Skip to main content

Arkansas LB Tavion Wallace Transfers to Kentucky

Nick-Roush-headshotby: Nick Roush01/03/26RoushKSR

A familiar name is preparing to put on Kentucky blue. In this humble blogger’s opinion, it’s long overdue.

Tavion Wallace will transfer to Kentucky after one season at Arkansas. The former Blue Chip talent has a connection to the Kentucky football program.

For three years, his older brother, Trevin Wallace, made plays for the Kentucky defense. He created one of the loudest crowd pops in Kroger Field history, returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the 2021 win over Florida. Wallace was a two-year starter at linebacker who tallied 166 tackles, 18 TFLs, and 10.0 sacks before entering his name into the NFL Draft as an underclassman. He was a third round draft pick by the Carolina Panthers in 2024 and has started in a dozen games this fall.

During Trevin’s final season at Kentucky, Tavion Wallace emerged as one of the best high school linebacker prospects in the country. He was a consensus four-star, Top-300 recruit, ranked as one of the Top 25 linebackers in the country. He participated in the 2025 All-American Bowl.

Despite the connection to Kentucky, the coach who recruited his brother to Lexington was no longer on campus, and his brother was busy making plays on Sundays. The Cats were in the mix, but he ultimately looked elsewhere. Georgia and Florida were finalists in his recruitment, but everyone expected Wallace to commit to Florida State. It was a huge recruiting win for defensive coordinator Travis Williams when he chose to play for Arkansas.

As a true freshman, Wallace played sparingly for the Razorbacks, but enough to burn a redshirt, appearing in nine games and tallying two tackles. He entered the transfer portal after Sam Pittman was fired with three years of eligibility remaining.

Both Wallace brothers are exceptional athletes. It took Trevin some time to learn the nuances of the position at Kentucky. Tavion is a bit more a polished prospect, albeit one who needs more reps in SEC play. Kentucky is addressing a position of need in the transfer portal with a player who has a ton of upside.

Take advantage of our KSR+ TRANSFER PORTAL SALE to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including the latest Transfer Portal intel, game threads, in-depth scouting reports, and a year of access to The Athletic. Annual subscriptions are 50% off for a limited time.

Discuss This Article

Comments have moved.

Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.

KSBoard

2026-01-05