Freshman WR Keontez Lewis Enters Transfer Portal After One Year With UCLA Football
Another Bruin is on his way out of Westwood, the first of which from outside the numbers.
Receiver Keontez Lewis, after spending just one year with UCLA football, entered the NCAA transfer portal on Sunday. Lewis played 11 games for the Bruins this past season, but did not record a catch and ended his career in blue and gold without a single stat.
Coming out of East St. Louis High School (IL), Lewis enrolled at UCLA in January 2021 in time for spring camp, and now he'll leave with three year of eligibility remaining.
UCLA has now had 11 players enter the portal and Lewis is the eighth who is from out of state. Quarterback Parker McQuarrie is from New Hampshire, edge rusher Myles Jackson in from Georgia, defensive lineman AJ Campbell is from Ohio, punter Luke Akers is from Tennessee, safety DJ Warnell is from Texas, defensive lineman Tyler Kiehne is from New Meixco and offensive lineman Beau Taylor is from Nevada. Cornerback Shamar Martin, quarterback Kajiya Hollawayne and defensive lineman John Ward are all from California.
The 6-foot-3 Lewis was the No. 74 receiver in the country in the class of 2021, according to the 247Sports Composite. The system also had Lewis as a three-star recruit who was the No. 11 player in Illinois and the No. 480 player in the nation overall.
Of the Bruins' 18-man 2021 recruiting class, Lewis was the No. 8 player and No. 1 receiver. Behind Logan Loya, Matt Sykes, and Charles Njoku, Lewis was the fourth highest-ranked receiver to commit to UCLA in the past three cycles.
When Lewis committed to UCLA, Jimme Dougherty was still the receivers coach. Since then, former quarterbacks coach Jerry Neuheisel took over at the position, and Neuheisel has started out hot on the recruiting trail in the 2022 cycle by securing commitments from four-star Jadyn Marshall, three-star Mekhi Fox and three-star Braden Pegan.
That trio of freshman are set to arrive on campus next year, but now Lewis will not be in the receiver room with them. Kyle Philips and Chase Cota walked on Senior Night against Cal and could elect to declare for the NFL Draft too, so the receivers group is likely going to look very different come 2022.
The technical rules in terms of scholarships and transfers are complicated enough in a normal year, but with super seniors still a thing and COVID-19 eligibility extensions being granted across the country, it gets even more messy. Essentially, schools are allowed to add up to 25 new scholarship players each cycle, but that number goes up for every outgoing transfer.
That figure maxes out at 32, however, and with 11 players in the transfer portal, the Bruins are at the point where they cannot replace additional departures should any more players declare their intentions to leave the program.
Catch up on all the transfer market news related to UCLA at All Bruins' transfer portal tracker.
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