Hardley Gilmore dismissed from Kentucky football again

Pete Nakos broke the news Thursday: Hardley Gilmore is no longer with the Kentucky football program. No details in the tweet itself, just the fact of it, but the timing says plenty. Fall camp is in full swing in Lexington, and the Wildcats just lost a receiver who was supposed to be part of the answer at the position this year.

Pete Nakos

@PeteNakos

Hardley Gilmore is no longer with the Kentucky football program. t.co/oGoXmYJ1Ef

This is the second time in under two years Gilmore has been shown the door. He arrived at Kentucky as a 4-star recruit out of Florida in the 2024 class, the No. 47 wide receiver nationally and one of the highest-rated pledges in that group. He played as a true freshman, then bolted for Nebraska in the transfer portal for the 2025 spring. That stint lasted a few months. Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule dismissed him in April 2025, saying at the time it wasn't for anything criminal, just an internal decision. Gilmore boomeranged back to Kentucky afterward.

Now he's out again, and this time it's on Kentucky's terms. A team spokesperson confirmed Gilmore was dismissed for violating team rules, without spelling out specifics. He'd appeared in 19 games across his two stints in Lexington, giving Joe Sloan's offense a body at receiver during a stretch when the Wildcats have been trying to rebuild that room.

For a guy who was a top-50 receiver recruit in his class, Gilmore's college career has turned into a revolving door: Kentucky to Nebraska to Kentucky, and now off the roster again with the portal likely his next stop if he wants to keep playing. It's the kind of story that's become depressingly familiar in the portal era — talent nobody doubts, stability nobody can find.

For Kentucky, the more immediate issue is what the receiver room looks like without him heading into the season. Losing a former 4-star with SEC game reps just weeks before kickoff isn't ideal, but it's also not new territory for a Wildcats program that's had to piece together its skill positions on the fly the last couple offseasons. Expect Sloan's staff to lean harder on the receivers already in the building and keep an eye on the portal for a late add.