photo by: Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Kansas wide receiver Lawrence Arnold runs on the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa State on Oct. 2, 2021, in Ames, Iowa.

Wide receiver Lawrence Arnold, who was expected to be one of the Kansas football team’s top targets next season, wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday evening that he intends to transfer.

Arnold, who will be a redshirt sophomore in the fall, started nine games last season. He tied for second on the team with 27 catches, matched a team high with three touchdown receptions and was fourth with 316 receiving yards.

Eleven players have decided to leave the Jayhawks since Thursday, though he’s the only one who was expected to play a significant role. Wide receiver Majik Rector also wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that he was transferring, as did cornerback DeVonte Wilson, who noted shortly thereafter that he had committed to Florida A&M.

Arnold had a season-high eight catches for 68 yards in the 53-32 loss at Duke on Sept. 25 and had a season-high 73 yards on four catches in the 35-23 loss to Oklahoma on Oct. 23.

His departure means only three wide receivers — Trevor Wilson, Luke Grimm and Steven McBride — are set to return to the Jayhawks for next season, and only five who are on scholarship. That trio combined for 64 of the 151 catches made by wide receivers last season and 195 made by the entire team.

Arnold was able to preserve his redshirt season by playing four games as a true freshman in 2020 but was limited by a shoulder injury in spring practice a year ago. He spoke last month about how despite the loss of Kwamie Lassiter II, who was a sixth-year senior last season, the Jayhawks would have “one of the best receiver rooms in the nation.”

“We’re making sure that we’re doing everything right to make sure that our receiver room, we’re all on the same page,” Arnold said on March 22. “Me, Trevor, Luke — really, the whole room, we’re all stepping up as like all the role models for people that are coming in and people that just got here.”

A three-star recruit out of Desoto, Texas, Arnold had scholarship offers from Kansas State, Cal and Northwestern, among others.

Coach Lance Leipold said after the spring game that he and his assistants would be meeting with players to offer evaluations and provide feedback over the following weeks.

Players have until May 1 to enter the transfer portal in order to be eligible to play next season.