It’s that special time of year for college athletics: the spring transfer portal for basketball players, of course. Who’s going where and who’s coming to your favorite school. But how about we go back to the way it was for a bit. Like focusing on spring football. And who stayed in place.
Like taking a look down Lexington way where a new head coach – Will Stein – has just had a chance to check out his new UK team. And is commenting about what looks to be the best position group for the Wildcats – tight ends.
Which should make Northern Kentuckians pleased since the person leading the way at tight ends is Covington Catholic alum Willie Rodriguez, a 6-foot-4, 252-pound sophomore who was third in receiving for UK in the fall with 23 catches for 310 yards and a touchdown.
“I think we have three really talented tight ends that are going to be really advantageous for us this season,” Stein said. “The tight ends have done a really good job.”
Starting with Rodriguez: “Willie is an all-around player,” Stein said. “He can do it all. He can pass protect, run block, catch the ball, create missed tackles.”
At the end-of-spring presser, Rodriguez returned the compliment for his new head coach, coming in from a stint as Oregon’s offensive coordinator, and the success he’s had with tight ends” like Terrance Ferguson and Kenyon Sadiq at Oregon,” Rodriguez said. “Watched a bunch of their film . . . it was really good to see those guys’ film.”
Back to basketball transferring – and back to the Bluegrass State
But this is Kentucky we’re talking about and with the transfer portal just ending for basketball, there’s another Northern Kentuckian, Simon Kenton alum Gabe Dynes, the nation’s second tallest player at 7-feet-5 now, who just chose Louisville over UK and a number of other programs after a season in Los Angeles at USC after his first two years at Youngstown State.
After starting six games at USC, Dynes averaged 11.9 minutes a game and averaged 2.9 points, 2.3 rebounds with 1.0 blocks a game for the Big Ten Trojans.
Now Gabe will get the chance to play in the ACC where power and strength may not be required as much as in post play in the Big Ten. He’s the second big man to sign with Louisville along with Kansas’ highly touted 6-10 transfer Flory Bidunga, the Big 12’s defensive player of the year and maybe the top national transfer in the portal and one of six newcomers headed to Louisville in a top transfer class.
• Next on the local list is former Holmes Bulldog Eian Elmer, who helped Miami of Ohio to a record-breaking season and is now headed to Wisconsin in the Big Ten.
The Cincinnati Taft High grad “brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing,” said Wisconsin coach Greg Gard. Covington native Elmer averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists as a junior, scoring 30-plus points twice with 20-or more six times while hitting team highs of 72 three pointers on 42.9 percent shooting from behind the arc.
“He played on one of the country’s most successful teams at Miami (Ohio) that won 32 games,” Gard said. “A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team.
“Throughout our evaluation process our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system. We can’t wait to get Eian to Madison in June.”
Say so long to the Frontier League
The Frontier League, “the longest running MLB partner league in North America” is how the Florence Y’alls’ league bills itself, will have a new name for the 2027 season. It will take on this name: the National Association of Professional Baseball (NAPB).
It’s the result of a two-year re-branding effort for the more than 20-year-old league. “We had outgrown the Frontier League brand,” Commissioner Steve Tahlser said in a statement, “and that National Association of Professional Baseball better identified our current structure and future goals.”
“With the tremendous growth over the past five years, highlighted by our expansion into Canada along with the Northeast and Southeast in the United States, our Board felt that it was the appropriate time for a detailed study of both our current role and future opportunities,” Tahsler said.
Leading both the strategic visioning and rebranding process is the BLDG consulting firm out of Covington, the group that led the 2020 rebranding of the Y’alls as well as the 2025 brand refreshing of the Windy City ThunderBolts. And it follows a fourth straight season attendance record while also leading the four partner leagues in the number of contracts transferred to MLB organizations.
The theme for the re-branding of the 18-team league is that of “North America’s Home Teams” as they position themselves as a “vital community asset” combining an “entertainment venue,” a “marketing platform” and “professional baseball.”
The new NA logo to be displayed on all uniforms in 2027 will be unveiled during the 2026 Home Run Derby July 14 at Thomas More Stadium.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X @dweber3440.