photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU redshirt freshman Jameel Croft Jr. awaits the opening kickoff from Houston at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024.

Kansas cornerback Jameel Croft Jr. will enter the transfer portal, he and his representation from MET Agency announced in a post on Instagram on Sunday night.

Croft, who is originally from Detroit, served primarily as a special-teams contributor over the course of three seasons in Lawrence, including during a redshirt year after he arrived in 2023, and will have two years of collegiate eligibility remaining. He was a three-star prospect out of Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, the same alma mater as former Jayhawks Rich Miller and Marvin Grant.

Croft played 116 snaps on special teams during his three years at KU and three on defense, according to Pro Football Focus, which included one snap as an outside corner against Lindenwood in 2024 and two snaps as a nickel back at Texas Tech in 2025. He recorded three tackles, all solo, over the past two seasons.

He also had a brief stint as a kick returner for KU midway through the 2024 season in which he returned four kicks for 55 yards, infamously catching a kickoff at the 1-yard line before going out of bounds during the Sunflower Showdown in Manhattan that year, a play that led to a safety in an eventual two-point loss.

Croft’s departure opens a spot at cornerback for the Jayhawks, who already return a lot of experience at that position with Jalen Todd, Austin Alexander, Syeed Gibbs and Jahlil Hurley and also have Jacoby Davis, Aundre Gibson and Chris McCorkle with 2026 signees Trey Brown and Robert Reddick soon to join the fold.