Kentucky Football post-Spring Game recruiting notes

Good evening, folks! We’re back with some more football recruiting notes. This past weekend saw a massive group of prospects of all ages and sizes come to Lexington to tour the campus and watch the Spring Game action. We’ll touch on a few of them who were in town for a visit along with other recruiting news that may be of importance to you football lovers. Let’s get right into it.

Tyler Steen goes with the Tide

While it wasn’t much of a surprise in the end, it’s still tough to see Vanderbilt’s offensive line transfer Tyler Steen go with Alabama over Kentucky. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman was also considering LSU and Virginia before ultimately choosing the Crimson Tide. And what helped nudge Steen in that direction? None other than UK’s former offensive line coach Eric Wolford, who had a less-than-ideal parting of ways with the ‘Cats before taking the same gig at Bama.

In that sense, missing out on Steen stings just a bit more than the rest.

Gi’Bran Payne sets commitment date

After de-committing from Indiana in early March, four-star class of 2022 running back Gi’Bran Payne will pick a new school later this week. The Cincinnati native announced through Twitter on Tuesday that he’ll announce his decision on April 15 at 3:00 p.m. EST, with the finalists believed to be Notre Dame and the ‘Cats.

Payne was in Lexington for a visit last week where he met with his lead recruiter, associate head coach Vince Marrow. However, the sense is that the Fighting Irish have the inside track as we come down the final stretch. Part of the reason he backed away from Indiana in the first place was that his running backs coach with the Hoosiers, Deland McCullough, took the same job at Notre Dame. Payne was in South Bend shortly after departing Lexington for a visit, as well.

Don’t be disappointed if this one doesn’t go Kentucky’s way. The running backs room at UK is loaded with talent for the current and immediate future.

Kentucky makes top 5 for elite WR

Karmello English is widely considered one of the premier junior wide receivers in the nation. He’s ranked as a unanimous four-star and the No. 127 prospect overall, according to the On3 Consensus. He also has Kentucky among his top five schools, which he released on Monday. Joining the ‘Cats is an elite group of top-tier programs: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, and Penn State.

@SWiltfong247 @Mansell247 @JeremyO_Johnson @coach_finley @ChadSimmons_ @GasCrew7v7 @CHSREDDEVILS @KeithNiebuhr @PennStateFball @UKFootball @AlabamaFTBL @GatorsFB @AuburnFootball @rivalskeenan @RivalsKillop pic.twitter.com/b8FECDpJ4I

— karmello english (@EnglishKarmello) April 11, 2022

As a native of Alabama, preventing him from hopping states could be quite the tall task for the UK coaching staff, but we’ve seen them pull it off in the recent past in other states. Specifically, Auburn has been making English a high priority, even making a visit there over the weekend. He’s already taken a half-dozen visits to check out Auburn but Alabama could make a push if the staff decides to go all-in on him.

If you’re searching for a potential positive, I’ll note that English initially dropped a top 8 back in November that included three of his current top five: Alabama, Auburn, and Penn State. Kentucky offered a little under a month later and has since made a big enough push to make his top five.

Updates on various prospects

I’Marion Stewart (2024) 6-0, 165-pound WR – Bolingbrook, IL (Bolingbrook)
4-star, No. 216 overall

• Already considered one of the top sophomore pass-catchers in the country, I’Marion Stewart actually stopped by Lexington on Friday, a day before the Spring Game. It was a busy weekend for the Illinois product, who also made trips to Cincinnati, Tennessee, and Nebraska. But while Stewart was on Kentucky’s campus, he was able to meet with head coach Mark Stoops and wide receivers coach Scott Woodward, the latter of which is his primary recruiter. “UK has a really good program,” Stewart told KSR this week, adding that he was impressed with the stadium along with the program’s strength and conditioning program. Stewart has a cousin who currently attends Kentucky, as well.

Jaden Robinson (2023) 6-1, 210-pound LB – Lake City, FL (Columbia)
4-star, No. 344 overall

• Jaden Robinson was someone we mentioned as an expected Spring Game visitor, however, he was not able to make the trip. That being said, the Florida native told KSR he plans on coming up for a visit sometime this summer. Robinson was at Howard University on Monday, visits Maryland today, and then heads to South Carolina for the weekend. When he dropped his top 14 schools in March, Kentucky made the cut, but the Gamecocks were one of two leaders at the time, according to Robinson, along with Louisville.

