End of week Kentucky Football offer roundup

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Time for our weekly recruiting update presented by our friend Andy Luedecke at MyPerfectFranchise. Andy is a huge college sports fan and franchise veteran, having owned multiple franchises and businesses. Using his expertise, he helps others find their American Dream through a very thorough consultation and evaluation process.

The workweek is coming to an end, which means it’s time once again to break down all of the offers extended by the Kentucky Football coaching staff this week. After a very active beginning to the spring that saw dozens of offers going out every few days, things slowed down a bit this week. We’ve still got 13 new scholarship offers to discuss though, so let’s get right into it.

*All player rankings are courtesy of the On3 Consensus.*

Class of 2023

Kaveion Keys: 6-3, 205-pound LB | Varina (Richmond, VA)
4-star, No. 342 overall; No. 31 LB

Both Kentucky and Florida offered Kaveion Keys this week, with the ‘Cats reaching out on Tuesday, one day before the Gators did the same. A two-way athlete on offense and defense, Keys is hearing the most from North Carolina, Penn State, and Virginia Tech heading into the summer. He has already established official visits with all three while the local program, Virginia, is also considered to be in the mix.

Naquil Betrand: 6-6, 320-pound OT | Northeast (Philadelphia, PA) [COLORADO COMMIT]
3-star, No. 813 overall; No. 57 OT

A Colorado commit since March, Naquil Betrand received an offer from Kentucky on Tuesday from offensive line coach Zach Yenser. The 320-pound offensive tackle has been hauling in significant offers since choosing the Buffaloes, including ones from Boston College, Maryland, Penn State, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Texas A&M. It doesn’t feel like this recruitment is over just yet — UK is trying to see if they can make a play.

Che Ojarikre: 6-2, 180-pound S | Denmark (Alpharetta, GA)

In the past week, Che Ojarikre has earned offers from Kentucky (May 20) and Tennessee (May 23). His scholarship from the ‘Cats came courtesy of defensive backs coach Chris Collins. Ojarikre has picked up additional offers from the likes of Georgia Tech, Army, Liberty, Yale, Missouri, Duke, Harvard, Eastern Kentucky, and a few others since the month of May began. His recruitment is only just getting started as he heads into his senior season.

Carl Williams IV: 6-0, 170-pound CB | Southern Lab (Baton Rouge, LA)

We already broke down Carl Williams IV’s offer from Kentucky, which he received on Tuesday from Coach Collins. Much like Ojarikre, Williams is seeing his stock rise quite a bit moving into his final high school season. He went from zero Power 5 offers to now hearing from UK, Baylor, Vanderbilt, and Missouri. He visited Baylor for the Bears’ Spring Game earlier this year. He holds additional offers from the likes of Tulane and Troy, as well. Williams told KSR he is looking to set up an unofficial visit to Lexington in the coming months. He’ll take official visits to Indiana June 17-19 before returning to Baylor the last week of June.

Kenari Wilcher: 6-1, 175-pound CB | Moore Haven (Clewiston, FL)

Coming into the month of May, Kenari Wilcher had just three Division I offers from Florida Atlantic, Fordham, and Rhode Island. Fast forward roughly four weeks later and he’s now up to 11 total scholarships, three coming from Power 5 schools, and has already scheduled a pair of official visits for June. One of those stops will be to Lexington. Wilcher will take an official visit to Kentucky on June 17, he told KSR earlier this week. He’ll then take his second OV to check out the Indiana Hoosiers a week later on June 24. Wilcher received his offer from Wildcats Coach Collins on Monday.

Class of 2024

Dwight Phillips Jr.: 5-11, 165-pound ATH | Pebblebrook (Mableton, GA)
4-star. No. 132 overall; No. 10 ATH (On3’s own rankings)

On Saturday, May 21, Dwight Phillips Jr. announced a slew of offers on his social media. One of the schools to reach out was Kentucky, which came from wide receivers coach Scott Woodward. Phillips also announced scholarships from Missouri, Middle Tennessee, Alabama State, Purdue, Florida State, South Florida, Buffalo, and Maryland. He’s a mostly under-the-radar prospect according to the major recruiting services, however, On3’s own rankings have him listed as a top 150 player in the class of 2024. Considering he’s hauled in 20-plus Divison I offers since April, it’s not tough to understand why.

Amari Jefferson: 6-1, 190-pound WR | Baylor School (Chatanooga, TN) [TENNESSEE BASEBALL COMMIT]
4-star, No. 310 overall; No. 53 WR

Amari Jefferson is one of two Baylor School (TN) pass-catchers offered by Kentucky on Thursday, which came from Coach Woodward. Jefferson has been a Tennessee baseball commit since June 2021 but is also considered a top-tier wide receiver in the class of 2024. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t appear to hold many football offers right now. On Twitter, Jefferson has announced scholarships from just Virginia Tech and Chattanooga. He appears to be all-in on playing baseball, but perhaps the UK coaching staff believes he can be talked off the diamond and onto the gridiron. We shall see.

Ryan Cory: 6-4, 290-pound IOL | Pine-Richland (Gibsonia, PA)

It’s been a very busy spring for Pennsylvania offensive lineman Ryan Cory, who has earned all 11 of his Divison I offers since the beginning of March. Kentucky is one of the most recent programs to reach out, extending an offer on Wednesday. Cory has also received a scholarship from the likes of Louisville, Maryland, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and Oregon, which was his very first DI offer.

Class of 2025

Noah Francis: 6-2, 180-pound CB | IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)

Playing for the Florida-based powerhouse IMG Academy, Noah Francis earned his offer from the ‘Cats on Friday, which came from Coach Collins. It was the sixth Divison I offer for Francis, who has already heard from Georgia Southern, Ole Miss, Toledo, Michigan, and Michigan State. He took a visit to Lexington back in March and the UK staff clearly likes what they see in him, later gifting an offer. Michigan, Michigan State, and TCU have all gotten him on campus for visits, too.

Brennen Ward: 6-1, 180-pound QB | Gahanna Lincoln (Gahanna, OH)

Add Brennen Ward to the list of quarterback options on Kentucky’s early Big Board. Associate head coach Vince Marrow extended an offer to Ward on Tuesday, his first from a Divison I school. UK is heavily involved with two of Ward’s class of 2023 teammates at Gahanna Lincoln: three-star DL Kamari Burns and unranked LB Jaden Yates. Ward told KSR this week that he intends to camp at Kentucky in June.

Cameron Sparks: 6-4, 205-pound WR | Baylor School (Chatanooga, TN)

Teammates at the Baylor School with Amari Jefferson, Cameron Sparks is arguably the more coveted wide receiver of the pair. Sparks, like Jefferson, received his Kentucky offer from Coach Woodward on Thursday. He’s a year younger than Jefferson, but Sparks already holds offers from schools such as Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, and Virginia. Tennessee is heavily involved, as well, extending him his very first DI offer a while back. Sparks has already taken visits to UT and Alabama this spring.

Shimyael Holt: 6-3, 280-pound IOL | Lakeland (Suffolk, VA)

Last Friday, Shimyael Holt earned his first-ever Divison I offer, which came from Kentucky.

Class of 2026

Aaron Gregory: 6-1, 160-pound WR | Augusta Christian School (Augusta, GA)

Still in middle school, Aaron Gregory earned an offer from Kentucky and Coach Collins on Sunday. Doubling as a track star, he’s already made plenty of visits this spring, taking trips to the likes of Georgia, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina. But by the looks of it, UK is his first publicly announced DI offer.

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