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State of 2024 Recruiting

I think the brothers are leaning toward MI St. They have not set up OVs to UK. They have set up one OV, and that will be to MI St on June 23. If the brothers OV to UK, then I will put them back on my list. But I don't think that will happen. I believe we have moved on.


So far, five uncommitted OL prospects have scheduled visits to UK next month. That number may yet increase. That, of course, doesn't count Selm and Johnson.

When we look at this group of OL prospects, we must be cognizant of which players project as OTs at the next level and which project as OGs. UK's current roster is deeper at OG than at OT, and our new starting LT will graduate after the 2023 season. Nik Hall missed spring practice with an undisclosed injury, which may or may not have future implications. So the need for projectable OTs in our 2024 class is high. OTs have to be a recruiting priority, even if Stoops is compelled to take another LT in the next transfer portal window. And I realize Courtland Ford could eventually be a LT candidate, but I don't consider him a slam dunk.

One of the Luniewski brothers (Mercer) projects as a LT, but the brothers are not focused on UK at this moment. Maybe that is because they like the B10, or maybe because UK's coaches like JacQuan McRoy, Kevin Heywood, Jordan Floyd, and Jack Hines. The latter four will visit UK in the next month. So, whatever the reasons, these four have become the immediate priorities. I still remain skeptical whether UK can sign McRoy or Heywood, but getting them on campus means it is still a realistic hope. OTOH I believe UK has a high chance of getting Floyd and Hines if their offers are committable. Floyd, in particular, has a very attractive offer sheet and might be underrated, although I think he probably has to play on the right side. They need a LT in the class, and that is why McRoy, Heyward, and Hines will be here next month.
I'm not trying to belittle the Luniewskis, they're both good prospects, but I think they are just a step below some of UK's other OL offers. I actually like Mercer as a run stopping DT better than an OL. Do wish we knew more about Nik Hall's situation.
 
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Do wish we knew more about Nik Hall's situation.

I am curious about that, too. But our coaches know, and that will drive their decision making.

Hall or no Hall, we need more OTs.

I believe this will be a strong class. I am not saying this because of all the upcoming OVs. We get OVs every year. I am saying it because of the quality of offer sheets of players who appear to be leaning toward UK or at least very interested in UK. Going back to the list of players I posted here this morning, most of them would bring high quality to our class. We are going to sign some of those players.
 
One more new 2024 UK offer-

D'antre Robinson, DL, Orlando, FL

Robinson has the physical build of a NT or DT, and is considered one of the top 50 hs football prospects in the state of FL regardless of position. He is also an accomplished basketball player. He is being heavily recruited and reportedly holds at least thirteen SEC and nine B10 offers. FL, GA, TX, and OH St have been all over him. Coach Stewart is his primary UK recruiter. In the past, we would look at this as an uphill battle, and it probably is. But UK's defense under Coach White has become so good that attracting the attention of elite defenders is not quite as difficult as it used to be. Let's see if Coach Stewart can get an OV from Robinson.
 
One more new 2024 UK offer-

D'antre Robinson, DL, Orlando, FL

Robinson has the physical build of a NT or DT, and is considered one of the top 50 hs football prospects in the state of FL regardless of position. He is also an accomplished basketball player. He is being heavily recruited and reportedly holds at least thirteen SEC and nine B10 offers. FL, GA, TX, and OH St have been all over him. Coach Stewart is his primary UK recruiter. In the past, we would look at this as an uphill battle, and it probably is. But UK's defense under Coach White has become so good that attracting the attention of elite defenders is not quite as difficult as it used to be. Let's see if Coach Stewart can get an OV from Robinson.
NG that is an accomplished basketball player! That’s some impressive feet for a big 300 lb man.
 
