Cincinnati Transfer Receiver Blue Smith Announces Commitment To Western Kentucky

L’Christian “Blue” Smith announced Wednesday on Twitter that he was committed to continue his college football career with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Smith spent the previous three seasons at Cincinnati and entered the portal December 23.

Smith is a 6’5”, 215-pound wide receiver from Wayne High School in Dayton, Ohio. For those curious, Wayne is the same program that has produced several notable players, including former Ohio State and NFL standout Braxton Miller, current Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher, and current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.

Coming out of high school, Smith was the nation’s #39 overall player according to Rivals and a member of the ESPN 300. Smith was a four-star receiver who was ranked as the #3 player in Ohio by Rivals and #126 overall nationally by 247Sports. He committed to Ohio State out of high school and redshirted the 2018 season.

Following the 2018 season, Smith transferred to Cincinnati. In the 2019, 2021, and 2022 seasons combined, Smith caught seven passes for 81 yards. Smith did not see any action in 2020.

The Hilltoppers also received a commitment from former Tennessee receiver Jimmy Holiday and former Illinois receiver Daniel Edwards this recruiting cycle. Smith’s size should help the production lost from the departures of tight ends Joshua Simon and Joey Beljan, who transferred to South Carolina and Cincinnati, respectively.

Western Kentucky had the top passing offense in C-USA in 2022 and the second-most passing yardage per game in all of FBS with 410.7.