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Transfer Market (Part 52): Evan Bishop (Grad), Lucy Jenks (Grad) & Victor Kibiego Enter Portal
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Dec 6, 2023
- 7 min read
There were a few highly-talented names who recently entered the transfer portal, each of whom have been confirmed by multiple sources. Below, we broke down the skillsets that each of these athletes boast and which distance programs could be possible fits for them moving forward.
Also, TSR's general rule of thumb when it comes to transfers is that graduate transfers are never "lost" by their original school. In many instances, athletes simply can't find the graduate program that they are looking for at their current schools or their conference (i.e. the Ivy League) doesn't allow for additional years of eligibility to be used.
That is not the case for every athlete, and there are certainly other reasons for someone to move as a graduate transfer, but it is something that we (and coaches) like to make note of when publishing articles like these.
NOTE: Any discussion regarding potential landing spots for these athletes is purely speculation and nothing more unless otherwise specified.
Victor Kibiego (Transfer Portal)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Victor Kibiego, a standout distance star during his time with UTEP, has entered the transfer portal as an undergraduate student. According to TFRRS, Kibiego currently has three seasons of outdoor track eligibility remaining, potentially two seasons of indoor track eligibility remaining (which could be variable) and two seasons of cross country eligibility remaining.
During his time with UTEP, Kibiego has gone from "good" to "great" -- and that may be underselling him given his success over the barriers and water pits last spring.
In the fall of 2022, Kibiego first jumped onto people's radars by placing 5th at the Arturo Barrios Invite, finishing runner-up at the Conference USA XC Championships and qualifying for the NCAA XC Championships where he placed 102nd overall.
After a fine, but relatively unexciting winter campaign, the Miner standout would erupt into a steeplechase megastar last spring. On the outdoor oval, Kibiego ran 8:26 in the steeplechase at the West Regional Championships. He then advanced to the national meet, earning a stunning bronze medal, barely losing to Duncan Hamilton (as well as Kenneth Rooks by a larger margin) in the process.
This past fall, Kibiego was able to translate at least some of his success over the barriers to the grass. The soon-to-be-former UTEP talent won the Arturo Barrios Invite, took home the Conference USA title (a meet which no longer feature Charlotte's Nickolas Scudder) and placed 44th at the cross country national meet, four spots out from All-American honors.
It's been a while since the UTEP men have had a longer distance talent of Kibiego's caliber on their roster. While Emmanuel Korir and Michael Saruni were among the all-time greats over 800 meters, the Miners' top long distance runner since the 1970s and 1980s has been four-time national champion (three times in the steeplechase), Anthony Rotich.
And while certain men have left this program for other schools, none of them have offered the value that Kibiego is expected to hold on the transfer market.
Immediately, the first school that comes to mind for Kibiego is Arkansas. The Razorbacks are a distance-centric program. Coach Chris Bucknam has been unafraid to go after transfers, specifically Kenyans from mid-major schools and those from the JUCO level.
The additions of Patrick Kiprop and Kirami Yego, for instance, were massive reasons why the Razorbacks made the podium at this year's NCAA XC Championships.
It's a very similar story for schools like Iowa State, Alabama and New Mexico, three programs that could absolutely be in contention to sign Kibiego.
And while we're at it, who's to say that the Oklahoma State men couldn't play a major role? As we just saw, Coach Dave Smith has been happy to bring in talented overseas athletes to his program and he has also had plenty of success with top steeplechasers (think Ryan Smeeton).
With veteran standout Alex Maier expected to depart after this year, one would think that a significant amount of scholarship money would (in theory) be open for the Cowboys to land someone of Kibiego's caliber.
Of course, with an elite steeplechase PR, valuable cross country scoring prowess and a considerable amount of eligibility left, it feels like every major program will be pursuing this distance star. After all, few men hold the transfer value that he does.
Lucy Jenks (Transfer Portal)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Lucy Jenks, a still-rising veteran distance standout with Stanford, has entered the transfer portal as a graduate student. According to TFRRS, Jenks currently has one season of eligibility across all three seasons of competition (assuming that this winter will count against her after racing in Boston).
For the last few years, Jenks has played an integral role on the Cardinal's roster. The three-season threat owns personal bests of 4:14 (1500), 9:04 (3k) and 15:33 (5k). That latter mark was run at the beginning of last spring and it eventually led to Jenks qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships over 5000 meters where she placed 14th.
On the grass, Jenks has arguably been just as good, if not better. At the 2021 NCAA Fall XC Championships, the Stanford runner finished 49th overall, a significant breakout race and only nine spots out from All-American honors.
