Kentucky target Karmello English has scheduled official visit with Auburn

The biggest target on campus during Kentucky’s first official visit weekend was Phenix City (Ala.) Central wide receiver Karmello English. Things appeared to go well on that visit as the four-star prospect set an announcement date of July 2.

However, Auburn has always been seen as Kentucky’s top competition for English. This battle appears to be a legit two-school race now as Auburn Live’s Jeffrey Lee reports that English will begin his official visit to Auburn on Monday, June 20.

Let the games begin.

Karmello English is the No. 130 prospect in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The 5-foot-11 receiver is the No. 13 player in Alabama.

The blue-chip receiver has been to Kentucky a pair of times since April, but a plethora of trips have been made to the Plains. Central High School is just 30 miles from Auburn’s campus, and the wideout went to three games at Jordan-Hare Stadium last season to go along with an unofficial visit in March.

New Auburn wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard is attempting to strengthen the relationship as an SEC recruiting battle is taking place between the Tigers and Wildcats.

Kentucky has had recent success recruiting against Auburn

Auburn is a traditional SEC power that has won two national titles, eight SEC crowns, and has played in six SEC Championship games. The Tigers have all of the resources to recruit at a top-10 level and are located in a very fertile area where recruiting Georgia should be fairly easy.

Despite all of those natural advantages, Kentucky has had some recent success over Auburn in recent recruiting classes.

In the class of 2020, junior college offensive tackle Jeremy Flax came down to Auburn and Kentucky. The Detroit native will likely be starting at right tackle for the Wildcats in 2022.

One year later, South Georgia linebacker Trevin Wallace decommitted from Boston College, and Auburn appeared to be the favorite at one point. However, some instability followed as Gus Malzahn was fired and Jon Sumrall recorded a big recruiting win for Kentucky.

In the class of 2022, three-star wide receiver/defensive back Kobi Albert committed to Auburn in August but things started to not go well on the field for the Tigers. Quietly, Kentucky was able to get the Metro Birmingham native on campus for an official visit in November and complete a flip for the top-500 recruit in December.

The Wildcats will look to record another recruiting win over Auburn in the battle for Karmello English.