Welcome to the new age of college athletics.
Transfer City.
With the NCAA’s new one-time transfer rule, college program across the country – all sports – are now spending as much time recruiting from the transfer portal as they are focusing on high school athletes.
Welcome to college athletics in 2022.
The sign of changing times is never more evident then in college football, where programs are adding transfers on a daily basis.
Louisiana Tech announced three more transfers with the additions of running back Keyon Henry-Brooks (Powder Springs, Ga./Vanderbilt), quarterback Austin Kendall (Waxhaw, N.C./WVU) and cornerback Jacquez Payton (Georgiana, Ala./Jacksonville State).
With the latest additions, Tech’s roster now boasts 17 players who were previously at other FBS or FCS programs.
Kendall, a 6-2, 215-pound signal caller, may be the one that excites Bulldog fans the most. With history of succeeding with Division I transfer quarterbacks (Cody Sokol, Jeff Driskel), Tech looks to hit another Hail Mary with the former Oklahoma Sooner signee who spent the past three years in Morgantown, West Virginia.
At WVU, Kendall appeared in 11 games where he threw for 2,153 yards and 14 touchdowns. During the 2019 campaign, Kendall started in nine games, completing 187-of-304 passes for 1,989 yards and 12 touchdowns. He ranked No. 24 nationally and fourth in the Big 12 in completions per game (20.8). Kendall also finished the season ranked seventh in the Big 12 in passing yards per game (221.0).
At Oklahoma from 2016-18, Kendall threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 28-of-39 passes with zero interceptions during his Sooner career. Kendall joins a quarterback meeting room at Tech that includes Luke Anthony, Aaron Allen and JD Head among others.
Anthony, who started most of the way in 2020, is trying to bounce back from a serious leg injury sustained in the regular-season finale at TCU last December.
Henry-Brooks, a 6-1, 207-pound running back, is a versatile option out of the backfield. In two seasons with the Commodores, he rushed for 746 yards on the ground, including a career-high 121 on 29 carries against Kentucky last year. He also caught 45 passes for 322 yards in two years, including 11 catches for 97 yards against Mississippi State. He led Vandy in all-purpose yards per contest with 125.3 and in rushing yards per game with 82.3. He is the second DI running back transfer that the Bulldogs have landed this year, joining former App State ball carrier Marcus Williams.
Payton, a 6-1, 170-pound cornerback, comes from FCS Jacksonville State from 2016-20. During his Gamecock career, he registered 79 total tackles, including 54 solo and 1.5 for loss, 26 pass breakups and three interceptions. As a redshirt junior in 2020, Payton had 30 combined stops, including 22 solo tackles and 1.0 for loss, and notched three interceptions and 10 pass breakups. He received a medical redshirt in 2019 after missing the season due to injury.
Louisiana Tech begins the 2021 season at Mississippi State on Saturday, Sept. 4, at 3 p.m. Tech will then open a three-game home stretch against Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, Sept. 11, at 6 p.m. inside Joe Aillet Stadium.
Season tickets for the 2021 Louisiana Tech football season are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets online at LATechSports.com/tickets or by calling the LA Tech Ticket Office at (318) 257-3631.
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