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Ex-Alabama wide receiver Javon Baker no longer plans to transfer to Kentucky football

jon hale, louisville courier journal
·2 min read
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LEXINGTON — The list of questions about Kentucky football's wide receiver room has grown again.

Former Alabama wide receiver Javon Baker, who signed with Kentucky in February, is no longer transferring to UK, a football team spokesman confirmed Thursday. A former four-star recruit, Baker was projected to compete for a starting spot for UK this fall.

Since Baker had not yet enrolled at UK, he can now consider other options in the transfer portal. In an Instagram story post, Baker indicated the decision to part ways with UK was made by the Kentucky coaching staff.

"Guess they did decommit me," Baker wrote. "...I wanted to play for Kentucky. Bigger and better plans the most high got me."

Baker appeared in 21 games across two seasons at Alabama but struggled to break into the Crimson Tide's loaded wide receiver rotation. He caught seven passes for 101 yards and one touchdown in 12 games this season.

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Wide receiver Javon Baker went into the transfer portal a few days after Alabama lost the national championship game.
Wide receiver Javon Baker went into the transfer portal a few days after Alabama lost the national championship game.

The 6-foot-2, 206-pound receiver opened the season with three catches for 21 yards against Miami. Three games later, he tallied two catches for 59 yards and one touchdown against Southern Miss. Baker caught just two passes in the final eight games.

Baker is the second transfer wide receiver to back out of a commitment to Kentucky this offseason. Former Syracuse wide receiver Taj Harris committed to UK in November then decommitted a month later. Harris later transferred to Rutgers.

Kentucky did land Virginia Tech wide receiver transfer Tayvion Robinson, who enrolled for the spring semester and quickly established himself as quarterback Will Levis's top option in spring practice. UK also returns junior DeMarcus Harris, who tallied 10 of his 12 catches in second half of last season.

With Baker no longer in the fold, the pressure increases on a group of young Kentucky receivers to step up.

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Leading that group is freshman Dane Key, a former four-star recruit from Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington. After enrolling early at UK, Key was one of the breakout performers in spring practice.

UK also signed four-star Nashville prep receiver Barion Brown and three-star speedsters Jordan Anthony and Brandon White in the 2022 class. Second-year receivers Chris White, Chauncey Magwood and Dekel Crowdus will have a chance to earn larger roles. Former Butler High School star Tae Tae Crumes, who has recorded one catch in three years on campus, is the only other returning scholarship upperclassman in the wide receiver room.

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ. 

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Javon Baker: Former Alabama WR no longer transferring to UK