The Toledo Rockets’ Senior Running Back and former 4-Star recruit, Peny Boone, entered the Transfer Portal on December 27, 2023… originally. A little over a week later Boone had found a new home at Louisville.
Let’s talk about Boone himself first before continuing on with talk of the Portal. In 2022 for Toledo, Boone was part of a three back committee in which he carried the ball 116 times(the least of the the three). On those 116 carries Boone only totaled 443 yards, a mere 3.8 yards per carry. However, in 2023 Boone broke out. This past season, Boone led the Toledo RB duo, and team, with 194 carries, and surpassed 2022 team rushing leader Jacquez Stuart as the lead back. On those 194 carries, Boone tallied 1,400 yards on the ground, which is a whopping 7.2 yards per carry. In one year, Boone increased his efficiency 3.4 yards per carry.
That being said, Louisville had to have been thrilled to land Boone out of the Portal. Louisville sent their RB1 (Jawhar Jordan: 181 carries, 1,128 yards, 13 TDs) and RB2 (Isaac Guerendo: 132 carries, 810 yards, 11 TDs) to the NFL. Boone and his production would’ve been perfect for a team who has a lot of production to replace. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, on April 17, two days before their Spring Game, Boone entered the Portal… again.
We usually try to speculate a little bit as to why players we cover enter the Portal, but this situation is tough to speculate on. Our first thought was playing time, but it’s hard to imagine Boone wouldn’t have seen the field in Louisville. The other transfer Louisville brought in was Donald Chaney Jr. from Miami, but Chaney was RB3(statistically) for the Hurricanes posting 478 yards and 2 TDs on 94 carries. Unless Chaney is a gem hidden in a deep Miami room, Boone should’ve been Louisville’s starter in 2023. Some sources, including an article by On3, say Boone was expected to take over as the starter.
This video surfaced on Twitter, so either Boone fell out of favor with the Louisville staff or Chaney and/or 2023 Louisville RB3 Maurice Turner outplayed him. As the 3rd in the rotation, Turner totaled 284 yards and a TD on 62 carries.
With all the mixed reports, it’s hard to understand why he transferred out, but it is interesting to note that Boone isn’t the only Portal player we’ve covered to leave the program after Spring Ball, EDGE Tyler Baron did the same.
Unfortunately for Boone, re-entering the Portal and leaving Louisville only begins a whole new story for Boone. When Boone re-entered the Portal the thought was that he would go to Kentucky, one of the schools who was in his top choices when he originally entered the Portal.
Boone did end up taking a visit to Kentucky, but not before being turned away by Miami, FSU, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Washington. Those are 5 MAJOR programs who turned him away. It makes you wonder if it’s truly Boone or what is going on.
After his official visit with Kentucky, everything pointed to him committing there this time around. That was until an academic credits issues prevented Boone from gaining acceptance into Kentucky. Boone would have to pivot again.
Boone’s crazy Portal experience ended on May 1 when he committed to UCF. When you consider what Boone had to say about being a 2nd and 3rd option it makes no sense why he committed to UCF. The only production they lose from 2023 is John Rhys Plumlee who carried the ball 106 times for 505 yards and 5 TDs. UCF retained 2023 RB1 RJ Harvey who rushed 226 times for 1,416 yards and 16 TDs. They also retained 2023 RB2 Johnny Richardson who rushed 87 times for 573 yards and 1 TD. Before Boone, they also added 2023 Cincinnati Bearcat RB Myles Montgomery who rushed 66 times for 428 yards and 3 TDs. For someone who doesn’t want to be a 2nd or 3rd option he went to a pretty crowded backfield.
Regardless of what the truth of the story is about Boone or the situation that went down with his Portal experience we wish him nothing but the best of luck in his new home in Orlando, Florida. Boone’s crazy 2023 breakout deserves to be featured or at least an important part somewhere and we hope he competes his way up the UCF RB depth chart.