Alex Afari is back on Kentucky’s football roster for the 2026 season opener, giving the Wildcats a key inside linebacker option just as the Will Stein era begins.
Afari was officially added to the roster in time for Saturday’s opener against Youngstown State, one day after the NCAA’s attempt to overturn a temporary restraining order in Jefferson County failed. That ruling had opened the door for dozens of class of 2022 high school graduates who were not grandfathered into the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility system.
Kentucky had already included Afari on its official roster submitted to the NCAA on Friday, and he’ll wear No. 9.
The legal fight mattered because Afari was trying to return for a fifth season at UK. When he first arrived in Lexington, college athletes were allowed four seasons of competition across five years, with football players able to appear in up to four regular-season games in that fifth year and still preserve a redshirt season. Afari played in 48 games over four college seasons from 2022 through 2025, piling up 193 tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss and six sacks.
The NCAA changed its rules earlier this summer, approving five full seasons of eligibility while cutting back on most waivers tied to injuries or other exceptions. But that new system only covered athletes with remaining eligibility under the old setup, plus freshmen enrolling this fall. Players like Afari - high school graduates from 2022 who never redshirted - were left out, and that sparked lawsuits across the country.
Afari had first been tied to an injunction out of Colorado that would have covered players in his position, but once the NCAA won an appeal to stay that temporary restraining order, his legal team moved to add him to the Kentucky case. That case had already produced an injunction for its plaintiffs, including Missouri basketball standout Mark Mitchell, who had originally planned to transfer to UK before deciding to stay at Missouri because of uncertainty surrounding the SEC’s intraconference transfer rule.
The NCAA fought Afari’s addition to the Kentucky lawsuit, arguing that even if the five-year system applied to him, he still should not be eligible because he took part in a rookie minicamp with the Green Bay Packers after going undrafted in the 2026 NFL draft. Afari’s side said he had signed only a medical waiver for the tryout, not a contract.
The SEC has taken a hard line against players who signed NFL contracts and then tried to return to college, even suing LSU over a plan to roster players who appeared in NFL preseason games. But rookie minicamps are a different lane - basically tryouts for undrafted players - and there are several players around the league who have been added to rosters after going through that process.
For Kentucky, keeping a spot open for Afari made sense because of the need in the middle of the defense.
Grant Godfrey, who started twice last season in place of the injured Afari, is the most experienced player in the inside linebacker room. UK also went into January unable to land a veteran transfer the coaches felt was good enough, then added sophomore transfers Bo Barnes from Texas and Tavion Wallace from Arkansas to battle returner Antwan Smith for a starting role. Barnes and Wallace were both four-star recruits in the 2025 class, though neither played much at their previous schools last season.
Earlier in camp, defensive coordinator Jay Bateman made his view clear: “I don’t know any D-coordinators who would be disappointed if a guy like that was able to come.”
Even with Afari now on the roster, his availability for the opener is still up to Stein. UK athletics director J Batt said on the pregame radio show that Stein will make the call.
Afari has taken part in some practices while waiting for the final ruling, but the staff had been careful not to pull reps from players it knew would be available.
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One of the biggest early talking points is at linebacker, where Alex Afari is eligible to play after a court ruling, giving Kentucky a notable option as Steins era begins. On the other side of the ledger, running back Jovantae Barnes will not be available because of injury, leaving a gap the Wildcats have to manage right away as they settle into a new season, a new coach and the rest of the road ahead on the 2026 schedule. [Read more 🡒]
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