WVU Football’s Secondary Loses Another to Transfer Portal

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When news broke yesterday that WVU Football’s Darel Middleton planned to leave the program, tweets arose alluding to a similar exodus by his Mountaineer teammate, redshirt sophomore safety Kerry “K.J.” Martin. Now, Martin is officially no longer with the program either.

I’m officially in the portal.. pic.twitter.com/2L0qyULYKk

— Kerry “KJ” Martin Jr. (@TheKerryMartin_) October 13, 2021

In a now-deleted tweet, Martin cleared up speculation by saying simply, “No I was not kicked off the team and this was not a mutual agreement.”

No I was not kicked off the team and this was not a mutual agreement.

— Kerry “KJ” Martin Jr. (@TheKerryMartin_) October 13, 2021

Martin hasn’t started any of the 2021 season’s games, but registered a TFL against LIU and three unassisted tackles on the season. The Charleston, W.Va. native committed to former head coach Dana Holgorsen’s WVU program in 2018 over offers from Army, Cincinnati, Howard, Marshall, Miami (OH), Rutgers, Toledo, Western Kentucky, Maryland, and Virginia Tech. Now, it seems he’s on the move again.

His true freshman season concluded with 50 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, and five pass breakups. Those defensive stats were enough to find himself on the Pro Football Focus All-American Third Team. When COVID-19 hit, Martin became the only player on the WVU roster to elect not to participate in the season. Although he sat the season out, the NCAA ruled that any athlete who decided to forgo their 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns wouldn’t lose a year of eligibility. Martin enters the transfer portal with three full years of eligibility remaining.

Although it’s likely that Middleton will try to return to the Tennessee Volunteers, it’s unclear where Martin is heading.

2019 3-star DB Kerry Martin has entered the transfer portal after finishing his true freshman season with 50 tsckles, 2.5 TFL and 5 PD, opting out in 2020 and totaling 3 tackles this fall at West Virginia @rivalsmike @WVSportsDotCom @rivalskeenan https://t.co/0rZC2uQd7d

— NCAA Transfer Portal (@RivalsPortal) October 13, 2021