Transfer Portal Diaries: Regrouping at Running Back

The transfer portal is a chaotic time for college football fans. Allow KSR to deliver your daily morning dose of Kentucky football transfer portal news in the most ridiculous manner possible.

Missouri Swipes Another Kentucky Running Back

This sucks. There’s no other way to put it.

Marquise Davis was going to be Kentucky’s top-ranked high school signee. Two days before putting pen to paper, the running back flipped to Missouri. Ahmad Hardy was Kentucky’s top transfer portal target. After Kentucky survived a visit to Ole Miss, he changed plans and took a trip to CoMo. Two days before a visit to Kentucky, he announced he’s transferring to Missouri.

There’s an argument to be made that you shouldn’t unload your NIL budget on a running back when you have so many holes on the roster to fill. Fine. It doesn’t change the fact that every successful Kentucky offense has had a bell-cow back and Eli Drinkwitz just took two of them from you. This sucks.

Next Man Up in the Transfer Portal

To steal a line from Mark Stoops, “Nobody panic.” Within an hour of the Hardy news, Steve Wiltfong shared that Kentucky’s next option at running back is taking an official to Kentucky.

Dante Dowdell was a Top 200 player when he signed with Oregon in 2023. As a true sophomore at Nebraska, he had 614 yards and 12 touchdowns, the fourth-most in the Big Ten. Not too shabby. Dowdell is a physical runner who can get some hard yards, especially in the red zone. It’s easy to see the Chip Trayanum comps, however, there is a big difference in production. Trayanum never had as many yards in a season as Dowdell did in 2024. He also has 13 career touchdowns in four years of football, compared to the 12 Dowdle ripped off last fall.

New Kentucky Receivers Coach Making Moves

We’re just getting to know more about L’Damian Washington. The new guy from South Florida spoke with reporters for the first time on Wednesday. It’s pretty clear he’s using his connections to attract transfer portal talent.

J.J. Hester committed to Kentucky on Thursday morning. Before injuries at Oklahoma nearly derailed his career, Hester was at Missouri with Washington, a former Missouri pass-catcher, who was in an off-field role on the same staff with Bush Hamdan.

Another explosive playmaker has a connection to Washington. The new Kentucky receivers coach and Kendrick Law are both from Shreveport, LA. Law shares a lot of physical similarities to Barion Brown, but Law spent his time at Alabama in the slot, a position where the Cats need experience. If both of these guys work out for the Wildcats, Stoops might have found a good one in L’Damian Washington.

Commitment Watch

We’re still waiting to hear from QB Zach Calzada. Kentucky needs to get a quarterback on board for other dominos to fall. It doesn’t look like that will be Maalik Murphy, who visited Oregon State on Wednesday.

The guy snapping the ball to the quarterback is an important piece to the puzzle for the Big Blue Wall. Evan Wibberley played in WKU’s loss to James Madison in last night’s Boca Raton Bowl. He’ll arrivine in Lexington today and a commitment may follow soon after.

We’re also keeping a close eye on Law and former Illinois tight end Henry Boyer. Wyoming DT Jaden Williams is another one to watch. He visited Kansas State prior to his Kentucky visit, and one for Arizona State is on the docket. This could be a solid addition on the interior defensive line.