State of 2023 Recruiting
- Thread starter Canned Heat
- Start date
Signing day
HS seniors signed by UK so far today-
Nasir Addison, WR/DB, Irvington, NJ
Khamari Anderson, TE/LB, Detroit, MI
Jeremiah Anglin, DB, Lake Wales, FL
Ardell Banks, WR, Massillon, OH
Anthony Brown, slotR, Springfield, OH
Jayvant Brown, LB, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Ty Bryant, DB, Lexington, KY
Jacob Dixon, WR, Louisville, KY
Tavion Gadson, DL, Savannah, GA
Grant Godfrey, LB, Suwanee, GA
Koby Keenum, OL, Florence, AL
Tanner Lemaster, TE, Washington CH, OH
Shamar Porter, WR, Nashville, TN
Austin Ramsey, OL, Philadelphia, PA
Avery Stuart, DB, Montgomery, AL
Malachi Wood, OL, Richmond, KY
Tommy Ziesmer, LB, Danville, KY
Inbound transfers signed so far today-
Tanner Bowles, OG
Marques Cox, OT
Ray Davis, RB
Jantzen Dunn, DB
JQ Hardaway, CB
Devin Leary, QB
We now know Ken Horsey, Ramon Jefferson, and JJ Weaver tentatively plan to return for the 2023 season. That would bring the roster count to 58 returning Wildcats. If Tayvion Robinson were to return, which is an unknown, that number would increase to 59. When you add today's 17 hs signees and 6 inbound transfers, our 2023 roster already has 81 players (82 if TRob comes back). So there are still 3-4 more scholarships to give. If more undergrads leave in the spring (which always happens), the number of available scholarships will increase further.
The early signing period continues for the rest of this week. I still expect Jamarion Wilcox (RB, Douglasville, GA) to probably sign with UK.
Jacques Keys signed today with W. Forest, and Trey Cornist signed with Tulane. Karmello English signed with MI. Asa Newsom signed with KS St. So they are off UK's recruiting board. Here are some other hs seniors with UK offers who AFAIK are still unsigned as I type this-
Demitrius Bell, WR, Nashville, TN
Kendrick Gilbert, DL, Indianapolis, IN (Purdue verbal)
Jyaire Hill, ATH, Kankakee, IL
Devin Hyatt, WR, Bradenton, FL
Wm. Spencer, OL, New Albany, IN
Jamarion Wilcox, RB, Douglasville, GA
Some positions on UK's roster that could still probably benefit from an inbound transfer in the spring include-
RB
WR
LB
Some other thoughts this evening-
HS signees planning to enroll at UK in January-
Khamari Anderson
Anthony Brown
Ty Bryant
Koby Keenum
Tanner Lemaster
Malachi Wood
Tommy Ziesmer
All 6 inbound transfers will enroll for the spring semester.
Most underrated UK signee IMO- Ty Bryant
Likely to play a lot as true freshmen IMO-
Anthony Brown
Grant Godfrey
Shamar Porter
If Jamarion Wilcox signs with UK, he should play a lot as a true freshman.
Suggestion. Don't try to judge this class for 3 years.
HS seniors signed by UK so far today-
Nasir Addison, WR/DB, Irvington, NJ
Khamari Anderson, TE/LB, Detroit, MI
Jeremiah Anglin, DB, Lake Wales, FL
Ardell Banks, WR, Massillon, OH
Anthony Brown, slotR, Springfield, OH
Jayvant Brown, LB, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Ty Bryant, DB, Lexington, KY
Jacob Dixon, WR, Louisville, KY
Tavion Gadson, DL, Savannah, GA
Grant Godfrey, LB, Suwanee, GA
Koby Keenum, OL, Florence, AL
Tanner Lemaster, TE, Washington CH, OH
Shamar Porter, WR, Nashville, TN
Austin Ramsey, OL, Philadelphia, PA
Avery Stuart, DB, Montgomery, AL
Malachi Wood, OL, Richmond, KY
Tommy Ziesmer, LB, Danville, KY
Inbound transfers signed so far today-
Tanner Bowles, OG
Marques Cox, OT
Ray Davis, RB
Jantzen Dunn, DB
JQ Hardaway, CB
Devin Leary, QB
We now know Ken Horsey, Ramon Jefferson, and JJ Weaver tentatively plan to return for the 2023 season. That would bring the roster count to 58 returning Wildcats. If Tayvion Robinson were to return, which is an unknown, that number would increase to 59. When you add today's 17 hs signees and 6 inbound transfers, our 2023 roster already has 81 players (82 if TRob comes back). So there are still 3-4 more scholarships to give. If more undergrads leave in the spring (which always happens), the number of available scholarships will increase further.
