Auburn sends official offer to Kentucky defensive line commit Ben Duncum
June is arguably the biggest month in college football recruiting but the word does not finish in the summer when players start committing after official visits. Kentucky is now facing some new competition for a prospect who was unranked when he committed to the Cats on June 25.
Austin (Texas) Lake Travis defensive lineman Ben Duncum picked UK over Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Wisconsin. However, this recruitment is not over yet. An SEC program entered the chat on Friday.
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Game-Time Decision
McGowan's status up in the air.
- 2New
Will UK beat Purdue?
KSR predicts the outcome.
- 3Hot
Jaland Lowe
Pope shares latest on Lowe's shoulder
- 4Trending
KSR turns 20
Two decades, can you believe it?
- 5Hot
Former Cat arrested
Linked to Terry Rozier
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Aug. 1 was the day when college football programs could send out official offers. Auburn sent one to Ben Duncum on Friday. Hugh Freeze‘s program got off to a slow recruiting start in the 2026 cycle as the Tigers believed that some schools were making recruiting promises they would not be able to deliver on in the first few weeks after the settlement was passed. However, that move appears to have been a miscalculation with the recent ruling by the College Sports Commission that will allow collectives to still operate in mostly the same manner as pre-settlement for now.
Kentucky and Auburn have met numerous times in recent cycle. The Cats flipped long-time Auburn commit Denairius Gray this cycle while UK lost a head-to-head battle with the Tigers for linebacker Adam Balogoun-Ali. Now another head-to-head matchup has arrived with these two SEC programs for this three-star prospect.
Kentucky’s 2026 high school recruiting class
| Player | Position | High School | Ranking |
| Matt Ponatoski | QB (6-2, 190) | Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller | 4-star (No. 241 overall) |
| Messiah Tilson | S (6-2, 165) | Rockford (Ill.) Guilford | 4-star (No. 323 overall) |
| Jordan Crutchfield | CB (6-2, 195) | Vero Beach (Fla.) High | 4-star (No. 389 overall) |
| Denairius Gray | WR (6-1, 170) | Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna | 3-star (No. 401 overall) |
| Dallas Dickerson | WR (6-1, 180) | Bogart (Ga.) North Oconee | High 3-star (No. 536 overall) |
| Tyreek Jemison | iOL (6-5, 330) | Dallas (Ga.) Paulding County | High 3-star (No. 561 overall) |
| Lincoln Watkins | TE (6-4, 225) | Port Huron (Mich.) Northern | 3-star (No. 608 overall) |
| Garrett Witherington | DL (6-4, 290) | Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian | 3-star (No. 818 overall) |
| Isaiah McMillian | CB (6-0, 170) | Katy (Texas) High | 3-star (No. 853 overall) |
| Ben Duncum | DL (6-5, 250) | Austin (Texas) Lake Travis | 3-star (No. 894 overall) |
| Davis McCray | WR (6-2, 190) | San Antonio (Texas) Cornerstone Christian | 3-star (No. 920 overall) |
| Prince Jean | WR (6-0, 170) | Valdosta (Ga.) High | 3-star (No. 943 overall) |
| Cameron Miller | T (6-5, 310) | Hammond (Ind.) Morton | 3-star (No. 963 overall) |
| Max Mohring | LB (6-3, 215) | Malvern (Pa.) Prep | 3-star (No. 1,033 overall) |
| Delvecchio “Deuce” Alston II | RB (6-0, 200) | Trussville (Ala.) Hewitt-Trussville | 3-star (No. 1,210 overall) |
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard