Transfer Portal Bio Blast: J.J. Hester

by:Adam Luckett•about 10 hours•

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JJ Hester5 — Oct 26, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver J.J. Hester (13) runs after a catch as Mississippi Rebels defensive back Trey Washington (25) makes the tackle during the second half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The winter transfer portal window officially opened last week. We’ve seen some heavy player movement and are expecting some more. Teams are working rapidly to secure commitments and get players enrolled in school for the winter semester.

Kentucky addressed the wide receiver position in the transfer market for the first time on Thursday when Oklahoma wideout J.J. Hester committed and signed with the Wildcats.

#bbn pic.twitter.com/wfUpIdNwNS
— Javian Hester (@JJHester_8) December 19, 2024

A busy recruiting week at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility will continue through the weekend, but Kentucky currently has 11 transfers in the fold with many more to come. KSR’s Bio Blast is taking a closer look at the new wide receiver addition.

J.J. Hester will spend his final season in college football with a third SEC program, but he will be around some familiar faces in Lexington.

Two years at Missouri

J.J. Hester was a four-star high school prospect out of Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Washington in the 2020 high school recruiting cycle. The wideout had a plethora of power conference scholarship offers, but decided to end his recruitment with a commitment to Barry Odom‘s coaching staff during his senior football season.

But things can change quickly in college football.

Odom’s staff was fired and replaced by Appalachian State head coach Eliah Drinkwitz. Hester took an official visit to UCLA in December but ultimately decided to stick with his commitment to the Tigers.

The wideout redshirted during the 2020 COVID-19 season before appearing in 13 games as a redshirt freshman playing for wide receivers coach Bush Hamdan in 2021. Hester finished that season with 12 receptions for 225 yards and two touchdowns. The young wideout earned a start in the Armed Forces Bowl but decided to leave the program after the season.

Injury-riddled time at Oklahoma

J.J. Hester entered the transfer portal in the spring window following the 2021 season and landed at Oklahoma to play for first year head coach Brent Venables, offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, and interim wide receivers coach L’Damian Washington who was promoted from an analyst position after long-time assistant Cale Gundy resigned just a few weeks before the season started.

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Injuries would become a big part of Hester’s story at Oklahoma.

The SEC transfer missed 10 games as a redshirt sophomore in 2022 after suffering a broken foot. Hester played in Oklahoma’s final six games in 2023 as a redshirt junior after sitting out with another broken foot injury. The wideout only played 24 offensive snaps that season, but got a healthy season as a redshirt senior in 2024.

Hester played all 12 games (467 snaps) for the Sooners in 2024 and finished third on the team in targets (27), fourth in receptions (14), and second in receiving yards (315). The outside receiver finished the season with two catches of 50-plus yards becoming a dangerous deep target for the offense.

The veteran entered the transfer portal after a 6-6 season for Oklahoma and landed at Kentucky where will reunite with Hamdan and Washington.

Luckett’s scouting notebook

J.J. Hester is a tall and long outside receiver who showed his vertical playmaking potential in his last year at Oklahoma. The transfer could give this Kentucky offense a vertical field stretcher at the Z spot who can win go gos and posts.

This is my scouting write-up of the newest Kentucky receiver after watching last year’s Oklahoma tape.

J.J. Hester (6-4, 203) is a long outside receiver who played both X and Z spots in Oklahoma’s spread scheme. The veteran is a long strider who is best used on vertical routes. Not the swiftest route runner in and out of breaks or short-to-intermediate routes. Provides a big target on comeback routes and owns top-end speed defense has to respect. Does a good job attacking off coverage and getting on the toes of backpedaling cornerbacks. Accelerates cleanly out of his stance

The Oklahoma transfer is a thin framed deep receiver who has put multiple vertical grabs against SEC competition on tape. Can be a good weapon on gos, posts, and deep comebacks. Durability is a massive concern, but Hester can fill a role as a vertical route runner.