There's No Way to Spin Two High-Profile Kentucky Decommitments

It was exactly one week ago when Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops warned us of what was to come.

“We’ve been fortunate, that’s not to say it’s always going to stay that way. Whatever it is, nobody needs to panic,” he said at his pre-Louisville press conference.

The day after taking a 41-14 loss, a couple of high school recruits gave Big Blue Nation a reason to panic. Tucker Kattus flipped to Clemson and Marquise Davis flipped to Missouri. It’s bad news when taken for face value, but it means so much more than just the loss of a couple of high school recruits.

First and foremost, Marquise Davis is the highest-ranked running back to ever commit to Kentucky. Don’t even consider that right now. When thinking of brass tax roster-building, this offseason Kentucky is looking for starters in the portal. Davis could have been a true freshman starter in 2025 and ran for 1,000 yards. He’s built like an immediate impact player.

Not only did you lose the star of your 2025 recruiting class, but you also lost him to Missouri. Brand Names kicked the tires on this recruitment for most of this cycle, yet Davis held firm until the very end. Then he visited Mizzou and in the blink of an eye, he’s gone to a team you once considered your SEC subordinate.

Tucker Kattus was on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to recruiting rankings, but it’s clear he’s pretty good. Clemson doesn’t take chumps. Unlike Davis, Kattus wasn’t going to contribute right away, but that’s not the really damning part of this decommitment.

We’ve spent an entire season blaming the offensive line for Kentucky’s offensive woes. They weren’t good enough and a lot of it could be blamed on failures in high school recruiting. Kattus was a good high school recruit who’s been locked up for months because his two older brothers play at UK. He’s exactly what this program needed.

Yet here we are, two days from Signing Day and Kentucky is down to 19 high school payers in its class, one that’s now dropped out of the Top 25 of the national recruiting rankings. Nobody needs to panic, but this long offseason is just getting started, bro.

Kentucky 2025 Recruiting Class

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Player	High School	Position	Ranking
Javeon Campbell	Frankfort (Ky.) Western Hills	DL (6-5, 260)	4-star (No. 212 overall)
Martels Carter	Paducah (Ky.) Tilghman	S (6-1, 185)	4-star (No. 251 overall)
Cedric Works	Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass	EDGE (6-5, 230)	4-star (No. 300 overall)
Andrew Purcell	Enterprise (Ala.) High	CB (5-9, 185)	4-star (No. 252 overall)
Kalen Edwards	Dyersburg (Tenn.) High	iDL (6-4, 325)	4-star (No. 380 overall)
Mikkel Skinner	Greer (S.C.) Riverside	TE (6-3, 220)	High 3-star (No. 411 overall)
Dejerrian Miller	East St. Louis (Ill.) Cardinal Ritter Prep	WR (6-3, 190)	High 3-star (No. 445 overall)
Darrin Strey	Paw Paw (Mich.) High	T (6-6, 295)	4-star (No. 393 overall)
Quintin Simmons	Cincinnati (Ohio) Withrow	WR (6-0, 170)	High 3-star (No. 553 overall)
Demarcus Gardner	Cedartown (Ga.) High	CB (6-0, 165)	High 3-star (No. 598 overall)
Preston Bowman	Pickerington (Ohio) North	WR (6-0, 196)	3-star (No. 628 overall)
Dyllon Williams	Demopolis (Ala.) High	S (6-2, 180)	3-star (No. 715 overall)
Stone Saunders	Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt	QB (6-0, 205)	3-star (No. 723 overall)
Montavin Quisenberry	Danville (Ky.) Boyle County	WR (5-9, 175)	3-star (No. 726 overall)
Brennen Ward	Gahanna (Ohio) Lincoln	QB (6-2, 205)	3-star (No. 902 overall)
Jermiel Atkins	Trotwood (Ohio) Madison	T (6-8, 270)	3-star (No. 953 overall)
Jayden Clark	Clayton (Ohio) Northmont	OL (6-5, 250)	3-star (No. 1,080 overall)
Nicholas Smith	Loganville (Ga.) Walnut Grove	DL (6-5, 275)	3-star (No. 1,142 overall)
Bryan Auguste	Coconut Creek (Fla.) Monarch	T (6-6, 285)	3-star (No. 1,212 overall)