Junior running back Alton McCaskill will enter the transfer portal, a UH spokesperson confirmed.
McCaskill was set to be the featured back for UH football in its first season in the Big 12 Conference, after missing all of the 2022 campaign, having suffered a torn ACL the previous spring.
Head coach Dana Holgorsen said that McCaskill was having a good spring and had broken the team huddle after practice multiple times before telling the coach on Monday.
“I appreciate everything he’s done for us,” Holgorsen told Mark Berman of Fox 26. “It’s a sad day. I was a little shocked because the kid had a good spring and then all of a sudden, boom, it’s over.”
In his freshman year in 2021, McCaskill emerged as a star, earning American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year and second-team All-AAC honors while playing in all 14 games.
The Conroe native led all true freshmen in the nation with 16 rushing touchdowns, also a Houston true freshman record.
McCaskill will join other notable transfers out of UH such as offensive linemen Cam’Ron Johnson and Lance Robinson, as well as redshirt junior safety Mannie Nunnery.
Among the remaining running backs on the Cougars’ roster are sophomores Stacy Sneed and Brandon Campbell, who both saw action last year.