One more new 2024 UK offer-

D'antre Robinson, DL, Orlando, FL

Robinson has the physical build of a NT or DT, and is considered one of the top 50 hs football prospects in the state of FL regardless of position. He is also an accomplished basketball player. He is being heavily recruited and reportedly holds at least thirteen SEC and nine B10 offers. FL, GA, TX, and OH St have been all over him. Coach Stewart is his primary UK recruiter. In the past, we would look at this as an uphill battle, and it probably is. But UK's defense under Coach White has become so good that attracting the attention of elite defenders is not quite as difficult as it used to be. Let's see if Coach Stewart can get an OV from Robinson.
Why was UK so late to offer him? Odd strategy for such a highly regarded prospect.
 
One more new 2024 UK offer-

D'antre Robinson, DL, Orlando, FL

Robinson has the physical build of a NT or DT, and is considered one of the top 50 hs football prospects in the state of FL regardless of position. He is also an accomplished basketball player. He is being heavily recruited and reportedly holds at least thirteen SEC and nine B10 offers. FL, GA, TX, and OH St have been all over him. Coach Stewart is his primary UK recruiter. In the past, we would look at this as an uphill battle, and it probably is. But UK's defense under Coach White has become so good that attracting the attention of elite defenders is not quite as difficult as it used to be. Let's see if Coach Stewart can get an OV from Robinson.
This is the very first prospect in this class that I’ve heard Anwar Stewart mentioned with.
 
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Why was UK so late to offer him? Odd strategy for such a highly regarded prospect.
Highly regarded, highly rated, and highly projected are three different things, as Kiyaunta Goodwin and Matt Elam taught us. Scholarship offers are given out all around the calendar year. Robinson won't be the last offer in this class. They will still be offering next fall. There are hundreds of thousands of hs football players in the US including many thousands in the states UK primarily recruits. The coaches find out about players through their networks of hs coaches. Offers are not given out without very good reasons. Our coaches thoroughly evaluate a player before offering. That means breaking down game film, talking with the hs coaches, and meeting the player. That process requires time. We have 10 coaches who recruit. All of them also run positional rooms or serve as coordinators for the players already on campus, so they are very busy with the team. Often UK is among a player's early offers. But whenever they identify a suitable uncommitted prospect they go after him. For example, Bunchy Stallings, a UK All American, was offered on 12/13/13 and signed with UK less than 2 months later. Our starting LG Kenneth Horsey was offered by UK on 11/26/17 and signed with us less than a month later.
 
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Elijah Groves, TN athlete visiting June 9. 6'5 210 lbs. Also Makai Byerson, Richmond VA, edge defender visiting June 16.
 
As I understand it now, here is the revised OV schedule for this month.

June 5 (visiting now)

Teryhon Nichols, DB, Cincinnati, OH
Sam Williams-Dixon, RB, Pickerington, OH

June 6 (visiting now)

Brandon Rehmann, WR, Philadelphia, PA
Steven Soles, LB, Powell, TN

June 7

D'Shawntae Jones, RB, Cleveland, OH

June 9

Cutter Boley, QB, Lexington, KY (UK commit)
Jonathon Daniels, OL, Pensacola, FL
Cam Dooley, DB, Valley, AL
Jordan Floyd, OL, Lilburn, GA
Elijah Groves, LB, Cross Plains, TN
Kevin Heywood, OL, Philadelphia, PA
Fred Johnson, OL, Cleveland, OH
Hayes Johnson, OL, Campbellsville, KY (UK commit)
Cameron Keys DB, Lynn Haven, FL
Crews Law, LB, Nashville, TN
Brian Robinson, DL, Youngstown, OH
Willie Rodriguez, TE, Alexandria, KY
Emanuel Ross, WR, Red Bank, NJ
Aba Selm, OL, Independence, KY (UK commit)
Antwan Smith, LB, Atlanta, GA
Jacob Smith, LB, Cheshire, CT
Damarion Witten, WR/Hback, Cleveland, OH

June 13

Jadon Lafontant, OL, Greenwich, CT
Vaboue Toure, DB, Irvington, NJ
Antonio White, WR, Lilburn, GA

