A bad season transitioned seamlessly into a terrible offseason for the Kentucky Wildcats as star wide receiver Dane Key expressed his intention to enter the college football transfer portal when it officially opens on Dec. 9. An electric pass catcher with a highlight reel of insane grabs that most players can only dream of, the list of landing spots for Key shows how coveted he will be.
Where Will Dane Key Transfer?
A Lexington native who always dreamed of playing for his hometown Wildcats, Key is a significant loss for Kentucky. It’s not easy to star early in your career in the SEC, but the former four-star out of Frederick Douglass made an instant impression with 519 yards and six touchdowns during a 2022 freshman season that saw him earn CFN Freshman All-American honors.
Over the following two seasons, Key established himself as one of the most dangerous weapons in the sport. Across three total campaigns with Kentucky, he tallied 1,870 receiving yards, averaging 14.8 yards per catch with 14 touchdowns. His final season in Lexington was his most productive despite a carousel of quarterbacks and an offense mired in mediocrity.
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The stats are impressive, but look beyond them, and you find the true allure of Key for teams dipping their toes into the transfer portal pool this offseason. He’s electric, dynamic, and capable of winning on release but also competing at the catch point. His level of reliability is hard to find at any level of the sport.
Unsurprisingly, every fanbase on social media wants their team to go after a playmaker who will likely command a decent NIL package. According to sources close to College Football Network, these are the four most likely teams to watch out for as landing spots for former Kentucky wide receiver Key.
South Carolina Gamecocks
As of Thursday afternoon, Key was expected to visit the South Carolina Gamecocks imminently — if he hasn’t already been on campus.
Shane Beamer and his staff got a taste of the Kentucky wide receiver’s capability in each of his three seasons with the Wildcats, averaging 18 yards per catch on two grabs against the dominant 2024 Gamecocks defense.
South Carolina has been no stranger to adding pass catchers out of the portal in recent years. Gage Larvadain (Miami RedHawks) and Jared Brown (Coastal Carolina Chanticleers) formed part of their 2024 wide receiver room, and while talented, neither are on the same level as Key, who would give blossoming young passer LaNorris Sellers a dynamic weapon opposite Nyck Harbor.
Adding further legitimacy to South Carolina as a landing spot for Key is a preexisting relationship with the program. The Gamecocks offered the wide receiver before he signed with Kentucky, and reports suggest he remains close with head coach Beamer.
Ole Miss Rebels
Lane Kiffin has earned the right to be crowned the “Portal King” with the way he has built the Ole Miss Rebels football program. Unsurprisingly, they’re a likely landing spot for any wide receiver worth their salt due to the nature of their offense. With Tre Harris and Antwane Wells Jr. presumably headed to the NFL, there will be ample targets available for Key if he heads to Oxford.
Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver room has taken the flack for Carson Beck’s plummeting draft stock and some minor offensive woes of the program in 2024. They snagged Dominic Lovett and Colbie Young from the transfer portal a year ago but could desperately use an upgrade like Key at the position to help boost a unit that ranked its lowest (25th nationally) since 2020.
Miami Hurricanes
While Georgia desperately needs a playmaker like Key, if you’re a wide receiver looking to thrive in a high-octane offense, there are few better places to land than the Miami Hurricanes. While Cam Ward will be in the NFL next year if Shannon Dawson remains as OC and they scoop a top-tier passer out of the portal, who wouldn’t want to play for the top-scoring offense in the nation?
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