photo by: AP Photo/Young Kwak

Arizona tight end Keyan Burnett (88) runs a route while pressured by Washington State defensive back Cam Lampkin (3) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in Pullman, Wash.

Kansas’ activity in the spring transfer portal might not be over just yet.

Former Arizona tight end Keyan Burnett, a key addition for KU in the winter transfer window, will reenter the portal after spending the spring with the Jayhawks, according to multiple reports.

The move comes as a surprise not only because the spring portal technically closed on Friday and Burnett’s entry wasn’t reported until Monday morning (247Sports had the news first), but also because Burnett and fellow tight end DeShawn Hanika both seemed poised for big roles in 2025, providing quarterback Jalon Daniels size and experience in the passing game that KU lacked at tight end last season.

Burnett, a 6-foot-6, 248-pound native of Ladera Ranch, California, spent his first three seasons at Arizona. He caught 18 passes for 217 yards with a touchdown during an injury-marred 2024 season.

He had arrived at KU in part because of a connection between his father, Chester, and the Jayhawks’ general manager Rob Ianello from the Arizona teams of the mid-1990s. Speaking to local reporters in the spring, Burnett described his transition to KU as “really seamless, and I feel like I fit right in,” and mentioned his goal of becoming a complete, well-rounded tight end during his senior season.

“I loved his tape, but when you get to meet him in person, what an amazing guy,” co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Matt Lubick said. “Goes out of his way to prepare, tries to do everything right, and then seeing him move around and the way he attacks the football, the way he blocks, it’s everything we thought we were going to get and maybe some more.”

In the short term, Burnett’s reported departure means an even bigger role for Hanika, a former Iowa State transfer who missed the entire 2024 season due to injury, and will elevate another past transfer, Leyton Cure, to the second spot on the depth chart. Behind Cure, though, KU is largely unproven after losing three of its top four players from 2024. Other players at tight end, under the veteran coach but first-time tight ends coach Lubick, include redshirt sophomore Jaden Hamm and redshirt freshman Carson Bruhn.

KU could therefore attempt to recruit a late-spring addition from the players who have already entered the portal, though it has not distributed any publicly reported offers to such players as of Monday morning.