{"id":507301,"date":"2026-01-11T00:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T00:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507301\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T00:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T00:12:09","slug":"top-transfer-portal-tackle-lance-heard-commits-to-kentucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507301\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Transfer Portal Tackle Lance Heard Commits to Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Big Blue Nation was on pins and needles. Anxiety reached an all-time high after Kentucky missed on a couple of offensive tackle targets. They just got one of the best. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/lance-heard-147284\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lance Heard<\/a><\/strong> is transferring from Tennessee to Kentucky, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Hayesfawcett3\/status\/2010090338929782888\">he tells Hayes Fawcett<\/a>. The former left tackle for the Vols is the second-ranked offensive tackle and the No. 20 overall player in the transfer portal. He has one final year of college football to climb up NFL Draft boards.<\/p>\n<p>The multi-time transfer started his career at LSU in 2023 when Kentucky offensive coordinator\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/joe-sloan-132582\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe Sloan<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was on\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/brian-kelly-132649\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brian Kelly<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s staff. Heard then moved to Tennessee, where he was a two-year starter at left tackle who made a huge jump in 2025. The Louisiana native is considered one of the best left tackles in college football.<\/p>\n<p>Heard was a Third Team All-SEC selection last fall. He played pretty well at Kroger Field, earning SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors for the performance. During his time in Baton Rouge, he secured a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team while rotating in at right tackle. He\u2019s bringing 25 career starts with him to Kentucky. He has only allowed three sacks in his entire career. <\/p>\n<p>New Kentucky offensive line coach <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/cutter-leftwich-27234\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cutter Leftwich<\/a><\/strong> is building his unit from scratch. Needing to find five new starters, the Wildcats have been aggressive in the transfer portal. In addition to Heard, C <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coleton-price-24967\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Coleton Price<\/a><\/strong> was one of the top-ranked players at his position. The Wildcats also acquired a couple of former four-star talents, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/olaus-alinen-94287\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Olaus Alinen<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/max-anderson-150431\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Max Anderson<\/a><\/strong>, to compete for starting spots at offensive guard. Things are coming together nicely for the new-look Big Blue Wall. <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/joe-sloan-132582\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe Sloan<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s Louisiana connections are coming in handy for the Cats. The Kentucky offensive coordinator was coaching quarterbacks at LSU during Heard\u2019s time in Baton Rouge. Those connections are ensuring <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/kenny-minchey-73343\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kenny Minchey<\/a><\/strong> will be well protected at Kroger Field next fall. <\/p>\n<p>Lance Heard is the 16th addition to Will Stein\u2019s transfer portal class. <\/p>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Player<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Position<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>High School<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Former School<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Year<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Olaus Alinen<\/td>\n<td>G\/T (6-6, 322)<\/td>\n<td>Windson (Conn.) The Loomis Chaffee School<\/td>\n<td>Alabama<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Junior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jesse Anderson<\/td>\n<td>DB<\/td>\n<td>Ft. Lauderdale (Fl.) Cardinal Gibbons<\/td>\n<td>Pitt<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Junior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Max Anderson<\/td>\n<td>iOL (6-5, 311)<\/td>\n<td>Frisco (Texas) High<\/td>\n<td>Tennessee<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Sophomore<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jovantae Barnes<\/td>\n<td>RB (6-0, 211)<\/td>\n<td>Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines<\/td>\n<td>Oklahoma<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Senior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ahmad Breaux<\/td>\n<td>iDL (6-3, 278)<\/td>\n<td>Ruston (La.) High<\/td>\n<td>LSU<\/td>\n<td>Junior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jordan Castell<\/td>\n<td>S (6-2, 213)<\/td>\n<td>Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange<\/td>\n<td>Florida<\/td>\n<td>Senior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Xavier Daisy<\/td>\n<td>WR (6-3, 210)<\/td>\n<td>Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian School<\/td>\n<td>UAB<\/td>\n<td>Junior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Aaron Gates<\/td>\n<td>Nickel (6-0, 198)<\/td>\n<td>Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian<\/td>\n<td>Florida<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Junior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lance Heard <\/td>\n<td>LT (6-6, 330)<\/td>\n<td>Bonita (La.) Neville<\/td>\n<td>LSU | Tennessee<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Senior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jamarrion Harkless<\/td>\n<td>iDL (6-3, 315)<\/td>\n<td>Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass<\/td>\n<td>Purdue<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Junior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kenny Minchey<\/td>\n<td>QB (6-2, 208)<\/td>\n<td>Hendersonville (Tenn.) Pope John Paul II<\/td>\n<td>Notre Dame<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Junior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Antonio O\u2019Berry<\/td>\n<td>EDGE (6-6, 240)<\/td>\n<td>Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne<\/td>\n<td>Tiffin (D-II) | Gardner-Webb<\/td>\n<td>6th-Year Senior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Coleton Price<\/td>\n<td>iOL (6-3, 318)<\/td>\n<td>Bowie (Texas) High<\/td>\n<td>Baylor<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Senior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hasaan Sykes<\/td>\n<td>CB (6-0, 185)<\/td>\n<td>Tuckert (Ga.) High<\/td>\n<td>Western Carolina<\/td>\n<td>Junior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tavion Wallace<\/td>\n<td>LB (6-1, 239)<\/td>\n<td>Baxley (Ga.) Appling County<\/td>\n<td>Arkansas<\/td>\n<td>Sophomore<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dominic Wiseman<\/td>\n<td>DL (6-2, 300)<\/td>\n<td>Davenport North (Iowa) HS<\/td>\n<td>South Alabama<\/td>\n<td>Redshirt Senior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p>Want more Kentucky Transfer Portal Coverage? Join KSR+<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/sites\/kentucky-wildcats\/join\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Come join the club right now for 50% off an annual subscription.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Big Blue Nation was on pins and needles. Anxiety reached an all-time high after Kentucky missed on a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":507302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,227123,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-507301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-lance-heard-23-neville","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115873575254716754","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}