June 16

Makai Byerson, LB, Richmond, VA
Johann Cardenas, RB, Houston, TX
Rafael Dunn, DB, Lawrenceville, NJ
Jack Hines, OL, Avon, CT
Kendall Jackson, DL, Gainesville, FL
JacQwan McRoy, OL, Pinson, AL
Tovani Mizell, RB, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Cameron Monteiro, WR, Brockton, MA
Dominic Nichols, DL, Ijamsville, MD
Caleb Redd, LB, St. Louis, MO
Jaden Smith, DB, Charlotte, NC

A question that naturally comes up is which of these players might be leaning toward UK. These are just my guesses. I suspect Dooley, Johnson, Jones, Redd, and Rodriguez may be the most likely of these players to be leaning toward UK at this point in time. There will be a couple of commitments this month, but don't expect very many. Still too early in the recruiting cycle for a commitment tsunami.
 
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As I understand it now, here is the revised OV schedule for this month.

June 5 (visiting now)

Teryhon Nichols, DB, Cincinnati, OH
Sam Williams-Dixon, RB, Pickerington, OH

June 6 (visiting now)

Brandon Rehmann, WR, Philadelphia, PA
Steven Soles, LB, Powell, TN

June 7

D'Shawntae Jones, RB, Cleveland, OH

June 9

Cutter Boley, QB, Lexington, KY (UK commit)
Jonathon Daniels, OL, Pensacola, FL
Cam Dooley, DB, Valley, AL
Jordan Floyd, OL, Lilburn, GA
Elijah Groves, LB, Cross Plains, TN
Kevin Heywood, OL, Philadelphia, PA
Fred Johnson, OL, Cleveland, OH
Hayes Johnson, OL, Campbellsville, KY (UK commit)
Cameron Keys DB, Lynn Haven, FL
Crews Law, LB, Nashville, TN
Brian Robinson, DL, Youngstown, OH
Willie Rodriguez, TE, Alexandria, KY
Emanuel Ross, WR, Red Bank, NJ
Aba Selm, OL, Independence, KY (UK commit)
Antwan Smith, LB, Atlanta, GA
Jacob Smith, LB, Cheshire, CT
Damarion Witten, WR/Hback, Cleveland, OH

June 13

Jadon Lafontant, OL, Greenwich, CT
Vaboue Toure, DB, Irvington, NJ
Antonio White, WR, Lilburn, GA

June 16

Makai Byerson, LB, Richmond, VA
Johann Cardenas, RB, Houston, TX
Rafael Dunn, DB, Lawrenceville, NJ
Jack Hines, OL, Avon, CT
Kendall Jackson, DL, Gainesville, FL
JacQwan McRoy, OL, Pinson, AL
Tovani Mizell, RB, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Cameron Monteiro, WR, Brockton, MA
Dominic Nichols, DL, Ijamsville, MD
Caleb Redd, LB, St. Louis, MO
Jaden Smith, DB, Charlotte, NC

A question that naturally comes up is which of these players might be leaning toward UK. These are just my guesses. I suspect Dooley, Johnson, Jones, Redd, and Rodriguez may be the most likely of these players to be leaning toward UK at this point in time. There will be a couple of commitments this month, but don't expect very many. Still too early in the recruiting cycle for a commitment tsunami.
Thanks for the update. FWIW, 24/7 giving several CBs for Heywood to Wisconsin plus Toure, one to Michigan and one to Penn State. We'll have to see how that unfolds.
 
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As I understand it now, here is the revised OV schedule for this month.

June 5 (visiting now)

Teryhon Nichols, DB, Cincinnati, OH
Sam Williams-Dixon, RB, Pickerington, OH

June 6 (visiting now)