The early signing period continues for the rest of this week. I still expect Jamarion Wilcox (RB, Douglasville, GA) to probably sign with UK.
Jacques Keys signed today with W. Forest, and Trey Cornist signed with Tulane. Karmello English signed with MI. Asa Newsom signed with KS St. So they are off UK's recruiting board. Here are some other hs seniors with UK offers who AFAIK are still unsigned as I type this-
Demitrius Bell, WR, Nashville, TN
Kendrick Gilbert, DL, Indianapolis, IN (Purdue verbal)
Jyaire Hill, ATH, Kankakee, IL
Devin Hyatt, WR, Bradenton, FL
Wm. Spencer, OL, New Albany, IN
Jamarion Wilcox, RB, Douglasville, GA
Some positions on UK's roster that could still probably benefit from an inbound transfer in the spring include-
RB
WR
LB
Some other thoughts this evening-
HS signees planning to enroll at UK in January-
Khamari Anderson
Anthony Brown
Ty Bryant
Koby Keenum
Tanner Lemaster
Malachi Wood
Tommy Ziesmer
All 6 inbound transfers will enroll for the spring semester.
Most underrated UK signee IMO- Ty Bryant
Likely to play a lot as true freshmen IMO-
Anthony Brown
Grant Godfrey
Shamar Porter
If Jamarion Wilcox signs with UK, he should play a lot as a true freshman.
Suggestion. Don't try to judge this class for 3 years.
Last edited:
I hear you about not judging, but man I love the overall talent we got. Everyone is going to bring something different and while not the best of the best at their position (according to scouts), they’re really good in their on right and have a lot of upside. I think we see a few of them quickly and others will have to work, but we improved this team today and I can’t wait to see these guys develop here. Thanks alot Rembrandt, we really appreciate it. Love keeping up with this team. Lol.
English was the guy . He was supposed to announce to us on Friday but Michigan came across with a really nice NIL offer .
Most of this class will redshirt. We have some guys in this class with high upsides but also a need for development.
In addition to that, this class of transfers will jump all over many of the jobs that are open. It is possible, maybe even likely, that all 6 of these transfers will start next September. Of course, there will be a couple more inbound transfers later.
Thanks. BTW, what ever happened to Dakota Patterson? He was a UK lean early on, but I havent seen anything about him.
Thanks again.
I'm wondering what the hold up is. They passed on cornist and now have a snag here. Stoops comments and others indicate he will still be at UK
I am not sure it is a snag. IDK. He hasn't signed yet. Could be a variety of reasons. But he cancelled his visit to Auburn and took a home visit from Coach Boulware instead. UK is probably in the best position, but there are no givens in recruiting.
I said snag. The comment I read was that something had to be worked out. May not be the case
Hope whatever the hold up is gets worked out, don't think it would be good for UK for this to go to Feb.
Without knowing what happened, I can think of a couple of possibilities. Maybe Ray Davis' inbound transfer to UK gave Wilcox some second thoughts. Maybe Wilcox wants to wait until he has a chance to talk with Liam Coen. Maybe there is a transcript issue with a class grade from Douglasville. Maybe NIL is still being calculated. Maybe he just wanted another couple of days to think about it. Maybe there was a late offer from another school that Wilcox feels he needs to check out. Maybe Coach Boulware's visit didn't go as well as hoped for some reason. Since John Settle was recruiting him prior to being fired, maybe Settle's firing has something to do with it. Maybe something else that is completely different.
We know from Mark Stoops' statement about an uncommitted lightning bolt playmaker that he is still optimistic.
Purdue people are saying Kendrick Gilbert recruitment goes to next signing day Feb 1. Still committed to Purdue, now UL in the mix. Hopefully we can still get in there.
Gilbert committed to Jeff Brohm when Brohm was the hc at Purdue. So it is understandable for him to take a look at UL now that Brohm has moved. Both UL and UK are easy drives from his home in Indy. Looks like this is a UK-UL-Purdue battle now although I would not completely rule out LSU.
If Gilbert looks at the UK and UL football programs comparatively, I can't see how it is biased for me to say UK should win out. But Gilbert has had months to commit to UK, and I assume there is something about this choice that is worrisome for him or else he probably would have picked UK by now. I guess we will find out.
