Kentucky remains in great shape recruiting 2023 cornerbacks
On Wednesday, Cincinnati Winton Woods cornerback Cameron Calhoun announced his commitment. Surprisingly, West Virginia was the winner.
The three-star prospect is headed to the Big 12, and Kentucky must continue to look for some answers at cornerback. After the pass defense struggled in 2021, this is a major position of need for the program. However, there are still many quality options available for the program.
Let’s take a look at the Kentucky recruiting board to see some of the prime candidates. The Wildcats still appear to be in great shape as the program plans to load up at the position in the current recruiting cycle.
Cristian Conyer remains the program’s top target
Keeping the top talent at home will always be the No. 1 goal for the Kentucky football program. Since Vince Marrow has taken over recruiting efforts in the state, the Wildcats have done a great job of keeping the state’s top talent at home. Over the last four recruiting cycles, Kentucky has inked 19 high school players from the Bluegrass State.
In the class of 2023, there are many-high quality FBS prospects in Kentucky, and the Wildcats are involved with a lot of them. However, the recruitment of Bowling Green (KY.) South Warren cornerback Cristian Conyer might be the most important at the moment.
The athlete is most likely to play cornerback at the next level, and he has the attention of two SEC East programs. Both Kentucky and Tennessee are in hot pursuit of Conyer, and each program should receive an official visit over the summer.
The Western Kentucky native is one of the top players on Kentucky’s recruiting board.
Another Winton Woods defensive prospect
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Calhoun decision was that this is a Cincinnati Winton Woods prospect. That high school sent both Mike Edwards and Chris Oats to Kentucky with each having successful careers on the field. Calhoun looked to be the next in line, but he’s not the only Winton Woods cornerback that Kentucky is after.
Jermaine Matthews is another cornerback prospect that is also being pursued by both Kentucky and Tennessee. Last week, the Ohio native took visits to both schools and has visits scheduled for both Maryland and Northwestern this week. Cincinnati always appears to be a player in this recruitment. Meanwhile, Ohio State is sniffing around and will likely want to get Matthews on campus for a summer camp in June.
Kentucky is firmly in the hunt, but the competition is stiff.
Alabama recruiting is still rolling
With Jon Sumrall on the coaching staff, Kentucky was able to hammer away in the state of Alabama recording multiple quality recruiting wins. The Wildcats signed three players from the state over the last two classes, but Sumrall is now the head coach at Troy.
Kentucky isn’t going to stop recruiting the area.
Safeties coach Frank Buffano appears to be leading the staff’s recruiting efforts in the area and he is making a push for Avery Stuart who just completed an unofficial visit to Kentucky.
Auburn is a major player for this local recruit, but Kentucky has had a good amount of success pulling quality players out of the Deep South recently. With a likely hot-seat season coming for Bryan Harsin in year two on the Plains, this could turn into a wide open recruitment and the Wildcats are doing the necessary legwork to be a legitimate candidate in this recruitment.
Cornerback remains a position of need for Kentucky, but the coaching staff does appear to have some options.
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