Brandon Rehmann, WR, Philadelphia, PA
Steven Soles, LB, Powell, TN

June 7

D'Shawntae Jones, RB, Cleveland, OH

June 9

Cutter Boley, QB, Lexington, KY (UK commit)
Jonathon Daniels, OL, Pensacola, FL
Cam Dooley, DB, Valley, AL
Jordan Floyd, OL, Lilburn, GA
Elijah Groves, LB, Cross Plains, TN
Kevin Heywood, OL, Philadelphia, PA
Fred Johnson, OL, Cleveland, OH
Hayes Johnson, OL, Campbellsville, KY (UK commit)
Cameron Keys DB, Lynn Haven, FL
Crews Law, LB, Nashville, TN
Brian Robinson, DL, Youngstown, OH
Willie Rodriguez, TE, Alexandria, KY
Emanuel Ross, WR, Red Bank, NJ
Aba Selm, OL, Independence, KY (UK commit)
Antwan Smith, LB, Atlanta, GA
Jacob Smith, LB, Cheshire, CT
Damarion Witten, WR/Hback, Cleveland, OH

June 13

Jadon Lafontant, OL, Greenwich, CT
Vaboue Toure, DB, Irvington, NJ
Antonio White, WR, Lilburn, GA

June 16

Makai Byerson, LB, Richmond, VA
Johann Cardenas, RB, Houston, TX
Rafael Dunn, DB, Lawrenceville, NJ
Jack Hines, OL, Avon, CT
Kendall Jackson, DL, Gainesville, FL
JacQwan McRoy, OL, Pinson, AL
Tovani Mizell, RB, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Cameron Monteiro, WR, Brockton, MA
Dominic Nichols, DL, Ijamsville, MD
Caleb Redd, LB, St. Louis, MO
Jaden Smith, DB, Charlotte, NC

A question that naturally comes up is which of these players might be leaning toward UK. These are just my guesses. I suspect Dooley, Johnson, Jones, Redd, and Rodriguez may be the most likely of these players to be leaning toward UK at this point in time. There will be a couple of commitments this month, but don't expect very many. Still too early in the recruiting cycle for a commitment tsunami.
Rahmann's teammate David Wahington JR is also officially visiting right now. They are bith 4 star WRs.
 
Thanks for the update. FWIW, 24/7 giving several CBs for Heywood to Wisconsin plus Toure, one to Michigan and one to Penn State. We'll have to see how that unfolds.
Heywood was on commitment watch to PSU last month. Then after the Wisconsin visit they're ahead. Hopefully UK can make up ground on their visit. All 3 sites have Toure predicted to PSU
 
Heywood was on commitment watch to PSU last month. Then after the Wisconsin visit they're ahead. Hopefully UK can make up ground on their visit.
Maybe getting the visit after WI will turn out to be an advantage for us. Hopefully. He still has visits scheduled to Auburn and SCal. He looks like a LT with that great length, and would be a fantastic addition to our class.
 
As I understand it now, here is the revised OV schedule for this month.

June 5 (visiting now)

Teryhon Nichols, DB, Cincinnati, OH
Sam Williams-Dixon, RB, Pickerington, OH

June 6 (visiting now)

Brandon Rehmann, WR, Philadelphia, PA
Steven Soles, LB, Powell, TN

June 7

D'Shawntae Jones, RB, Cleveland, OH

June 9

Cutter Boley, QB, Lexington, KY (UK commit)
Jonathon Daniels, OL, Pensacola, FL
Cam Dooley, DB, Valley, AL
Jordan Floyd, OL, Lilburn, GA
Elijah Groves, LB, Cross Plains, TN
Kevin Heywood, OL, Philadelphia, PA
Fred Johnson, OL, Cleveland, OH
Hayes Johnson, OL, Campbellsville, KY (UK commit)
Cameron Keys DB, Lynn Haven, FL
Crews Law, LB, Nashville, TN
Brian Robinson, DL, Youngstown, OH
Willie Rodriguez, TE, Alexandria, KY
Emanuel Ross, WR, Red Bank, NJ
Aba Selm, OL, Independence, KY (UK commit)
Antwan Smith, LB, Atlanta, GA
Jacob Smith, LB, Cheshire, CT
Damarion Witten, WR/Hback, Cleveland, OH

June 13

Jadon Lafontant, OL, Greenwich, CT
Vaboue Toure, DB, Irvington, NJ
Antonio White, WR, Lilburn, GA