It is looking more and more like Jamarion Wilcox might not sign papers with UK during the early signing period. We know Stoops wants Wilcox, because he said so (using the term "lightning bolt" to describe Wilcox instead of naming him, as he is not allowed to do under the rules until Wilcox returns his signed papers). Wilcox could still sign with us in February although I would guess time is not necessarily on UK's side in his recruitment.
As things currently stand, this is UK's RB roster-
One season of eligibility left-
Ramon Jefferson
Two seasons left-
Ray Davis
Jutahn McClain
Three seasons left-
LaVell Wright
Jefferson is recovering from surgery. Stoops knows he needs one more RB on our 2023 roster in case Jefferson doesn't make it back. The other RBs UK's coaches targeted in this class signed with other schools this week. I would guess Stoops might eventually take another RB from the portal (perhaps a younger player with multiple years of eligibility) if he can't sign Wilcox. But Stoops and Boulware are clearly still focused on Wilcox, who is considering UK, Auburn, Clemson, and possibly one or two other schools if his recruitment stretches into February.
As things currently stand, this is UK's RB roster-
One season of eligibility left-
Ramon Jefferson
Two seasons left-
Ray Davis
Jutahn McClain
Three seasons left-
LaVell Wright
Jefferson is recovering from surgery. Stoops knows he needs one more RB on our 2023 roster in case Jefferson doesn't make it back. The other RBs UK's coaches targeted in this class signed with other schools this week. I would guess Stoops might eventually take another RB from the portal (perhaps a younger player with multiple years of eligibility) if he can't sign Wilcox. But Stoops and Boulware are clearly still focused on Wilcox, who is considering UK, Auburn, Clemson, and possibly one or two other schools if his recruitment stretches into February.
Stoops said Wilcox would announce in January. Wilcox wants to enroll early. Putting a few things together it looks like he may not sign at all and enroll in January. I know that sounds crazy but will see
Could be a PT thing with this player. Gilbert, currently undersized for a SEC DT, has several in front of him at UK. RS and S/C is a must for him, maybe he sees more PT at Purdue or U6.
I have no doubt Stoops would take both Gilbert and Gadson if he could. They are not projected to play the same position. In the 3-4 or 3-3-5 system, Gilbert looks like a DE (Rybka's and Saunders' position) while Gadson is a DT (Oxendine, Walker). We certainly have enough scholarships available for both, and Gilbert is a high upside talent that they have been targeting for the entire year. Gilbert has visited Lexington several times, including an unofficial visit in October. However, I just don't get an impression that Gilbert has enough enthuiasm for UK.
I doubt Stoops takes a DT out of the portal. Players transfer somewhere where they expect to play. There isn't any immediate playing time available on our DL. He would have taken Jacob Lacey because Lacey is from Bowling Green. But now he knows Justin Rogers is staying and none of our defensive linemen entered the portal. I strongly suspect Lacey's potential scholarship went to Gadson.
Last edited:
That post was from a couple weeks ago before Rogers entered the portal. Seems safe to assume he’s gone.
Idk if they're recruiting him. I haven't seen anything on him at all. The last time it seemed he cut UK when Wolford split
Idk. This is a transfer. The lineman from Nashville would be a HS recruit. Most on HOB are guessing DL, but it's all assumptions
Most think it's former 5 stsr DL Keeshsen Silver from UNC. Most of UK's coaches started following him this week
Well.......my bad re Crocker. Went back to Twitter and the post was an old post, don't know how or why it resurfaced. Sorry for the confusion.
Last I heard, Rogers is making visits and hasn't committed anywhere. But he isn't coming back. At the time of my post to which you are responding, we didn't know Rogers would leave. In fact, the prevailing wisdom at the time was that Anwar Stewart had talked him out of leaving.
I think Josaih Hayes is a better player than he has had the opportunity to show so far. However, given what is known now, Stoops probably needs another interior defensive lineman for the rotation. Quentel Jones was supposed to be that guy, but unfortunately didn't make it to campus. There are a number of interesting interior defensive linemen in the portal, but of course all of them will have multiple options.
Stoops can move Deone Walker inside to NT, and I think that will be an interesting decision because Walker has been very good at his current position. A starting DL of Walker, Oxendine, and Rybka (or Saunders) would get the job done. But some of the younger players like Anaele, Dinkins, and possibly Henry-Young need to step up and play more quality snaps as depth pieces.
Similar threads
