photo by: Kansas Athletics

JaCorey Stewart

Kansas linebacker JaCorey Stewart announced on Friday that he plans to enter the transfer portal.

“Thank you to the University of Kansas for helping me grow on and off the field,” Stewart wrote in a post on X. “I’ll be entering the transfer portal with 3 years of eligibility left. Grateful for the Jayhawk family.”

A 6-foot, 230-pound linebacker from Atlanta, Stewart didn’t find significant playing time during his two years in Lawrence. He redshirted and did not play in 2024, then got 18 snaps — 15 of which came on special teams — in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus.

His classmate Jon Jon Kamara received much more extensive opportunities in their redshirt freshman campaign and even surpassed redshirt sophomore Logan Brantley in the pecking order. KU is also high on Malachi Curvey, a freshman in the 2025 class from Waukee, Iowa, who appeared on special teams late in the year and made a big tackle in the season finale against Iowa.

What remains to be seen is whether the Jayhawks will choose to add to their linebacker room via the transfer portal, especially when it opens for real on Jan. 2. While it is losing a number of veterans, KU has the opportunity to return middle linebackers Trey Lathan, its leading tackler in 2025, and Joseph Sipp Jr., a transfer from Bowling Green who redshirted as his first season as a Jayhawk was derailed by injury, along with Kamara, Brantley and Curvey. Joseph Credit and Josh Galbreath are coming in as true freshmen in the class of 2026.

In entering the portal, Stewart follows running back Johnny Thompson Jr., as well as punter Efren Jasso and receiver Bryce Cohoon.