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PROVO — Reports of Kody Epps' departure from BYU have apparently been greatly exaggerated.
Three days after the wide receiver's entry into the transfer portal were first discovered on Sunday, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound sophomore-to-be reversed course and re-committed to BYU, he announced Wednesday on social media.
"BYU is the place that I love and where I want to be," Epps wrote in announcing his decision. "It was a tough decision in the first place to enter the portal because I love BYU. Even though some great opportunities were presented to me in the portal, I did not use the portal as a way to leverage, or test waters, because I have too much respect for the generational connection I've built here and coach Kalani's belief in me. If anything I have come to understand through all this that there was no point in trying to find a new home when what I needed and wanted was already here where I am."
Plus, he has "too many teammates' weddings that I couldn't miss this summer," he added with a proverbial tongue firmly in cheek.
Epps, a Phil Steele Magazine and College Football Network All-Independent second team as a third-year redshirt freshman in 2022, caught 39 passes for 459 yards and six touchdowns en route to the Cougars' 8-5 season a year ago despite missing five games with an arm injury.
— Kody Epps (@EppsKody) May 3, 2023
The Mater Dei product from Los Angeles who was a USA Today first-team All-American in high school had plenty of suitors. On3, the recruiting service that rated Epps as the fifth-best receiver upon the portal's close Sunday night, reported that Auburn, Ole Miss, Miami and Colorado had already extended scholarship offers, and that schools like Alabama, Notre Dame, Utah and Oregon had also reached out.
BYU coaches were caught off guard by the surprise portal jump, according to KSL.com columnist Patrick Kinahan, and few expected Epps to return to BYU.
But things changed quickly for the second-most productive returning receiver at BYU, joining a group of Keanu Hill and Chase Roberts that was expected to pair with tight end Isaac Rex for new quarterback Kedon Slovis' final season of college football.
Epps wasn't just a good football player with lofty expectations; he repeatedly avowed himself as a loyal soldier to the BYU program. He spoke publicly about his desire to receive a business degree from the Marriott School of Business, and even attended a session of Latter-day Saint general conference where he raved about church apostle Dieter F. Uchtdorf on Twitter and Instagram.
His teammates nicknamed him "Elder" for the way he embraced BYU — quirks and all — as a non-member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that sponsors the university.
For Epps, BYU was a place he felt like he could make a difference — both on and off the field. And it didn't hurt that he was able to cash in, signing with the school's official collective Royal Blue on Jan. 20 and was initially active in the early days of another collective at Coug Connect.
There's little doubt that name, image and likeness deals have played a role in Epps' time in Provo. It's a reality in college athletics for everybody who chooses to pursue those dreams. But Epps has regularly been about more than NIL — and even more than football — in his short time at BYU, as well.
"I think one of the reasons that I came here is I think that me being here allows me to be a bridge, for people to see the greatness of the church and the greatness that is going on in Utah," Epps said on an episode of BYU teammate Crew Wakley's Laced Up podcast. "And for Utah to be able to see where I come from, that there are good people around everywhere, that may not be in the bubble of Provo … and that LDS people are not weird."
While Epps hit the portal, the Cougars added a commitment Tuesday from Eastern Michigan transfer Darius Lassiter. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior college All-America honorable mention caught 40 passes for 471 yards and four touchdowns in his lone season in Ypsilanti.
BYU also extended offers to North Texas target Jyaire Shorter, who had 1,320 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns in 32 games for the Mean Green; as well as UConn transfer Keenan Marion, Northwestern State's Javon Antonio, Colorado's Chance Morrow and Marshall's EJ Horton, the transfer receivers announced on social media.
Whether any of those transfers, or others, add to the Cougars' portal haul that 247Sports ranks No. 20 nationally remains to be seen.
But they would add to a group that once again includes Epps, after a few strange days.
