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Nebraska football loses key transfer as CB returns to Arizona program

Nebraska suffers a setback as Marquis Groves-Killebrew exits the portal, opting to remain with Arizona instead of joining NU.
ByOliver Vandervoort
Chris Coduto/GettyImages

Just when it looked like Nebraska football’s offseason was going about as well as it could, the Huskers hit a bump in the road. Marquis Groves-Killebrew announced he’s pulling out of the transfer portal.

That’s some very bad news for a Huskers team that thought it had landed a former Arizona Wildcats corner who started most of the 2024 season.

It’s not clear yet what happened with Groves-Killebrew but what is clear is that he’s not headed to the Nebraska football team anymore. Instead, he’ll stick with a Big 12 team that is trying to turn things around after a bad season.

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Nebraska football loses transfer player back to Arizona

The 6-foot-0 185-pound Groves-Killebrew visited Lincoln earlier this month and committed to NU a week later. He was considered a big grab since he had decent numbers and two years of eligibility left.

 In the process, it looked like new defensive coordinator John Butler was on a roll. Earlier Saturday, he found out officially that defensive back DeShon Singleton was coming back for another year.

While Singleton’s return and Groves-Killebrew leaving doesn’t seem connected. It seems more likely that the transfer player decided he wanted to stick with the team he knew over a brand new squad next year.

It’s a bad move for Nebraska football who is rebuilding a defense that needs players like Marquis Groves-Killebrew. It’s unclear at this point whether the Huskers might look to replace him on the roster, or move forward with that hole in the class.

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