A year after leaving Kansas for Auburn, defensive tackle Gage Keys is headed back to Lawrence.
He made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon, writing in a post on X, “My fault y’all … I was TRIPPIN !”
Keys, who will be a redshirt senior in his final year of eligibility, recorded 21 tackles in his previous one-season stint with the Jayhawks in 2023, when he was part of KU’s rotation on the interior defensive line.
Though he had played 301 defensive snaps at KU and started three games for the Jayhawks as Devin Phillips dealt with injury late in the year, he saw his role diminish greatly when he went to Auburn in 2024. He played only 18 snaps in two games on the Plains.
“I definitely took for granted how special the culture is at KU my first time there,” he told Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com. “But sometimes you have to learn the hard way to truly be grateful for what you have.”
Keys is a native of Hilliard, Ohio, who began his career at Minnesota, where he had been recruited by KU’s current defensive tackles coach Jim Panagos.
“It is great to get back with coach,” he told Kirby. “I took for granted how transparent and genuine our relationship is and can’t wait to get back with him to finish what we started in 2023.”
He can now rejoin Panagos’ defensive-tackle group, which bears a strong resemblance to the one Keys left in Lawrence before. Key contributors like Tommy Dunn Jr. and D.J. Withers are still around, and underclassman Blake Herold took on increased prominence in 2024. Kenean Caldwell has the opportunity to return, though he went through senior-day festivities on Nov. 23, and Marcus Calvin is also on the roster.
Keys now becomes KU’s third transfer-portal addition for the 2025 season, after former South Carolina and Pitt linebacker Bangally Kamara and Iowa running back Leshon Williams. All three figure to play significant roles in the rebuilt KU roster.
