Just days after Utah fell to Penn State in the Rose Bowl, the Utes’ running back room is thinning.
Former four-star prospect Ricky Parks has reportedly entered the NCAA transfer portal, according to multiple reports Thursday, news that was initially broken by 247 Sports’ Steve Bartle.
That comes one day after reports about another running back, the versatile Micah Bernard, entering the transfer portal.
Unlike Bernard, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards over the past two seasons, Parks did not play a down over the past two years after signing with the Utes’ 2021 recruiting class.
The 5-foot-10, 210-pound Parks redshirted the 2021 season after enrolling early at Utah.
He didn’t see action this season in a crowded running backs group where four backs ran for 350 or more yards.
Parks was rated a four-star recruit coming out of Gaither High in Tampa, Florida, and the No. 19 running back in that year’s class, according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings.
He also held scholarship offers from Power Five schools like Florida State, Penn State, South Carolina, Louisville and Pittsburgh, among others, per 247 Sports.
Parks’ entrance into the portal means that Utah’s four four-star high school signees in its 2021 recruiting class, according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings, all hit the transfer portal within two years.
That’s a group that included linebackers Ethan Calvert and Mason Tufaga, and quarterback Peter Costelli. Calvert and Tufaga remain in the portal, while Costelli transferred to Troy last year.
None of the four played significant snaps during their time at Utah.