Kentucky is riding a wave of transfer portal commitments. The latest is a running back with three years of experience at Oklahoma. <\/p>\n
On3\u2019s Hayes Fawcett reports<\/a> that Jovantae Barnes<\/a> has committed to Kentucky. Barnes visited Lexington on Sunday, picking the Cats over Arkansas and LSU. He has one year of eligibility remaining.<\/p>\n A prolific high school recruit, the Las Vegas native was a Top-100 and an Under Armour All-American in 2021. He chose the Sooners over Alabama, Florida State, and USC, among others. <\/p>\n Barnes had a productive freshman season in 2022 with 116 carries for 519 yards and five touchdowns. His numbers dropped during the 2023 season before having a career-high junior year. Barnes rushed 122 times for 577 yards and five touchdowns, while posting a career-high 17 receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown in 2024. <\/p>\n As Oklahoma\u2019s rushing attack failed to lift off in 2025, Barnes hit the sideline after four games to redshirt and preserve his redshirt for an additional year of eligibility. <\/p>\n Kentucky lost three running backs from last year\u2019s roster. The Wildcats need multiple additions for Will Stein\u2019s<\/a> first season at Kentucky. They\u2019re still in the mix for another SEC product. Former Texas RB CJ Baxter<\/a> visited Lexington on the opening day of the transfer portal, and the Cats are in a strong position ahead of Wednesday\u2019s visit to Colorado. <\/p>\n Kentucky Free Agency Additions<\/p>\n We\u2019re only a few days into the transfer portal period, and the Wildcats have added nine players to the 2026 Kentucky football roster. There have been four commitments in the last 18 hours. <\/p>\n QB\u00a0Kenny Minchey<\/a>, Notre Dame Want more Kentucky Transfer Portal Coverage? Join KSR+<\/p>\n KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. In the middle of a busy transfer portal season for the Kentucky football program, now is the perfect time to join our online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard, our message board featuring thousands of Kentucky fans around the globe.\u00a0Come join the club right now for 50% off an annual subscription.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kentucky is riding a wave of transfer portal commitments. The latest is a running back with three years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,189506,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-393123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jovantae-barnes-22-desert-pines","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
IOL\u00a0Coleton Price<\/a>, Baylor
LB\u00a0Tavion Wallace<\/a>, Arkansas
DT\u00a0Ahmad Breaux<\/a>, LSU
EDGE\u00a0Antonio O\u2019Berry<\/a>, Gardner-Webb
CB\u00a0Hasaan Sykes<\/a>, Western Carolina
DB\u00a0Aaron Gates<\/a>, Florida
IOL\u00a0Max Anderson<\/a>, Tennessee
RB Jovantae Barnes<\/a>, Oklahoma<\/p>\n