech	Super Senior
Shiyazh Pete	T (6-8, 321)	New Mexico State	Redshirt Senior
Hardley Gilmore IV	WR (6-1, 165)	Nebraska	Sophomore
Lorenzo Cowan	EDGE (6-3, 247)	USC	Redshirt Freshman
Seth McGowan	RB (6-1, 220)	Oklahoma/JUCO/New Mexico State	Redshirt Senior
Elijah Brown	TE (6-6, 250)	Alabama/FAU/UCF	Redshirt Junior

Travis Perry commits to Ole Miss

Travis Perry is staying in the SEC. The former Kentucky guard and Bluegrass native committed to Ole Miss on Sunday following his lone season in Lexington. He averaged 2.7 points in 9.7 minutes per contest last season for UK across 32 games played (four starts) while shooting 32.1 percent from deep.

While it was certainly a surprise to see Perry leave the program he was born and raised to love, it was not a surprise when Ole Miss ended up being the top choice. The Rebels were among the first schools to reach out once Perry hit the portal. Head coach Chris Beard recruited Perry in high school and even showed him some love during a postgame press conference during the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt and Maryland were also players in this recruitment, but a longstanding relationship with Beard and Ole Miss has led Perry to be a Rebel.

Perry saw 14 minutes of action against Ole Miss this past season, finishing with five points, two rebounds, and two assists in a Kentucky loss. Next season, he’ll come to Rupp Arena as the opposition.

Bat Cats swept on the road

After firing its head coach earlier in the week, Mississippi State responded by sweeping Kentucky in Starkville over the weekend. It was the Wildcats’ 25-20 (10-14 SEC) first time being swept all season long and the first time in the last 21 SEC series. UK has now dropped eight straight to the Bulldogs and has lost 12 of the last 13 matchups against MSU.

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The timing of this sweep was less than ideal — Kentucky is looking to boost its NCAA Tournament resume with only two more SEC series remaining in the regular season.

In the span of one week, Kentucky has fallen from No. 28 to No. 39 in the RPI Rankings.

Wouldn’t be shocked to see the ‘Cats back to a No. 3 seed in FO64 Projections this week.
— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) May 4, 2025

[Kentucky swept for first time this season following 6-1 loss to Mississippi State]

Collin Chandler rocking ’96 denims

It’s officially offseason workout video SZN. Collin Chandler caught the attention of the Big Blue Nation with his latest video on social media, but not because he changed his shooting form or got a new haircut.

The rising sophomore guard was sporting some 1996 Kentucky denim shorts from Mark Pope‘s time as a Wildcat. Pope has talked about wanting to bring back the denim look for a game sometime soon. Is it in the works for the 2025-26 season?

pic.twitter.com/yJVGyHzkPQ
— collin chandler (@collinchand13r) May 4, 2025

KSR Happy Hour at 4 PM ET!

Need something to get excited for on this rainy Monday? The KSR crew has you covered. Our first-ever “KSR Happy Hour” show from last Monday was a huge success, so we’re running it back again this afternoon (and every Monday afternoon moving forward). We’ll get started around 4:00 p.m. ET on the KSR YouTube channel. Join along as Tyler Thompson, Nick Roush, and I talk about whatever the hell we have on our brains while enjoying an ice-cold Country Boy.

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SGA vs. Murray in Game 1

Tonight marks the start of what should be an excellent series in the NBA Playoffs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder will host Jamal Murray and the 4th-seeded Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the frontrunner to win MVP. Who is sitting closely behind him in second? Denver’s Nikola Jokic. We should be in for a terrific series, that I’ll be hoping goes the full seven games.