During the pandemic-altered 2021 winter cross country season, Jenks placed 92nd at the national meet. In the fall of 2022, Jenks was 26th at the Cowboy Jamboree, 58th at Nuttycombe and 83rd at the NCAA XC Championships. Then, during the 2023 cross country season, Jenks took 20th at the Virginia Invitational, 43rd at Nuttycombe, was 5th at the PAC-12 XC Championships and placed 93rd on the national stage.
Between all three seasons, Jenks has competed at six different national meets and has emerged with four top-100 finishes at the NCAA XC Championships. That is a tremendously valuable stat for someone who could be a key piece in a lineup that needs greater scoring stability. And who better than one of the best support scorers in the country?
Trying to pin down a future spot for Lucy Jenks is fairly tricky. The current west coast distance runner is actually from Massachusetts, per Stanford's roster. A return to the northeast could make sense, but which schools would be ideal options for her?
In theory, a school like Harvard would make sense, although the Ivy League doesn't allow athletes to use any sort of extended eligibility within conference competition. That, in turn, leaves me with two other guesses: Syracuse and Boston College.
While the Orange women have been competitive in the longer distances, there are a few subtle aspects of Boston College's roster to keep in mind.
Coach Pete Watson, who is still in the first-half of his second year with the Golden Eagles, has been aggressive on the transfer portal. Not only that, but he has been very active with recruiting west coast transfers from the PAC-12, including Jenks' former teammate, Lily Flynn, as well as former UCLA runner, Emma Tavella.
And when you pair the geographic and academic elements with those athletic aspects, I would argue that Boston College is among the best options for Jenks.
Of course, it's plenty possible that geographic location is a non-factor for Jenks. And in that case, the door is seemingly wide-open for nearly any top-tier program.
The NC State women, for instance, are expected to lose a mass amount of talent after this year. And after landing Fiona Smith, we imagine that Coach Laurie Henes will want to go after another talented veteran who can plug a key scoring gap -- and Lucy Jenks could do just that.
It's a similar story for Florida, although given their suspected departures, other transfers in addition to Jenks would be needed in order to keep the Gators in the top-10 conversation.
Schools like Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Tennessee have all been very active in the transfer portal and (to varying extents) have been plenty successful in that area of recruiting. Coach Sarah Haveman could be due to land a big transfer in addition to Olivia Howell at Texas after joining the program this past summer. Could a sleeper team, potentially somewhere in the midwest, be a factor who we're just not considering?
The options seem endless in terms of where Jenks could land.
Evan Bishop (Wisconsin)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Evan Bishop, a long-time veteran and consistent lineup contributor for the Wisconsin men, has entered the transfer portal as a graduate student. According to TFRRS, Bishop is expected to have multiple seasons of both indoor and outdoor track eligibility and one season of cross country eligibility remaining.
The Badger veteran and former high school standout has been a steady and consistent varsity contributor for an often-loaded Wisconsin distance roster.
Despite the mass amount of talent in Madison, Bishop has been been able to stand out with personal bests of 7:58 (3k) and 13:45 (5k). When you consider how little he has competed on the oval (compared to others with his collegiate tenure), those are fairly impressive times.
The real value on Bishop's resume, however, has been his performances on the grass. The Michigan native has made a total of three separate appearances at the NCAA XC Championships, finishing as high as 83rd in the fall of 2022. He also finished 66th at the Nuttycombe Invite that season.
And yet, one could potentially argue that the 2018 Foot Locker All-American was even better earlier this year, specifically after placing 4th at the BIG 10 XC Championships. Unfortunately, a significant illness forced Bishop to record a DNF result at this year's national meet.
Despite his years of experience and multiple fall campaigns, it still feels like the best is yet to come for Bishop. The Wisconsin veteran has put together numerous flashes of brilliance throughout each season. And if he strings together a complete fall campaign, then we could be talking about him as a potential top-50 talent at the tail-end of the 2024 cross country season.
Of course, even if Bishop never evolves into a true low-stick, he could still emerge as one of the more valuable support scorers in the NCAA. For a team that is looking to enter the podium conversation by filling a volatile backend gap, Bishop could be a key name.
But with expected departures and current lineup structures, it's hard to find many teams that are in that specific situation with the possible exception of Iowa State and North Carolina.
It feels more likely that Bishop will continue to reside in the midwest given that he grew up in Michigan and went to school at Wisconsin. That, in turn, leaves Bishop with only a handful of nationally competitive options that aren't direct conference rivals with Wisconsin. Could that put Notre Dame, a team known for recruiting grad transfers, in the mix?
However, based on the (small) insider insight that TSR has regarding Bishop's future home, a total deviation from the standard "tell-tale" signs could result in a surprise school signing the Badger distance runner.
