Kentucky RB Dante Dowdell plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal

5 days ago 2

Kentucky running back Dante Dowdell plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Pete Nakos. Dowdell transferred to Kentucky ahead of the 2025 campaign after spending one season at Nebraska and his freshman season at Oregon.

In his lone season at UK, Dowdell amassed 560 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 112 carries. He also tallied seven catches for 30 total yards.

Dowdell had his best showing of the season in Kentucky’s season-opening win over Toledo. In the triumph, Dowdell erupted for 129 rushing yards and a TD.

In the 2024 season at Nebraska, Dowdell tallied a career-high 614 rushing yards and 12 scores on 143 carries. He saw limited action in his debut campaign at Oregon. He recorded 90 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries for the Ducks.

Dante Dowdell played high school football at Picayune Memorial (MS), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 139 overall player and No. 8 running back in the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings.

He is the 14th Kentucky player to announce his intent to enter the transfer portal this offseason. He is joined by several other notable players, including quarterback Cutter Boley, EDGE Steven Soles and defensive lineman Jerod Smith.

Of course, outgoing transfers are expected when a program brings in a new head coach. Kentucky officially hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein to be its next head coach on Dec. 2.

Stein is finishing the season with the Ducks, who advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals on Thursday. Stein is excited to usher Kentucky into a new era, even if it means losing some players to the transfer portal.

“The vision is simple: it’s to win,” Stein said at his introductory press conference. “I didn’t come here to be average, to be mediocre. I came here to win and win championships. I’ve won at every single level that I’ve been at: high school, college. Now the goal is to win here.

“Not to win five years down the road, 10 years down the road. Do it now. The way you do that is you work, right? Success is not free. Rent is due every damn day that we’re here. We’re going to work to get that done to make Big Blue Nation proud and make our players proud and do it the right way.”

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

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