UConn football adds former SEC wide receiver to its retooling offense

The UConn football team continues to add potential firepower to its new-look offense.

On Sunday night, receiver Shamar Porter, who was Kentucky’s highest-regarded recruit in the Class of 2023, announced he was transferring to UConn. Porter, 6 feet 2, from Nashville, was a four-star recruit, redshirted as a freshman last season, retaining four years eligibility as he entered the portal. He originally entered the portal following the season, but returned to Kentucky for spring practices before looking for a new school.

At Ensworth High, he was a Tennessee all-stater, caught 32 passes for 557 yards, 17.4 per catch, for 10 touchdowns as a senior , rising to consensus four-star status. He also ran the 100-meter in 10.89 seconds and reached 5 feet, 8 inches in the high jump during his high school track career.

Porter joins T.J. Sheffield, a grad transfer from Purdue, Skyler Bell, from Wisconsin, and Jasaiah Gathings, from Akron, all of whom have significant college experience, on the Huskies’ new receiving corps. Finding receivers who could get open and break tackles has been a challenge for UConn in recent years.

During the offseason, offensive coordinator Nick Charlton left for a job with the Cleveland Browns. Offensive line coach Gordon Sammis is the new coordinator , with Brad Robbins added to the staff as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

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The new combination of experience and potential in the receivers’ room will surround the eventual starting quarterback, Nick Evers , once a four-star prospect out of Texas who transferred last week from Wisconsin, or Joe Fagnano, the transfer from Maine who won the job last summer but missed most of the season with a shoulder injury. Freshman Cole Welliver and sophomore Tucker McDonald are also candidates for the starting quarterback job.