High 3-star safety Messiah Tilson commits to Kentucky
Kentucky got off to a very slow recruiting start in the 2026 high school momentum but the tides have started to turn in June. The commitment party continued on Monday evening in the Big Ten country.
Rockford (Ill.) Guilford safety Messiah Tilson picked the Cats over Minnesota, Rutgers, and Wisconsin. The Scarlet Knights had a lot of buzz heading into Tilson’s announcement.
Messiah Tilson is the No. 450 overall ranked prospect in the 2026 On3 Industry Ranking. The 6-foot-2 defensive back is the No. 12 player in Illinois. After losing a few recruiting battles to Rutgers earlier in this cycle, the Cats pulled off a big win on the trail on Monday. Tilson recent visited Lexington for a mid-week official visit.
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The defensive back is the third top-500 prospect to join Kentucky’s 2026 class. Tilson becomes just the second defensive player to commit to the Cats. The Cats landed top-500 recruit Jordan Crutchfield at cornerback last week. UK currently sits at six current commits. Five of those have occurred since the official visit blitz started.
Kentucky’s 2026 high school recruiting class
| Player | Position | High School | Ranking |
| Jarvis Strickland | T (6-4, 280) | Paducah (Ky.) Tilghman | 4-star (No. 355 overall) |
| Jordan Crutchfield | CB (6-2, 195) | Vero Beach (Fla.) High | High 3-star (No. 416 overall) |
| Messiah Tilson | S (6-2, 165) | Rockford (Ill.) Guilford | High 3-star (No. 450 overall) |
| Prince Jean | WR (6-0, 170) | Valdosta (Ga.) High | 3-star (No. 713 overall) |
| Davis McCray | WR (6-2, 190) | San Antonio (Texas) Cornerstone Christian | 3-star (No. 1,053 overall) |
| Cameron Miller | T (6-5, 310) | Hammond (Ind.) Morton | 3-star (No. 1,320 overall) |
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