Ryan Carretta (2023) 6-4, 305-pound IOL – Columbus, OH (St. Charles Prep)
3-star, No. 790 overall

• Ryan Carretta has been on a steady developmental rise since the beginning of 2021. The offensive lineman went from zero offers last January to a dozen-plus over a year later. He’s heard from all sorts of programs, ranging from the likes of Toldeo and Miami (OH) early on, to recently hearing from the likes of Purdue, Kentucky, and Louisville. Carretta also holds offers from schools such as Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, and Tennessee. Kentucky initially extended a scholarship in January of 2022 and hopes to get him on campus this summer. Carretta has made recent stops at Penn State, Michigan State, Indiana, Pittsburgh, and Ohio State. He told KSR that he’s eyeing potential visits to both UK and Illinois later in the summer.

Jaden Yates (2023) 6-1, 205-pound LB – Columbus, OH (Gahanna Lincoln)

• Jaden Yates came to Lexington on Saturday with his high school teammate, three-star defensive lineman Kamari Burns, who is down to a top 6 list of schools that includes the ‘Cats. Yates met with associate head coach Vince Marrow, his lead recruiter, along with graduate assistant C.J. Conrad, spending the majority of his visit conversing with them. While on his trip, Yates was impressed by the camaraderie that the team shared with each other. Kentucky was the very first Divison I school to offer Yates, which came all the way back during his freshman season. He’s since hauled in offers from the likes of Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Bowling Green, Kent State, Marshall, and a few others, but is receiving interest from a drove of Power 5 schools, including Ohio State, Cincinnati, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh. Yates told KSR this week that he’ll “definitely” be back at Kentucky sometime soon and that he’ll take visits to Ohio State and Indiana this weekend before visiting West Virginia next weekend.

Tanner Lemaster (2023) 6-5, 240-pound TE – Washington Court House, OH (Washington)

• If the name Tanner Lemaster sounds familiar, that would be because he was once down to just two schools: Kentucky and Cincinnati. That was roughly five months ago now though and the 6-foot-5 tight end has seemingly reopened his recruitment since. Lemaster told KSR this week that while he doesn’t have any dates confirmed, he would like to take visits to Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Miami (OH) in the near future. He’ll be one to keep an eye on over the coming months.

Amare Snowden (2023) 6-3, 190-pound CB – Roseville, MI (Roseville)
3-star, No. 399 overall

• Amare Snowden might be one of the hottest recruits in the country right now. In just the month of April, he’s hauled in offers from Georgia Tech, Maryland, Ohio, and Kentucky while also taking a visit to Iowa. He was at Penn State to close out the month of March, as well, and also holds additional offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Arkansas, Indiana, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Wisconsin, and plenty others. Snowden told KSR this week that the plan is to make a visit to Lexington sometime this summer, although he’s still working to iron out the exact details.

Channing Goodwin (2024) 6-1, 190-pound WR – Charlotte, NC (Providence Day School)

• While he’s not yet ranked by the On3 Consensus, you don’t need to search hard to know that Channing Goodwin is one of the elite high school sophomores in the nation. He’s considered a four-star wide receiver over at 247 Sports and the No. 102 overall player in that database. Goodwin has been collecting Power 5 offers left and right since 2022 began, including ones from Louisville, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, NC State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and most recently, Kentucky. He’s been in contact with Coach Marrow for a while now, so he expected the offer and is now working on a date to visit campus this summer.

Jaden Hart (2024) 6-0, 180-pound RB – Michigan City, IN (Michigan City)
4-star, No. 251 overall

• Jaden Hart, a sophomore running back, picked up two significant scholarships over the last few days: Nebraska on Saturday and Kentucky on Sunday. The four-star prospect also holds offers from the likes of Boston College, Iowa State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Syracuse as his stock continues to trend in the right direction. Michigan is also involved, getting Hart on campus back in March for a practice visit. He told KSR this week that Kentucky has been in touch for a while now and he’s currently working out a date to visit this summer for the first time. Getting his first SEC offer from UK stands out in his mind early in his recruitment. Hart snapped a pic with former Wildcat defensive back Lonnie Johnson the same day he received his Kentucky offer, too.