Top Kentucky Football target Kamari Burns commits to Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati has quickly become a major recruiting rival for Kentucky football.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Bearcats picked up the program’s 18th commitment for the class of 2023 in three-star defensive line prospect Kamari Burns, who is considered the 644th best rising high school senior per the On3 Consensus. Burns chose Cincinnati over the likes of Kentucky, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, and Indiana.

The Gahanna Lincoln (OH) product bumps UC up to a top 20 recruiting class in the country, according to On3, and the best in the ACC. Burns is the 10th commit for the school since the month of June began. Cincinnati also received a commitment from another Kentucky target this week, three-star WR Ty Perkins, who chose the Bearcats on Tuesday.

Home🐾❤️ @GoBearcatsFB pic.twitter.com/JOirQGVbSH

— Kamari Burns (@kamariburns18) June 8, 2022

Burns went to Cincinnati’s campus over the weekend for an official visit and was supposed to visit this week Kentucky, as well. However, he ultimately decided to pull the trigger and commit to the Bearcats. He was also scheduled to visit West Virginia and Penn State this month, but will no longer be taking any additional visits.

“Coming in, honestly I didn’t think I was going to commit,” Burns told Rivals about his visit to UC. “I thought maybe like I’ll pick out a school in July, but after my visit, it was a no-brainer for me. Cincinnati is my home.”

Kentucky currently has just six commitments for the 2023 class, led by four-star WR Shamar Porter. UK’s most recent addition was in-state three-star EDGE rusher, Tommy Ziesmer, who chose UK last month. Those two join four more three-stars for the ‘Cats: ATH Kaden Moorman, TE Tanner Lemaster, OT Malachi Wood, and ATH Ty Bryant.