Last weekend head coach Matt Rhule broke the news that recent Kentucky transfer receiver Hardley Gilmore was dismissed from the team. He did not lay out the reasons why, and the topic was not open for conversation. Matt Rhule said this “Nothing outside the program, nothing criminal or anything like that. Just won’t be with us anymore.”
Gilmore transferred from Kentucky in January of this year. He played at Kentucky his Freshman year, hauling in 6 catches for 153 yards. Most of his freshman year he was held out due to injury. Not earth shattering, however, his ceiling was high, given his natural athleticism and speed.
Gilmore ran into issues with the law at Kentucky, when he was charged with misdemeanor assault in December 2024. Rhule noted this situation was not a legal issue, but its worth noting as a background to all this, as it speaks to *potential* overall character flaws.
Some more prominent people in the media, I.E “Husker Online,” claim to know why he was kicked off the team but declined to make it public, because the University did not want it public, and they will of course honor that. I have heard from some lose sources of my own about what went wrong, but more than not wanting to anger the university, I don’t want to deal in rumors since I don’t have first hand facts. It would not be fair to Gilmore.
Which brings me to my point – should the University be more transparent in things like this? To be clear I am asking if they should clearly say why Gilmore was dismissed from the team. I get in the historical context of college athletics why we wouldn’t do this – they are students, young men, and don’t deserve the public embarrassment or scrutiny.
However.
College football has changed. We pay these players now, and the fans invest a lot into this football program – financially and emotionally and are invested when a guy like Gilmore transfers over. So, for it to just be “hey he is gone, don’t worry about it,” seems to hit different now that these college athletes are paid and treated like professional athletes. The fans invest their own money into these funds that pay the players, like Gilmore, (who certainly would have been paid to transfer here) by means of donations to the 1890 collective. Last year I would wager that they received over 1 million in donations from fans, as a rough guess. I can base this on a fundraiser they ran in December 2023 that netted over 800,000. 2024 was an even bigger year for NIL and the collective was marketed more to the fans.
So, given fans invest their own money to pay these student athletes like professionals, when one gets suddenly dismissed from the team are we owed more answers?
My friends, it’s not an easy answer, and while I am stirring the pot here a little, I do have the upmost respect for Rhule, and the University whatever they decide. But given the current state of college athletics, maybe a little more transparency is warranted.
Food for thought.