Thursday afternoon Kentucky Football recruiting notes

Ahead of Dane Key‘s college announcement later today, which is set for 6 p.m. EST, I thought it’d be a good time to provide some updates on the state of Kentucky football recruiting.

The future of the program is in terrific shape and on-field success from this season is directly leading to highly-ranked prospects buying what the Wildcats are selling. On offense, in particular, Kentucky has finally shown that it can reliably throw the ball. If Key winds up picking UK this evening, we can thank Liam Coen’s new, flashy (and competent) style of offense for helping convince the four-star pass-catcher.

But Key is hardly the top target that the Kentucky coaching staff is after right now. The ‘Cats are also in terrific shape for a trio of top recruits in WR Barion Brown (5-star), OT Aamil Wagner (4-star), and DL Deone Walker (4-star). If I had to make a prediction right now, I would bet all three wind up landing with Kentucky.

If that were to happen, 247 Sports would have Kentucky’s recruiting class ranked 12th in the country, ahead of LSU and right behind Texas A&M and Clemson.

A source indicated to KSR that Brown’s decision could happen “soon”, but there is no official timeline as of right now. As for Wagner and Walker, the former has said previously he would like to decide during the All-American Bowl on Jan. 8 but has been adamant a decision could come before then. As for Walker, he told KSR earlier this month that his decision could come as early as November, so keep a close eye on him over the next couple of weeks. Remember, he has an official visit to Kentucky scheduled for December.

Now let’s dive into some of the new offers that Kentucky has handed out over the last week.

New offers coming in

Davison Igbinosun (2022): 6-2, 185-pound 4-star ATH – Union, NJ

After de-committing from Rutgers earlier this month, Davison Igbinosun received his offer from Kentucky on Oct. 22. UK is hardly the only program with significant interest though. Since reopening his recruitment, the likes of West Virginia, Nebraska, Louisville, and Iowa have all offered. Igbinosun took an official visit to Tennessee this month while Ole Miss is also considered to be in the mix.

Rutgers is still in the discussion for the On3 top 150 prospect and best player out of New Jersey, but other options continue to present themselves. That being said, Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano isn’t going to back down easily. He recently arrived in a helicopter to watch one of Igbinosun’s games.

I would like to point out that Rutgers is 3-4 this season and riding a four-game losing streak. Maybe Schiano’s efforts would be better utilized on the field than in unnecessary recruiting tactics, but what do I know? They did land Gavin Wimsatt, after all.

Eddie Kelly (2022): 6-4, 265-pound 3-star DL – Winter Garden, FL

His national ranking doesn’t stand out (No. 1102 per On3 consensus), but it could soon receive a significant bump. Eddie Kelly has been hauling in offers since the start of October, including the likes of Maryland, Indiana, Kentucky, Florida, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, and Florida State.

Since his stock didn’t begin to rise until his senior season, he’s going to squeeze in as many visits as possible before making a decision. There is no word as of yet if Kentucky will be one of those schools he makes a trip to.

Jven Williams (2023): 6-4, 285-pound 4-star OT – Reading, PA

Another prospect who’s broken onto the scene in recent months is high school junior Jven Williams, a budding offensive tackle from Pennsylvania. Kentucky offered him a week ago and he’s also added scholarships from Tennessee, Ole Miss, Rutgers, West Virginia, Penn State, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Pittsburgh. Williams is ranked as the best player from the state of PA, per On3.

T.A. Cunningham (2024): 6-6, 265-pound 4-star DL – Alpharetta, GA

Arguably the most talented player Kentucky offered recently was Alexander “T.A.” Cunningham. The 6-foot-6 DL is already on the rise as a national prospect despite his status as a high school sophomore. He holds offers from the likes of Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M, Auburn, Michigan, Southern California, LSU, Penn State, and many others. UK was actually his most recent offer, which came last Thursday.

The Wildcat coaching staff has some ground to make up with Cunningham, but Kentucky defensive line coach Anwar Stewart is putting himself in a position to do just that.

Lotzeir Brooks (2025): 5-9, 170-pound NR ATH – Millville, NJ

Easily the youngest player on this list, Lotzeir Brooks is just a freshman at Millville High School in New Jersey. But he sure does have some game, splitting time at both defensive back and wide receiver. He’s up to six Power 5 offers already, too: Kentucky, Texas A&M, Temple, Boston College, West Virginia, and Rutgers.

The latest on Kiyaunta Goodwin

By all accounts, Kiyaunta Goodwin thoroughly enjoyed his official visit to Alabama over the weekend. While hearing a pitch from Nick Saban will surely give Goodwin something to think about, Kentucky fans should still feel incredibly confident with where his recruitment stands.

The relationship between Goodwin and associate head Vince Marrow just feels like too much of a hump for even the likes of Alabama to overcome. It’s not like Marrow has been recruiting Goodwin for a couple of months; this is a relationship five-plus years in the making.

“I am still strong with my commitment to Kentucky. I have the same feeling about that right now,” Goodwin told On3’s Chad Simmons earlier this week.

Goodwin will be at Michigan State this weekend when the No. 8 Spartans play host to No. 6 Michigan. Both programs are also trying to flip Goodwin’s commitment. He’ll take even more official visits to Kentucky, Ohio State, and Michigan in November; and he’ll surely make more trips to Lexington over the next several weeks.

Keep in mind that Goodwin has been to every Kentucky home game this season. There’s also the Aspirations-to-Kentucky pipeline that comes into play. So unless something completely unexpected takes place, Goodwin will end up signing with UK.

Now let’s all buckle up and hope for a Yahtzee in an hour.