Flip Watch? Kentucky Football Hosts Two Official Visitors for South Carolina Game

Spatula SZN may be starting early for the Kentucky football recruiting operation. For the first marquee matchup of the season, an SEC on ABC showdown vs. South Carolina to open conference play, the Wildcats are hosting a pair of players committed elsewhere for official visits.

After opening the season with only unofficial visitors in Lexington, Kentucky is cranking it up a notch this weekend. There are 17 committed players in the 2025 recruiting class. Most UK classes in the transfer portal have just north of 20 high school players per class. With rosters expanding to 105 scholarship athletes, Kentucky is expected to expand this year’s high school class and these two are directly in the Cats’ crosshairs.

Want more Kentucky football recruiting intel? Jacob Polacheck will have a complete rundown of all of this weekend’s visitors on Saturday morning. Join KSR Plus to unlock the bonus content and interact with BBN’s best KSBoard, KSR’s message board, where you’ll find more insider intel and exclusive scoop.

TE Mikkel Skinner

Kentucky’s top tight end target was all but locked into being a Wildcat until the Cleveland native balled out and earned an Ohio State offer. Vince Marrow quickly pivoted and made serious traction right away.

Mikkel Skinner is a four-star talent ranked as a top-300 prospect by three of the four major recruiting services. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound athlete had 138 yards receiving and two touchdowns in only three receptions last week. That performance came on the heels of an unofficial visit to South Carolina.

There are some fun moving parts in this equation. Skinner is from South Carolina and took a trip to Columbia last weekend and saw the Gamecocks struggle against Old Dominion. Now he’s going to see Kentucky match up with that school on an official visit. He’s only taken one other official visit, and he committed to Cincinnati shortly after that. Expert picks have been submitted to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) for history to repeat itself and the Cats to flip the coveted tight end.

“I love him,” Skinner told On3’s Steve Wiltfong. “Like love him.

“Have a lot in common. And he’s just a cool guy. I would be away from my family so him itself just makes it feel like home and acts just like my pops.”

DB Dyllon Williams

Speaking of history repeating itself, Kentucky football recruiting fans must be feeling deja vu all over again.

Last fall Frank Buffano was relentlessly recruiting Alabama defensive back Cam Dooley. Despite his efforts, the Cats lost the early battle to Missouri over the summer. Buffano did not stop there. The Kentucky safeties coach eventually got Dooley on campus for a game, then flipped the talented defensive back on signing day.

The recruitment of Dyllon Williams feels eerily similar. He’s a big-bodied safety from Alabama, considered a three-star talent by the On3 Industry Ranking, who initially committed to Missouri after taking an official visit to CoMo. This weekend Williams is officially visiting Kentucky for a big game. An imminent flip is not in the forecast, but this is a significant step in the right direction for the Wildcats in this recruitment.

If you enjoy watching defensive backs knock the you-know-what out of opponents, you’ll love Williams’ highlights.