Vince Marrow back in Ohio recruiting power running back Trey Cornist
On Tuesday, Kentucky associate head coach Vince Marrow offered three-star running back Trey Cornist, who plays for Cincinnati’s Winton Woods High School, a recent recruiting pipeline program for the Wildcats. Cornist, a three-star senior prospect, is another new running back target to emerge over the last few weeks, which comes on the heels of Kaden Moorman‘s decommitment from UK. Currently, Khalifa Keith is the lone RB commit from the class of 2023, but even his status feels up in the air as Tennessee and South Carolina get involved.
That being said, more running back options continue to emerge as the UK staff looks to build the future of that room.
Cornist is an obvious recruiting target for Marrow and the ‘Cats. Kentucky has brought in multiple players from Winton Woods over the years, including Mike Edwards and Chris Oats. The program’s head coach, Mark Murphy, has grown to know Marrow over the years through the latter’s frequent trips up the road. Cornist isn’t a new prospect on the radar though. In fact, he’s been recruited by Kentucky before.
Back in March, Cornist, who clocks in at 5-foot-10, 220 pounds, took a visit to Lexington and has made previous trips to campus prior to that. But this past June, he committed to Georgia Tech over the likes of Purdue, Marshall, and UMass. He wouldn’t stick with the Yellow Jackets long though — Cornist backed off his decision just last week on Oct. 25.
Since then, his recruitment has received a shot in the arm. In order, the likes of East Carolina, Tulane, Western Kentucky, Michigan State, and Kentucky reached out with offers. The last four offers all came within a 24-hour span. Marrow came up to check in on Cornist just a couple of weeks ago.
So what contributed to the boom in popularity? A few things. First and foremost, Cornist is a power back with developing speed. He ripped off a 343-yard (on just 18 carries), six-touchdown game earlier this year against Anderson (OH) in a 62-31 win. Cornist worked hard during the offseason to improve in both the weight room and the classroom. He was the star ball carrier on a Winton Woods’ team that went 10-0 for the first time in program history. Cornist finished with 1,372 yards and 20 touchdowns during the regular season.
“He’s a big-time back. There’s no doubt about it,” Coach Murphy told KSR of Cornist on Tuesday night. “He is 220 pounds. He can run and he’s strong as an ox. He can parallel squat 500 pounds. He gets down and dirty, combine that with some straight-line speed, some agility, he’s got pretty good hands, too. He broke his hand earlier in the year and wore a cast for a few weeks so we haven’t thrown the ball much to him out of the backfield or anything like that but he’s got pretty good hands.
“He’s a great kid, first and foremost. He’s a phenomenal kid. I’ve known his family for a long time, I’ve coached an older brother of his. He’s a good kid, man. He’s got a big smile, he lights up the room, he’s one of those guys who adds to a room. I couldn’t be more excited for him to be honest with you.”
Kentucky is expected to be a major player in Cornist’s recruitment moving forward. There isn’t going to be a huge rush to make another decision, though. The next step is taking more official visits. He earned an offer from Michigan State but has yet to visit, so the Spartans can expect to have him on campus soon. A return trip to UK is on the table, too. Don’t be surprised if more Power 5 schools get involved.
Check out Cornist’s tape from this past season below.
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