Lovell to transfer, further depleting KU O-line

By Henry Greenstein     Jan 2, 2024

article image Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics
Spencer Lovell

Kansas offensive lineman Spencer Lovell will leave the team as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility, he confirmed on X Tuesday morning.

Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com was first to report the departure of Lovell, who will seek to play his seventh collegiate season in 2024 for his fourth different school in four years.

Lovell’s transfer out detracts further from KU’s dwindling offensive line depth, after starters Mike Novitsky and Dominick Puni exhausted their eligibility and Ar’maj Reed-Adams announced Monday that he too would transfer.

The 6-foot-6, 325-pound Lovell, a native of Fort Collins, Colorado, came to Lawrence with some promising experience at Arizona State and Cal but never figured prominently in the Jayhawks’ rotation. According to Pro Football Focus, he only played 24 offensive snaps — all at left guard, including nine in the regular-season opener and 14 in the finale — and 73 on special teams for KU in 2023.

With Reed-Adams’ departure, though, Lovell could have been in contention for a significant role at guard next season if KU chose to move Michael Ford Jr. inside to center. Many of the Jayhawks’ remaining depth players on the line project as tackles, although position coach Scott Fuchs generally emphasizes positional versatility.

Regardless, the loss of Lovell on the final day of the winter transfer window means an even greater urgency for KU to supplement its offensive line in the portal.

He is the fifth scholarship player to transfer away from KU, following Will Huggins, Tanaka Scott, Gage Keys and Reed-Adams.

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.