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Shawnkel Knight-Goff left the Kentucky Wildcats football team months ago, and now, he’s entered the NCAA transfer portal.
SKG is a 6-2, 220-pound linebacker from Doss High School in Louisville. He had a bit of a confusing recruitment, committing to Kentucky back on May 18, 2018, before decommitting on May 31st, and then committing once again on October 26th.
He chose the Cats over the Louisville Cardinals, Purdue Boilermakers, Indiana Hoosiers, and Iowa State Cyclones, among others.
However, back on October 20th, reports surfaced that the freshman was leaving the program and that a transfer back home to Louisville was a real possibility.
The very next day, though, Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said in his weekly press conference that the former three-star prospect was quitting the game of football altogether.
“Shawn’Kel checked out a couple, maybe, oh, two or three weeks ago or so,” Stoops said. “Told me he was very much not interested in playing football anymore. He said he lost the motivation and the desire to play the game. He told me just he wanted to go to school, and but I have to try to help motivate him in that area, too. But he wasn’t interested in pursuing football anymore.”
Now, 247Sports’ Josh Edwards has reported that Knight-Goff will enter the portal.
Former #Kentucky linebacker Shawnkel Knight-Goff is officially in the transfer portal today. Not sure he would need to be in there if he had no intentions of playing football.
— Josh Edwards (@JEdwarCBS) December 10, 2019
Once again, it looks like Knight-Goff might be considering a move back to his hometown. There have been rumblings that the Louisville coaching staff may have been tampering with the Louisville natives on Kentucky’s team. That includes Knight-Goff, as well as Jared Casey and JJ Weaver.
You may remember there were reports that Weaver was considering a midseason transfer back home, as well. Those rumors were quickly squashed, but this just adds more uncertainty as to what was really going on.
Regardless, the Cats lost a high upside guy. He was a project, though, and his loss won’t be felt in the way it used to with the way this staff is recruiting right now.
Like Stoops said a couple of weeks ago, a little attrition is good. I think this is one of those times.