Kentucky a team to watch for top-ranked quarterback in transfer portal

Things are getting serious already between Kentucky and the transfer portal. After opening at midnight on Friday, Kentucky already has over a dozen visitors from the transfer portal making their way to Lexington this weekend, headlined by former top-ranked running back out of high school in 2023, CJ Baxter, who elected to transfer from Texas. That would be a big get, but there's one position in particular already picking up steam: Quarterback.

Late Thursday night before the portal officially opened, it was reported that Kentucky would be in the mix for TCU transfer quarterback Josh Hoover, who is one of the top signal-callers currently in the portal. Other teams involved include Indiana and Louisville, with the Hoosiers being the early favorite as they work to replace Fernando Mendoza once their playoff run ends. But, as things continue to happen in the portal, Kentucky was immediately linked to Arizona State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt, and now things are moving fast.

According to On3's Pete Nakos and Steve Wiltfong, Leavitt has entered the portal with a "do not contact" tag as Kentucky officially enters the mix. That now has Big Blue Nation biuzzing about the Arizona State standout. It's not just that, though, because (coincidentally?) Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley and Arizona State have gained steam since he entered the portal, with On3 even logging predictions for the Lexington native to end up as a Sun Devil.

Oct 25, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) against the Houston Cougars at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

At Arizona State, Leavitt led them to the Playoff in his first season there, before playing just seven games this season due to a foot injury that led to season-ending surgery on Oct. 31. Now, he's the top quarterback in the portal. Keep your head on a swivel, Kentucky fans, because with all of this emerging between Kentucky and Leavitt, everything points to him being a Wildcat, but things can change quickly, as we all know, in this day and age in the transfer portal. What we do know, though, is Stein is working hard to hand-pick the guy he wants to lead the offense in his first season at Kentucky. As someone who prides himself on an exciting brand of offense, fans should absolutely trust who Stein wants to bring in.

At his introductory press conference, Stein talked about what he looks for when recruiting a quarterback for his system: "You start, kind of in your career, do they fit the measurables? But at quarterback, it's so much more than that. It's do they have the mental makeup to be the top, toughest M'Fer on the field? Because that's what they got to be. They got to be mentally and physically tough. That's really where it starts with me, and then processing ability, being extremely accurate thinking. If you look at the guys that I've coached recently, all over 70% passers, if you're not over 70% High School, it makes you think you're going to be 70% college. So we look at that, arm talent only takes you so far. You rarely ever throw it 70 yards, unless it's a Hail Mary situation. So can you be accurate? Can you throw on time? Can you withstand the confines of a pocket? And then in today's modern football, you got to be mobile."

Will Stein's guy end up being Leavitt or does things take a turn for someone else? We will see soon, but the smoke is getting louder surrounding the Arizona State standout and the Wildcats.