Kentucky football welcomes mid-week visitors ahead of important weekend

Official visit season is upon us and the Kentucky football program is in for a busy month. Along with plenty of summer camps over the next couple of weeks, the Wildcats will host a plethora of official visitors throughout the month of June. Those visits kicked off on Monday, with four-star cornerback Terhyon Nichols beginning his OV earlier this morning.

The real fun doesn’t start until Friday when over a dozen four- and three-star recruits — including all three of Kentucky’s 2024 commits — come to Lexington for a weekend-long visit, but a handful of mid-week visitors will get the ball rolling. Nichols is the only known official visitor for Monday, although a few more prospects will arrive in Lexington over the coming days. Let’s talk about them, starting with Nichols.

Suiting up for Cincinnati (OH) Withrow, the 5-foot-10 defensive back is considered a top 200 rising senior in the country, per On3’s rankings. He dropped his list of finalists just a couple of weeks ago, including Cincinnati, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, and the Wildcats. Nichols will also OV at Pittsburgh (June 9), Penn State (June 16), and Michigan (June 23) this month. Ohio State offered him in early May and will surely get a visit at some point.

Kentucky will have the first shot at making a good impression on a talented CB. He would be a major pickup for the secondary if the ‘Cats can land him.

What’s up BBN 🔵⚪️#Lexington 📍 OV@CoachKRJones @CoachBerry3211 @CoachC_Collins @vincemarrow pic.twitter.com/OCBfCUifSu

— 𝖳𝖾𝗋𝗁𝗒𝗈𝗇 𝖭𝗂𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗅𝗌 (@NicholsT24) June 5, 2023

Two more official visitors

We won’t have to wait long for more visitors this week. A pair of three-star recruits will begin their official visits to Kentucky on Tuesday and remain in Lexington until Thursday.

One of them is WR Brandon Rehmann, who is ranked No. 647 overall in the class of 2024, per the On3 Industry Ranking. He recently wrapped up an official visit to West Virginia over the weekend and will make his second trip to Lexington this week. Suiting up for Philadelphia (PA) St. Joseph’s, he’s been able to unofficially visit nearby Penn State multiple times already, but Kentucky is firmly in the mix with this recruitment if not one of the few leading the charge.

The Wildcats were actually the first Division I school to extend an offer to Rehmann, which came last May from wide receivers coach Scott Woodward, who is familiar with the northeastern area. The trio of UK, Penn State, and WVU will be the ones to keep an eye on.

Joining Rehmann for a June 6-8 official visit is three-star LB Steven Soles, who plays for Powell (TN) High School. The On3 Industry Ranking considers him the No. 818 overall prospect in the ’24 class. Clocking in at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, Soles also has an OV locked in with Virginia Tech for June 23. The Hokies have previously gotten him on campus for an unofficial visit. This will be his first trip to UK. Soles also holds an offer from Alabama.

Coach Woodward and inside linebackers coach Mike Stoops are the ones who connected with Soles, who announced an offer from the ‘Cats not long ago on April 21. For what it’s worth, Soles tweeted in mid-May that he will “be committing sooner than I was planning on”, so a decision could be around the corner. His official visits will loom large.

A mid-week unofficial visitor

Originally expected to take an official visit beginning on Thursday, June 8, Elijah Groves has since changed that to an unofficial one for the same date. Although he’s not a nationally-ranked prospect, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound ATH from Cross Plains (TN) East Robertson holds offers from the likes of Purdue (which he visited officially over the weekend), NC State, and Virginia Tech. He’s a late bloomer in the recruiting process. Groves tells KSR that he’s saving his official visit with Kentucky, which offered him on May 2, for some time during the season this fall.