Kansas Jayhawks football’s top running back from 2020 enters NCAA transfer portal

An already-thin Kansas running backs room has lost some significant depth.

Velton Gardner — the team’s leading rusher in 2020 who also started the first three games this season — has entered the NCAA transfer portal, according to tracking sites at Rivals and 247Sports.

KU coach Lance Leipold confirmed Tuesday that Gardner was no longer with the team.

Gardner, a 5-foot-9, 199-pound junior from Skyline High in Dallas, had two carries for four yards in KU’s 45-7 home loss to Baylor on Saturday. For the season, he had 29 rushes for 56 yards in three games.

Recently, KU true freshman Devin Neal had begun to take more playing time. Neal — a four-star recruit from Lawrence — had 10 carries for 33 yards against Baylor.

Gardner, a three-star Rivals recruit out of high school, is known for his speed. He led KU with 72 carries and 325 rushing yards last season, which was good for a 4.5-yard average. He also added two touchdowns.

This continues a trend of top running backs recently leaving KU in-season; Khalil Herbert, now with the Chicago Bears, announced he was entering the portal midseason in 2019, while Pooka Williams, on the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad, opted out last year after four games.

KU Athletics announced earlier this month that running back Daniel Hishaw is out for the year with injury. Amauri Pesek-Hickson, who also missed the first game with an undisclosed ailment, has played the last two games with five combined carries for 14 yards.