Former Clemson WR reflects on transfer decision, new opportunity in the SEC
Troy Stellato knows SEC football is a “different breed.” The former Clemson wideout is ready for the challenge.
Stellato played four seasons for coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers before entering the transfer portal in December. He committed to play for UK and coach Mark Stoops in January and is currently wrapping up preseason practice with the Wildcats.
And he’s confident heading into his final year of college football.
“Kentucky is getting a dog,” Stellato told local TV station LEX 18 on Aug. 6. “I’m ready to make my mark here. And I think it’s gonna be a really great season.”
Stellato — one of seven scholarship transfers and nine total transfers out of Clemson this offseason — will be one of the more interesting former Tigers to monitor in 2025.
A former top 200 national recruit, Stellato came to Clemson as a heralded prospect but barely played his first two years. Because of various injuries, including a season-ending torn ACL, he only appeared in two of a possible 27 games from 2021-22 and played 15 offensive snaps.
But Stellato (6-1, 184) emerged as a solid playmaker for the Tigers in 2023 and 2024. During those two seasons, he appeared in 21 games, started 11 — including five for Clemson’s 2024 team that made the College Football Playoff — and had 63 catches for 585 yards and two touchdowns.
Stellato underwent season-ending hand surgery in November 2024 and announced he was entering the transfer portal the week of the ACC championship game. He also reportedly considered Florida, Pittsburgh and Louisville as transfer destinations before choosing UK.
Working with the Wildcats and living in Lexington have been great so far, he said in his interview with LEX 18. Kentucky had made eight consecutive bowl games under Stoops before dipping to 4-8 and 1-7 in SEC play last year. It was Kentucky’s worst SEC record since 2013.
“It’s been great,” Stellato said. “I’m starting to get really acclimated. … We’re getting ready and I’m just loving the whole vibe and atmosphere. Love the coaching staff. Making great friends and everything, too. I think we’ve got something special going here. I really do.”
Where former Clemson WR Troy Stellato fits in at UK
Though it’s unclear if Stellato will start, Stoops said recently he considers Stellato to be among Kentucky’s top six wide receivers, the group UK will lean on most heavily in 2025. Stellato, who matched up against Kentucky with Clemson in the 2023 Gator Bowl, says he thinks he can “really, really help the team.”
After entering the transfer portal, Stellato told The Clemson Insider website that he left Clemson because he “didn’t envision myself growing as a player here.”
“Felt disrespected at times and still have no clue how I was demoted after the UVA game,” he told the website, referencing the point where his playing time started declining in favor of younger wide receivers. “Finally started getting in a rhythm. There was way more out there for me and I wasn’t getting the opportunity.”
Despite those comments, Swinney said in December there was no bad blood between Clemson and Stellato — who he nicknamed The Italian Stellato because of Stellato’s Italian roots — and he understood the wide receiver’s decision.
Eight months removed from his departure, Stellato also spoke highly of Clemson.
“In the ACC, we played in a lot of big games,” Stellato said in his TV interview. “Obviously, the SEC, I know it’s a different breed. But definitely coming from Clemson, a championship program over there, I feel like it’s gonna really help me get ready to play in this conference. Ready to bring it on.”
Clemson football 2025 transfer destinations
WR Troy Stellato, Kentucky
DB Sherrod Covil, Virginia Tech
WR Noble Johnson, Arizona State
WR Jackson Crosby, ETSU**
DE A.J. Hoffler, Georgia Tech
DT Tré Williams, Michigan
DB Tavoy Feagin, Ole Miss
DB Caleb Nix, Jacksonville State**
ATH Marquise Henderson, TBD
**walk-on/non-scholarship player
