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Dane Key grew up in Lexington. He starred at receiver for Frederick Douglass High School. And when the time came to commit to where he wanted to play college football, he spurned national powers Oregon and Michigan to stay home and play for Kentucky.
He set a school freshman record with six touchdown receptions his first year. He led the team in receiving yards as a sophomore. This season, he led the Wildcats with both 47 receptions and 715 yards.
He’s been by all accounts a hometown success story for the Cats.
Until he was not.
The transfer portal opened Monday, and Key announced his plans to enter it after three years, 126 catches for 1,870 yards and 14 touchdowns while playing for UK.
Surely there will be cynics who point to Key’s drops in 2023 and argue that he didn’t reach his potential for the Cats anyway. But that would be the wrong take.
In today’s football landscape, fans have to learn to compartmentalize. Simply appreciate the time a player spends in your program whether a one-hit wonder or a homegrown talent such as Key.
But understand now, these players are short-term rentals. There has to be an acceptance that there’s no guarantee a successful season will make a player return for another year.
From here on out — unless things change from House settlement payments or some other seismic shift leads to a decrease in the number of players in the transfer portal — programs such as UK and Louisville will lose some of their beloved players.
Consider this an annual reminder.
Louisville had a similar experience with running back Maurice Turner being one of the players planning on entering the transfer portal. Turner played for three seasons, and this was supposed to be his time to deliver.
An injury wrecked his season, and while Turner was sidelined, he watched the emergence of Isaac Brown as the Cardinals’…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/brown-louisville-uk-football-players-101642228.html
Author : The Courier Journal
Publish date : 2024-12-09 10:16:00
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