3-star OT Grayson Morgan talks official visit to Kentucky, eyeing fall decision

Kentucky is on the verge of possibly signing the best offensive line class in the history of the program. One of those potential additions could be Grayson Morgan.

A 6-foot-6, 270-pound beast of an offensive lineman, Morgan hails from familiar territory down in Nashville, Tennessee, currently playing for Montgomery Bell Academy as he heads into his senior season. Ranked by 247 Sports as a three-star prospect and the 801st best player from the class of 2022, Morgan is being sought after by multiple Power 5 schools. He’s coming off an official visit to Kentucky this past weekend and was kind enough to take some time to talk with KSR earlier this week about what went down.

Considering the ‘Cats were one of just two official visits for Morgan this summer–the other being Maryland–the UK coaching staff likely feels good about where they stand with the top 30 prospect from the Volunteer State. Kentucky offered him on March 5, his first from a Power 5 program. Morgan now holds offers from the likes of Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Maryland, Tennessee, Duke, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Wake Forest, Indiana, and Kansas State.

Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Kentucky! @Rbcoachdgraham @mbafootball @FBCoachWolf @UKFootball @swiltfong247 @allentrieu @rivalswoody @demetricDwarren @joshhelmholdt @ChadSimmons_ @D1highlights pic.twitter.com/lSuTHct6JO

— Grayson Morgan (@GraysonMorgan2) March 5, 2021

But it’s the school right down the road from him that appears to have a slight upper hand at the moment. Vanderbilt is roughly a 5-10 minute drive from Morgan’s home in Nashville.

“I started off taking an unofficial to Vanderbilt on June 1 and then I took an official to Maryland,” Morgan told KSR. “Kentucky and Maryland would be the only officials for this June really but I’ve been to Auburn for a camp and a little unofficial after, and Tennessee, Mississippi State, Vandy I’ve been to a couple of times.”

Morgan told KSR that there are four schools, in particular, that are at the top of his list–Vanderbilt, Maryland, Mississippi State, and Kentucky–and he took some sort of trip to see all four in June. With the Commodores being so close to home, it makes sense that Morgan would travel there more frequently. But the Vanderbilt coaching staff made sure he was one of the very first to check out campus for a cookout on June 1, which was when the live period opened up for the first time since last spring. Morgan also said that he intends on visiting Vanderbilt for an official later on down the road.

With an official visit to Vanderbilt looming, Morgan said that he would prefer to hold off on a final decision before he can make that happen. That being said, Morgan was quick to note that he also wants to check out Kentucky again for a game at Kroger Field this season.

“I’ve been saying early fall right now,” Morgan said about a potential decision date. “Depends on my official to Vandy to see how that goes. I’d love to try to catch a game for Kentucky, definitely see that atmosphere. They’re high up for me so I’d like to see that, it just depends on when a bunch of guys start committing right now.”

That last nugget from Morgan is notable.

Kentucky has several other offensive linemen targets the staff has their eyes on right now, including, but not limited to, Aamil Wagner, Hunter McLain, Drew Bobo, Ryan Baer, and Daughtry Richardson. With Kiyaunta Goodwin, Grant Bingham, and Nikolas Hall already committed to the future of the Big Blue Wall from the class of 2022, there could be only a couple of spots left for a handful of recruits. If Morgan waits until the fall to decide, there’s a possibility Kentucky will have already filled those open holes.

But it’s clear the staff likes what they see in Morgan. And on the flip side, Morgan likes what he’s seen from Kentucky, especially over the last few seasons under head coach Mark Stoops.

“The atmosphere and the culture there,” Morgan said about what entices him about UK. “Kentucky at first wasn’t really known for football but these last couple of years, Coach (Mark) Stoops, he’s really built the Big Blue Wall upfront. Really just turned that program around and they’ve been doing really good. That definitely catches my eye. And also the development of players and sending players to the next level, which is my ultimate goal of course, and just the way they’ve been able to do that and the numbers they’ve developed.”

The Big Blue Wall has become a staple of Kentucky’s identity and it’s up to new offensive line coach Eric Wolford to keep that trend going in the right direction. If Morgan’s words are any indication, Coach Wolford is off to a great start.

“Coach Wolford, [we met] pretty immediately,” Morgan said about first arriving on UK’s campus. “Got to interact with him, talk with him. I really like him. My player host was Jager (Burton), so me and him clicked, I got to understand why he chose there and everything even though he’s grown up in Lexington, why he wanted to go.”

Wolford has quickly become known as a high-energy and funny coach, which Morgan noticed right away.

“I got that same vibe. Energetic and everything,” Morgan added. “I think he was holding back a little bit, but speaking to Jager, he was saying that he (Coach Wolford) likes to have fun. He knows these player meetings get long and tiresome so he tries to have some fun in there. He’s a real fun guy.”

Morgan has only played offensive lineman full time for one season and that was his junior year last fall. He’d been jumping around positions before then but made an obvious impact as a defacto o-line man. It sure did lead to a load of scholarship offers.

With a full (hopefully normal) offseason ahead of him, Morgan could take his game to the next level. We’ll just have to wait and see if he ends up taking those talents to Lexington.