'They didn't keep their promises,' Wade Twins Father Sounds Off after Transfer

The BBN’s first surprise of the 2023 transfer portal cycle happened on Monday when Destin Wade and Keaten Wade entered college football free agency.

The four-star twin brothers were enormous recruiting wins two years ago when they announced their commitment to Kentucky. Destin was a dynamic quarterback that earned 6A Mr. Football honors in the state of Tennessee and Keaten was a top 25 EDGE in the 2022 class. The latter logged significant snaps in his first two seasons, but their father was unhappy with the way things unfolded in Lexington.

“They didn’t keep their promises up there. We’re not going to go for that,” their father, Steve Wade, told Main Street Maury. “I’m mainly talking about Destin, not Keaten.”

Keaten Wade played in every game during his two seasons in Lexington. After flashing as a true freshman, he was a regular part of the rotation in 2023, tallying 35 tackles, 3.0 for loss and a sack.

Few schools recruited his brother, Destin, to play QB at the Power Five level. Also a star defensive back in high school, most projected his ceiling on that side of the line of scrimmage. Kentucky gave him an opportunity to play quarterback, he even started in last year’s Music City Bowl in front of a hometown crowd. He completed 16-of-30 passes for 98 yards and two interceptions. He also rushed the ball 17 times in the loss to Iowa.

“They threw him in that bowl game and never did give him a chance to redeem himself, under circumstances that nobody could have really did anything with, Iowa being the No. 2, No. 3 defense in the country,” Steve said. “We were promised by (Liam) Coen that Destin ‘was too good an athlete to just be sitting on the bench’. We did our part, we trusted in Kentucky to do theirs.

“They let Keaten play, but he still didn’t get the reps he should have gotten as being a starter.”

Destin Wade spent the 2023 season on the sideline behind Devin Leary. The NC State transfer only completed 54% of his passes against SEC foes, but did finish second in the conference in touchdown passes (23).

“Destin could have been just as good as that quarterback we had this year (Leary),” Steve Wade said in the interview with the Wades’ hometown media outlet. “There’s nothing any of those guys sitting in that quarterback couldn’t have done (that Leary did). They didn’t give him an opportunity to even compete. So we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. He’s got to get on the field somewhere.”

These comments should not come as a total surprise. Their mother also shared some disgruntled messages on social media during the season.

Things did not go according to plan for the Wade twins in two seasons at Kentucky. Hopefully they can find a destination where each player can thrive.

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