Kentucky made a late push for a talented defensive back in the transfer portal. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough to secure a commitment one week before the Cats’ winter free agency window closes.

On3’s Hayes Fawcett reports Marcellus Barnes will transfer to SMU with three years of eligibility remaining.

Barnes was a Blue Chip cornerback in the 2024 recruiting class who initially committed to play for Georgia. When Fran Brown left to become the head coach at Syracuse, Barnes flipped to the Orange at the All-American Bowl. It was a significant early win for the head coach who would go on to win 10 games during his first campaign in Western New York.

The talented cornerback played right away. Unfortunately, an injury limited Barnes to only five games. He had three passes defended and 11 tackles.

Syracuse fans weren’t happy when he hopped in the portal after one season. Kentucky was one of the first schools mentioned and then things went quiet for about a month. Not gonna lie, it was a little weird.

This week, Barnes shared that Kentucky was one of two finalists along with SMU. That’s not a good school to be a finalist if the bottom line is the ultimate decider. They have deep pockets in Dallas and they are spending big. Nevertheless, Adam Luckett reported on KSBoard this morning that Barnes was expected to be in Lexington for a visit this weekend.

Reading between the lines, it feels like SMU caught wind of Kentucky’s late push and upped the offer for the free-agent cornerback. That’s just a hunch.

Kentucky has already signed one transfer portal cornerback this offseason, Kevis Thomas, and they’re hosting another talented defensive back this weekend, Tamarcus Cooley. The last day to add new players to the roster before the spring semester is next Friday, Jan. 17.

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