** Louisville is on a run of recruiting momentum in the state with the No. 1 prospect, Marlon Harbin, and Kentucky LB target Karsten Busch committing to the Cardinals. Taken alone or even together neither of these commitments is surprising. Busch comes from a family of Louisville fans and that was made clear early in the recruiting process. The fact that Kentucky invested time and energy into recruiting him makes clear he had been a priority but they did have an uphill climb.
** Kentucky is the only SEC team without a 2026 commitment. In the big picture does that matter a whole lot? Probably not, but everything else being equal, you'd like to see them get on the board pretty soon here.
** As for why Kentucky is not recruiting Owensboro RB Evan Hampton, I have no idea. It's perplexing. Landed an offer from Michigan, a program that has had a number of evaluation successes, highlights it. UK RB coach Jay Boulware has never had contact with Hampton so take that for what it's worth. I think Kentucky would have had a really good chance at landing him if they had gone after him harder.
** While they have not pursued Hampton, Kentucky is definitely recruiting RB Carsyn Baker. The last big happening for Baker was a visit to Clemson and an offer from the Tigers. Clemson also just recently accepted a commitment from 2026 UK offensive line target Adam Guthrie.
** Four-star Rivals250 OL Jimmy Kalis visited yesterday. The 2027 OT has offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Ole Miss, Missouri, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Washington, Wisconsin, and many others. He's been to the in-state schools, Pitt and Penn State, a lot over the past couple of years. Good sign he visited early in the spring but will you be able to pull him out of Pennsylvania? 2027's a long way off.
** 2027 interior OL Brady Hull will be visiting Kentucky (4/7), Georgia (3/29), South Carolina (4/5), and Alabama (4/12). To date UK is the only school out of those that has offered. He does also have a Virginia Tech offer.
** 2026 OL Bryten Close visited recently. He's 6'6, 295 pounds and can be an OT at the next level. Dartmouth, Penn, Liberty, ECU, Ohio, and JMU are some of the schools that have offered. He's slated to officially visit Liberty the weekend of June 6. Kentucky has not offered but he's at least on the radar as they bring in out of state targets.
** 2027 OT Patrick O'Brien also visited this week at the start of practice. He's a three-star (5.5 RR) with early offers from Kentucky and West Virginia. 6'6, 270 from Archbishop Moeller and thus definitely somebody to watch given UK's track record recruiting there lately.
** 2027 OT Terrance Smith will be visiting Kentucky on March 13. Some of the other schools he will see this spring are Louisville, Tennessee, Penn State, Syracuse, and Rutgers. Several power conference offers already including one from Kentucky.
** 2026 OL Kyros Carr (6'4, 290) from Lafayette (Ind.) Jefferson will be at Kentucky on April 5. He attended two games at UK this past season including the finale against Louisville. Visited Purdue unofficially not long ago.
** Kentucky is the only SEC team without a 2026 commitment. In the big picture does that matter a whole lot? Probably not, but everything else being equal, you'd like to see them get on the board pretty soon here.
** As for why Kentucky is not recruiting Owensboro RB Evan Hampton, I have no idea. It's perplexing. Landed an offer from Michigan, a program that has had a number of evaluation successes, highlights it. UK RB coach Jay Boulware has never had contact with Hampton so take that for what it's worth. I think Kentucky would have had a really good chance at landing him if they had gone after him harder.
** While they have not pursued Hampton, Kentucky is definitely recruiting RB Carsyn Baker. The last big happening for Baker was a visit to Clemson and an offer from the Tigers. Clemson also just recently accepted a commitment from 2026 UK offensive line target Adam Guthrie.
** Four-star Rivals250 OL Jimmy Kalis visited yesterday. The 2027 OT has offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Ole Miss, Missouri, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Washington, Wisconsin, and many others. He's been to the in-state schools, Pitt and Penn State, a lot over the past couple of years. Good sign he visited early in the spring but will you be able to pull him out of Pennsylvania? 2027's a long way off.
** 2027 interior OL Brady Hull will be visiting Kentucky (4/7), Georgia (3/29), South Carolina (4/5), and Alabama (4/12). To date UK is the only school out of those that has offered. He does also have a Virginia Tech offer.
** 2026 OL Bryten Close visited recently. He's 6'6, 295 pounds and can be an OT at the next level. Dartmouth, Penn, Liberty, ECU, Ohio, and JMU are some of the schools that have offered. He's slated to officially visit Liberty the weekend of June 6. Kentucky has not offered but he's at least on the radar as they bring in out of state targets.
** 2027 OT Patrick O'Brien also visited this week at the start of practice. He's a three-star (5.5 RR) with early offers from Kentucky and West Virginia. 6'6, 270 from Archbishop Moeller and thus definitely somebody to watch given UK's track record recruiting there lately.
** 2027 OT Terrance Smith will be visiting Kentucky on March 13. Some of the other schools he will see this spring are Louisville, Tennessee, Penn State, Syracuse, and Rutgers. Several power conference offers already including one from Kentucky.
** 2026 OL Kyros Carr (6'4, 290) from Lafayette (Ind.) Jefferson will be at Kentucky on April 5. He attended two games at UK this past season including the finale against Louisville. Visited Purdue unofficially not long ago.
