Kody Epps withdraws from transfer portal, will remain at BYU

Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

Wide receiver Kody Epps has announced his intention to stay at BYU, less than 72 hours following his sudden and surprising entry into the transfer portal.

“BYU is the place that I love and where I want to be,” Epps tweeted Wednesday morning. “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.”

Epps entered the portal just hours before the final deadline for the spring transfer window Sunday, per Max Olson of The Athletic. Coaches and teammates were “blindsided” by the decision, with most parties within the program hearing the news from Olson’s report rather than Epps himself, as the receiver did not post on social media regarding his departure.

While in the portal, Epps fetched offers from Colorado, Auburn and a number of other attractive destinations, but the option to return to Provo proved most convincing for the Los Angeles native.

“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,” Epps continued in his tweet. “Plus, I have too many teammates’ weddings that I couldn’t miss this summer.”

Epps grabbed 39 receptions for 459 yards and six touchdowns in 2022, playing in eight games before suffering a season-ending upper body injury against Liberty on Oct. 22. Epps joined the BYU program prior to the 2020 campaign, playing sparingly as a true freshman before missing all of 2021 due to injury.

The retention of Epps allows the Cougars to breathe a collective sigh of relief in regards to their depth at wide receiver, as Epps can rejoin Keanu Hill, Chase Roberts and recent Eastern Michigan transfer addition Darius Lassiter to form a potentially potent pass-catching quartet for new BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis, whose cryptic “ELDER!” tweet Tuesday, most likely directed toward Epps, will live on in program lore for years to come.