3 things to know about Devin Leary, Kentucky football's possible quarterback of the future

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky football may have found its quarterback of the future — and for the second time in three years, he came from the NCAA transfer portal.

Devin Leary, who spent the past four seasons at North Carolina State, confirmed a report from On3 by announcing his commitment to Kentucky on Tuesday via Twitter.

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Given his experience, Leary will be the odds-on favorite to replace Will Levis, the Wildcats' starting signal-caller the past two seasons. Like Leary, Levis also joined Kentucky as a transfer after starting his college career at Penn State.

Leary joins a quarterback room with three returnees in the form of third-year sophomore Deuce Hogan, redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron and true freshman Destin Wade. It appears no other newcomers are on the immediate horizon, either; the Wildcats do not have a quarterback committed in the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Adding Leary is a coup for Kentucky, as he was considered the top quarterback available in the transfer portal according to both 247Sports (No. 4 overall) and On3 (No. 3 overall); ESPN ranked him as the No. 1 transfer available regardless of position.

So who is Leary, who could be next in line to start under center for UK? Here are some things to know about the future Wildcat:

He's already used to coaching transitions

One of the only constants for Leary at NC State was change. In his first three seasons, he learned under three different offensive coordinators AND three different quarterback coaches. The turnover will continue once he gets going with the Wildcats, who still have not publicly named a successor to offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.

Leary finished his career with the Wolfpack completing 60.2% of his passes for 6,807 yards, 62 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. As a redshirt sophomore, he was named a finalist for the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annual to the nation's top quarterback, after setting an NC State single-season record with 35 touchdowns through the air to go along with 3,433 yards and a .657 completion percentage.

Leary's redshirt junior campaign was cut short by a season-ending injury he sustained during an Oct. 8 win against Florida State. Nine days later, he underwent surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle on his right side.

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He was a record-setting high school QB

Leary, who hails from Sicklerville, New Jersey, had no peer in the Garden State once his prep career concluded.

He left as the state's career leader in both passing yardage (9,672) and passing touchdowns (117). And he set those records while completing 62.2% (566-for-910) of his attempts. He also ran for 525 yards and 11 scores at Timber Creek. As a junior, he threw for 3,688 yards and 48 TDs on 198-of-316 passing (62.7%). He was the Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey in each of his final two high school seasons.

Not a (natural) righty

Leary throws with his right hand. But he's actually left-handed; that's the hand he uses to write.

So why is a right-handed signal-caller? Blame — or credit — his brother. Growing up, Leary used his right-handed brother's baseball glove. It stuck. And now Leary is one of the most highly regarded quarterbacks in college football.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Devin Leary: What to know about new UK football quarterback