KU football roster takes hit as Trey Lathan will enter transfer portal
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LAWRENCE — Just a day before the transfer portal is set to open officially, Kansas football’s 2026 roster has taken a massive hit.
Trey Lathan, a redshirt junior linebacker who started all 12 games in 2025, announced Thursday, Jan. 1, in a social media post on X that he intends to enter the transfer portal. Lathan, who arrived as a transfer from West Virginia ahead of this past season, led KU in tackles in what’s set to be his lone campaign with the Jayhawks. He had 86 tackles, to go along with seven tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, five pass breakups, 1.5 sacks and one interception.
This is arguably the most significant loss that Kansas is in line to experience through the transfer portal this offseason, but it’s not the only one on defense that’ll be important to replace before the 2026 opener. Redshirt senior safety Lyrik Rawls and redshirt freshman linebacker Jon Jon Kamara have also revealed their intentions to enter the transfer portal. Rawls was the second-leading tackler for the Jayhawks in 2025, and Kamara was someone with a lot of potential in his position group.
Kansas finished 5-7 this past season for the second-straight year, and hasn’t played in a bowl game since it won one in 2023. The 2025 group didn’t seem to have the ceiling of the 2024 edition of coach Lance Leipold’s roster, but it was a disappointment for both campaigns, for neither to end with a bowl game. There’ll be a lot of pressure on Leipold and his coaching staff to produce in 2026.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football star linebacker Trey Lathan to enter transfer portal
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