2026 Safety Messiah Tilson flips commitment from Kentucky to Rutgers
Guilford (Illinois) three-star safety Messiah Tilson has decommitted from Kentucky and flipped his commitment to Rutgers Football, he announced on Twitter/X on National Signing Day..
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound safety pledged to the Wildcats back on June 16th, choosing the program over a final four of Kentucky, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Wisconsin. However the Scarlet Knights finished in a close second at the time and were able to flip him months later.
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For TKR subscribers, this shouldn’t be all that shocking as Tilson is someone we’ve mentioned a bunch over the past few days on The Round Table message board, moreso recently as Kentucky recently fired their head coach in Mark Stoops and made the decision to hire Oregon OC Will Stein this week.
This past season as a high school senior, Tilson did a little bit of everything for his team. He carried the ball 30 times for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Also played receiver, hauling in 46 receptions of 742 yards and four more scores. Finally, he played defensive back where he racked up 61 total tackles, one tackle for loss, two pass breakups and four interceptions, one of which was a pick six.
On top of football, Tilson is a track star, posting a personal best 10.61 in the 100-meter dash and 21.60 in the 200-meter dash. According to MileSplit’s running calculator, a 10.61 in the 100m converts to a 4.42, 40-yard dash.
The addition of Tilson to the class makes him the second safety recruit for Rutgers this cycle, as he joins Sebastian Cruz from Florida. He’s also the fourth flip for the Scarlet Knights this cycle, as they also flipped RB Michael Dukes from Toledo, Rinaldo Callaway III from USF, and CB Devonte Anderson from Louisville.
With this commitment, the Scarlet Knights now have 23 total commitments in the 2026 class and move up within the Top 40 overall per the Rivals Industry recruiting class rankings.
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