UCF QB Thomas Castellanos intends to enter NCAA transfer portal

Chris Boyle, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
·2 min read
Thomas Castellanos, right, announced his intentions to enter the NCAA transfer portal. The sophomore quarterback played six games for the Knights during the 2022 season.
Thomas Castellanos, right, announced his intentions to enter the NCAA transfer portal. The sophomore quarterback played six games for the Knights during the 2022 season.

Thought to be the future at quarterback for UCF, Thomas Castellanos announced Thursday evening his intentions to enter the NCAA transfer portal with three years of eligibility remaining.

Castellanos, a true sophomore who was a consensus three-star recruit at Waycross (Ga.) Ware County, played in five games for the Knights last season — including a surprise start in the American Athletic Conference championship game at Tulane with John Rhys Plumlee nursing a hamstring injury and Mikey Keene electing to protect his eligibility ahead of a winter move to Fresno State.

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In those five games, the 6-foot, 190-pound dual-threat went 9 of 16 for 75 yards and gained 120 rushing yards on 14 attempts.

Castellanos spoke to the media following the Knights' spring game Friday night. When asked about his role ahead of the program's debut Big 12 campaign, he said, "I'm looking forward to this fall. I'm hoping to be (the starter), but if not I'm going to be the No. 2 and I'm the future of this place."

Instead, Castellanos' pending absence leaves UCF with just two scholarship quarterbacks: presumptive starter Plumlee and Timmy McClain, who spent last year on the scout team following an August transfer from South Florida. Dylan Rizk, an incoming freshman from Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, will be the third when he enrolls this summer.

Not only is Castellanos the first UCF departure since the NCAA's 15-day spring transfer period opened Saturday, he's the first player recruited from high school by Gus Malzahn's staff to head elsewhere.

The Knights gained a commitment from former Middle Tennessee cornerback Decorian Patterson two days before the portal opened. Patterson tied for the nation's lead in interceptions (seven) and earned an All-Conference USA honorable mention last season.

The transfer portal will shut again on April 30.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football: Thomas Castellanos entering NCAA transfer portal