South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Linebacker transfer Jennings receives immediate eligibility
Linebacker Branden Jennings has received a waiver from the NCAA for immediate eligibility to play this season at UCF after transferring from Kansas State, a Knights team spokesperson confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel on Friday night.
Jennings, who began his college career at Maryland, was a four-star linebacker out of Sandalwood in Jacksonville during the 2021 recruiting cycle.
While athletes are allowed to transfer without sitting out a season thanks to the one-time transfer rule approved by the NCAA in April 2021, Jennings needed special clearance because he had changed schools once before.
After a freshman season in the Big Ten with the Terrapins in which Jennings totaled 23 tackles (17 solo), one tackle for a loss and one forced fumble in eight games, he entered the NCAA transfer portal in November.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound linebacker spent the spring semester at Kansas State before entering the portal a second time in April.
Last month, following a visit to campus, Jennings committed to the Knights and enrolled for the summer as UCF became his third college in less than two years. A family member of the linebacker shared Friday on social media that Jennings received word he could play this fall.
Stephen Leonard of 247Sports first confirmed the waiver news with the family. The Sentinel then reached out to UCF for confirmation.
The waiver to play right away is major for UCF. The Knights only had one linebacker with starting experience — senior Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste — returning this fall.
Jennings made three starts as a freshman at Maryland last season.
He’s not the only incoming transfer at linebacker either. Jennings follows Eastern Illinois transfer Jason Johnson, a two-time FCS All-America linebacker, who verbally committed to the Knights in March.
UCF also recently added Savannah State graduate transfer Walter Yates to the mix.
Yates, Johnson and Jennings hope to help replenish a linebacker room that lost leading tackler Tatum Bethune, plus redshirt freshmen Kadeem Leonard and Cole Joyce, to the transfer portal.
Jennings is the son of Bradley Jennings, a threeyear starting linebacker and national champion at Florida State.
At Sandalwood, Branden Jennings was a 2019 TimesUnion All-First Coast firstteam selection and later was named an Under Armour All-American.
Jennings was ranked as the No. 12 linebacker nationally and No. 18 prospect in Florida for the 2021 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.