June 16

Makai Byerson, LB, Richmond, VA
Johann Cardenas, RB, Houston, TX
Rafael Dunn, DB, Lawrenceville, NJ
Jack Hines, OL, Avon, CT
Kendall Jackson, DL, Gainesville, FL
JacQwan McRoy, OL, Pinson, AL
Tovani Mizell, RB, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Cameron Monteiro, WR, Brockton, MA
Dominic Nichols, DL, Ijamsville, MD
Caleb Redd, LB, St. Louis, MO
Jaden Smith, DB, Charlotte, NC

A question that naturally comes up is which of these players might be leaning toward UK. These are just my guesses. I suspect Dooley, Johnson, Jones, Redd, and Rodriguez may be the most likely of these players to be leaning toward UK at this point in time. There will be a couple of commitments this month, but don't expect very many. Still too early in the recruiting cycle for a commitment tsunami.
WR Shamar Rigby is also currently on an OV. I missed him earlier. It appears UK moved on from Monteiro and he wont be visiting. Why is it you think it is too early to have several commit? UK is sitting at 3 commits. Most of our opponents are over 10. I dont expect them to be at 10 next momth but it also wouldn't shock me either
 
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I believe this will be a strong class. I am not saying this because of all the upcoming OVs. We get OVs every year. I am saying it because of the quality of offer sheets of players who appear to be leaning toward UK or at least very interested in UK. Going back to the list of players I posted here this morning, most of them would bring high quality to our class. We are going to sign some of those players.
I don’t get it? Rivals currently has you ranked 77th and On3 has you 37th. I realize it’s a long way to go, but not looking good to date. What are we missing?
 
I don’t get it? Rivals currently has you ranked 77th and On3 has you 37th. I realize it’s a long way to go, but not looking good to date. What are we missing?
I didnt't realize they had Rembrandt ranked. So he is the 77th best poster on Rivals. That is cool.
 
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From Vince's mouth to Jones' twitter; glad to hear the UK staff is very optimistic about these visits
 
I didnt't realize they had Rembrandt ranked. So he is the 77th best poster on Rivals. That is cool.
Personally, Recruiting rankings are the equivalent of the Mel Kiper draft predictions….worthless. We also know a committed player is worthless. SC only has 8/9 commits but big deal until they sign. And with nil…big deal after they sign cause they can leave on a dime.

I was just curious as to why two total commits had someone feeling good or bad. We have a high ranking class right now. That’s laughable at this point cause a commitment means nothing.

But Rembrandt is #1 in our hearts
 
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Personally, Recruiting rankings are the equivalent of the Mel Kiper draft predictions….worthless. We also know a committed player is worthless. SC only has 8/9 commits but big deal until they sign. And with nil…big deal after they sign cause they can leave on a dime.

I was just curious as to why two total commits had someone feeling good or bad. We have a high ranking class right now. That’s laughable at this point cause a commitment means nothing.

But Rembrandt is #1 in our hearts
They just got a qb commit from the Rivals #12 player. We got our OC back and just a lot of buzz that they're about to add a few guys. The next two werkends will be huge OV weekends and close to the biggest weekends they have had. You never know till Dec like you said, but it is definitely an exciting time
 
Personally, Recruiting rankings are the equivalent of the Mel Kiper draft predictions….worthless.
In many cases, yes, the player recruiting ratings are worthless. Examples are many, and UK fans have seen enough of them to know that every rating has to be taken with a grain or two of salt. Briefly, for example, Hatcher, Elam, Snodgrass, Horton Brown, Goodwin, Drennen, Clark, Garner, Casey, and Crumes were hugely overrated. Allen, Snell, Rodriguez, Horsey, Stallings, Juice, Taylor, Bohanna, and Valentine were vastly underrated. Those are the first examples I found. There are enough others that our fans should understand these player ratings for entertainment only. Offer sheets are more informative, but sometimes our coaches find players like Allen, Stallings, Snell, and CRod who have simply been overlooked for various reasons. It has always been this way. Trevard Lindley, Randall Cobb, and Danny Trevathan were earlier examples during Brooks' time here.

Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
 
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In many cases, yes, the player recruiting ratings are worthless. Examples are many, and UK fans have seen enough of them to know that every rating has to be taken with a grain or two of salt. Briefly, for example, Hatcher, Elam, Snodgrass, Horton Brown, Goodwin, Drennen, Clark, Garner, Casey, and Crumes were hugely overrated. Allen, Snell, Rodriguez, Horsey, Stallings, Juice, Taylor, Bohanna, and Valentine were vastly underrated. Those are the first examples I found. There are enough others that our fans should understand these player ratings for entertainment only. Offer sheets are more informative, but sometimes our coaches find players like Allen, Stallings, Snell, and CRod who have simply been overlooked for various reasons. It has always been this way. Trevard Lindley, Randall Cobb, and Danny Trevathan were earlier examples during Brooks' time here.

Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
You’re talking as if UK football has been historically great by fielding teams with these “over-looked” players. Fact is UK has been historically one of the worst programs in the SEC. That changed as a result of Stoops and Co signing blue-chip players. Yes, they’ve had many under the radar players help them on the field, but it’s been the blue chip guys that have taken them to the next level. Precisely why Stoops has so many 4-star guys making visits over the next 2 weeks - he knowns he can’t consistently win without them. It’s always been about Jimmies and Joes and alway will be.
 
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You’re talking as if UK football has been historically great by fielding teams with these “over-looked” players. Fact is UK has been historically one of the worst programs in the SEC. That changed as a result of Stoops and Co signing blue-chip players. Yes, they’ve had many under the radar players help them on the field, but it’s been the blue chip guys that have taken them to the next level. Precisely why Stoops has so many 4-star guys making visits over the next 2 weeks - he knowns he can’t consistently win without them. It’s always been about Jimmies and Joes and alway will be.
You prob should have read what that was a reply to. Lol. You always say it is more important to look at who their recruiting against. Nobody is saying uK doesnt need bluechip players
 
It’s always been about Jimmies and Joes and alway will be.
A common point of argument, where both sides can shout the truth at one-another, and both be right.

Our 2018/19 Citrus Bowl team had 17 former Rivals 4 and 5 Star players. Penn State had more than 40. One could argue that former 3 Stars players like Bunchy Stallings, Snell and Josh Allen led us to victory, but they had some 4 Star help from the likes of Lynn Bowden, etc.

Individual rankings are shaky, taken one at a time. Class rankings have more numbers, and have added accuracy. Looking at the thousands of evaluations, Rivals does a great job of grading the best.

I’ll always celebrate a highly ranked class. Even if it falls short on the field, having highly ranked classes is habit forming, and good advertising for future classes.
 
I was just curious as to why two total commits had someone feeling good or bad.
I think we have three for ‘24, and we just got a solid verbal from highly ranked QB Cutter Boley, and 90 days ago, we thought we had no shot to land him.

We were very modestly ranked in June/July of last year, but half of our Class ended up with 4 Stars. All’s well that ends well!
 
I just want some level of certainty in the QB room. In a perfect world, Boley comes in early and gets to go through Spring practice. Meanwhile we get another high level portal QB like Leary, who will be the 2024 starter. Boley is named the number 2 without question for 2024 with the understanding the job is his in 2025 and beyond. (all of this is assuming he proves all the hype in Spring practice) Whatever happens with Sheron or Wade happens. Wade is tricky because of his brother. we don't want to lose both. I wish he would be open to a position change.
I think Boley will have a big impact at UK whether he is great here or not, Barker was injured and didn't have the career on the field we expected (injuries) but we went from three four stars in Stoops first year to ten in Stoops second primarily because of Barker.
 
I am not "fixated" on one parameter. I don't think Ziesmer could add much more good weight. As mentioned earlier, he does not have much more projection left for his thick 6'2" frame. I don't think he is a Jack either. Not a long enough athlete for Jack. I think he is a Mike or Will. Have thought so ever since I first saw his film. Of course, this is Brad White's decision to make.

Rembrandt,
I havent seen Gavin Chadwell being mentioned lately...any scoop?
Thanks
 
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