Four-star safety Keon Young checks out USF ahead of official visits to final three schools

Lakeland (Fla.) High class of 2025 safety Keon Young has a clear picture as to what lies ahead in his recruiting process. He has official visits lined up with his top three schools and then will make his college commitment.

First up for Young is a visit to Ole Miss that will take place this weekend. He’ll use his official visit to USF the weekend of June 14, and Kentucky gets the last shot at him, hosting him June 21.

“It’s decision time now,” Young told On3.

The Bulls are the close-to-home option with Tampa being less than an hour from Lakeland, barring traffic. And with that close proximity to home, Young was able to make a trip to USF this past Saturday for the Bulls’ annual “Bay Bash” recruiting event. It’s far from the typical recruiting day, as Bay Bash was more laid back and centered around camaraderie between the prospects, coaches and their families.

“It was a cool environment, and everyone had fun,” Young said. “There was a lot of friends and family out there. We got to play games, ate good food, talked to the coaches more and had some competition.”

While it was a day of fun and games, it was also a time for the staff to further build connections with their top 2025 commits and targets. Young, who ranks as the No. 237 overall player and No. 23 safety nationally per the On3 Industry Ranking, is certainly on the wish list of the USF staff.

“They were talking about how that whole staff loves me and how badly they want me there,” Young added.

The option of staying close to home is intriguing to Young. He says that it won’t be a major determining factor, but it is something that is very important to his mom, and her wishes are notable to him.

Young has close relationships with the USF coaches. The Bulls’ staff has been prioritizing him since Alex Golesh took over the program in Dec. 2022, and the four-star prospect was even committed to USF for a short period of time in Aug. 2023.

“I’m close with Coach [Will] Bahler because he coached at Lakeland,” noted Young. “He knows how we are, so we can joke around a lot. I talk a lot with Coach [James] Rowe. He went to Cocoa High School, and that’s a good school in Florida, but I feel like Lakeland can beat them. So I’ve been talking trash about it.”

On Monday night, USF offered Young’s younger brother, Jordan, a class of 2027 cornerback prospect.