Opinion: UCF's Mikey Keene Will Transfer
Normally, I am not much for opinion pieces outside of articles about the cheating that’s going on within the recruiting aspect of college football. There’s certainly a ton of that, especially with the SEC. No shock there but today has been an opportunity for something different.
UCF Knights quarterback Mikey Keene sitting out the American Athletic Conference title game was definitely a chance to write about something unusual. Per NCAA rules, a player was able to participate within four games of a season and still preserve a year of eligibility.
Keene had already played in four games, so today would have cost him a year of eligibility. He chose not to participate. To me, that means he's already in the mindset to hit the Transfer Portal. Hopefully for UCF, I'm wrong about that.
Oddly enough, Keene had recently been asked about playing a fifth game and said he would. Well, something changed.
With starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee obviously not himself and was unable to play like he normally does against the Tulane Green Wave, the Knights needed to go with true freshman signal caller Thomas Castellanos for much of the second and third quarters.
No way head coach Gus Malzahn wanted to play his young quarterback in the AAC title game. There’s something else that needs to be pointed out on the other side of that equation.
If Keene truly wanted to stick around UCF, he’s going to be prepared to play and in uniform. Keene not even being dressed against Tulane was telling. So, suddenly, he was just sitting out and yet he wants to stay? Uh, no.
I’m not buying that. Neither should anyone else. Keene has lived for pressure situations and done well. See the Cincinnati game with Keene coming off the bench to help the Knights win, or the final drive against USF as a great piece of evidence.
Now, it’s cool if transfering was what Keene wanted to do going into the Tulane game, as he’s been a true soldier for UCF. Two seasons of coming off the bench and not a guarantee to be the main man next year, yeah, that’s hard.
If I am indeed correct, and Keene plans to move on, good luck to him. There will have been no hard feelings from this media member as he’s been a class act. Keene has been great with the media as a whole, and by all accounts, great with everyone else around the UCF football offices as well.
For the 2023 season, the Keene situation brings up other questions about what’s expected at quarterback.
Will Plumlee come back for a fifth-year? What’s that mean for Castellanos as he heads into his second season in Orlando? What does this mean for UCF quarterback recruiting?
It’s going to be a very interesting offseason for the Knights.
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