247 Ranks Owensboro's Gavin Wimsatt as a Top 50 Player in America

You’re looking at the highest-ranked quarterback from the Commonwealth since recruiting rankings went online.

Wednesday afternoon 247 Sports updated its recruiting rankings for the class of 2022. Owensboro quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is now ranked No. 37 overall as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in America.

Since modern recruiting rankings began around 2000, Brian Brohm is the only other quarterback from the Commonwealth of Kentucky ranked in the top 50, coming in at No. 50 overall in 2004 according to the 247 Composite Rankings. Michael Bush played quarterback at Louisville Male High School but was considered an ATH in the rankings, coming in at No. 11 overall. Tim Couch was considered the top quarterback recruit in America in 1996, years before the rise of online recruiting services.

Wimsatt’s rise comes as a surprise if you only look at his offer sheet. In May Kentucky became the first Power Five school to extend him a scholarship offer.

“I was super excited. I kind of didn’t know what to do at the moment.” Wimsatt told KSR last month. “The avalanche of offers started coming after Kentucky offered me. Before that I was talking to a couple different schools. After that Kentucky offer a bunch of schools poured in.”

The most interest in Wimsatt’s recruitment has come from regional schools — Louisville, Missouri, Vanderbilt — with TCU serving as one exception to the rule. That will likely change soon.

On the field Wimsatt had a productive first season leading the Red Devils’ offense. He passed for 2,792 passing yards and 31 touchdowns and ran for 564 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns as Owensboro advanced to the 5A State Semifinals, finishing the year 12-2 after falling to Frederick Douglass. He may not have the offers but the tape is telling the recruiting experts at 247 Sports that he has the potential to be one of the best quarterbacks in America. Watch Wimsatt spin the deep ball beautifully in his sensational sophomore highlights.

Wimsatt isn’t the only player from the Commonwealth to appear in the updated Top 247. Dane Key is ranked No. 223 overall as the nation’s 28th-ranked wide receiver. The rising junior holds offers from Kentucky, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Oregon and West Virginia, among others.

There’s one other player with a UK connection that made the cut. Aamil Wagner is the No. 83 player in the 2022 recruiting class and the younger brother of former Kentucky wide receiver Ahmad Wagner. Of course, Vince Marrow has already extended a scholarship offer to the tenth-ranked offensive tackle ion the rising junior class.