Dawayne Galloway Picks Purdue over Kentucky

In an unexpected twist of fate, Kentucky is not ending a successful summer recruiting campaign with an exclamation point.

The recruitment of Dawayne Galloway has been a seesaw affair, shifting back and forth between Purdue and Kentucky. By the date of his decision, momentum swung away from the Wildcats. Galloway committed to Purdue Friday evening.

During the month of June, Galloway officially visited Syracuse, West Virginia, Purdue, and Kentucky. Steve Wiltfong initially made an On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) selection for Purdue following his official visit to West Lafayette. The pick was changed to Kentucky after the cornerback’s trip to Lexington. About four hours before the decision, Wiltfong and Chad Simmons each submitted RPM Picks for Purdue. It truly was a seesaw affair.

How did Purdue secure the victory? The Boilermakers have an ace up their sleeve. The cornerback’s cousin, Tayvion Galloway, was a Top 500 tight end in the last recruiting cycle. He’s set to begin his career in West Lafayette this fall. That certainly makes a difference.

Galloway is a Top-20 cornerback, ranked as the No. 149 overall prospect by the On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.

The Race for Galloway is Far from Finished

This is not the finish line in the recruitment of Dawayne Galloway. Even if he picked Kentucky, this was not going to be decided until the fax was submitted in December.

Nevertheless, it’s still an unfortunate development at the end of a month that’s almost exclusively been filled with good news. You don’t want to leave with a sour taste in your mouth, but there’s no way of avoiding it.

Kentucky still has recruited the position well in this cycle. The Cats flipped Demarcus Gardner from UCF and landed a commitment from Andrew Purcell, a top 500 commitment from Alabama. Even without Galloway in the fold, Kentucky is on track to finish with a Top 25 class, anchored by four Top 200 talents.

This will be a great class trust me on that. Let’s go.

— CoachMarrowUK (@vincemarrow) July 5, 2024

It’s also worth remembering that Mark Stoops’ staff is handy with a spatula. Last fall the Wildcats successfully flipped the Smith Twins in September. Jason Patterson was committed to Cincinnati until November. Now he’s RB3 on the depth chart. Even after Jaden Smith signed his NLI with Michigan, the four-star linebacker still ended up at Kentucky.

Kentucky ended an excellent month of recruiting with a whimper, but there are still five months until the start of the Early Signing Period.

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