Kentucky football closes camp season with talented Wednesday group
The June camp season is officially in the books following the conclusion of Wednesday’s scorcher. It was another 90-plus degree day here in Lexington, as it has been all week, but that didn’t stop hundreds of high school prospects from showing up and performing at a high level.
After a slow couple of camp days to begin the week, Kentucky made sure to close the session out with a bang on Wednesday. Plenty of notable recruits participated in the drills, including ’23 offensive tackle Malachi Wood, a 6-foot-8 three-star who committed to the Wildcats in March. The Madison Central behemoth was also a camper earlier this week and looked like a man amongst boys stacked up against his peers.
Local recruits take over final day of camp
Along with Wood, there were plenty of need-to-know campers in attendance from the Bluegrass State. The two that stood out immediately were ’23 WR Jakob Dixon out of Pleasure Ridge Park and ’24 DB JT Haskins from Bryan Station, the latter already ranked as a three-star prospect. The Kentucky coaches were all over these two throughout the camp, matching them up together a half-dozen times during one-on-one drills. Neither player appeared to truly get the better of each other, though — it was a consistently close battle.
Kentucky associate head coach Vince Marrow was in constant talks with Dixon throughout the duration of the camp. Dixon immediately stands out as a 6-foot-4 pass-catcher with a quick first step. He was in Lexington earlier this week for a camp, as well, and was brought back for a reason on Wednesday. Dixon left the camp with an offer from UK in hand.
Dixon also holds Divison I offers from two other programs: Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois. His stock has grown significantly over the last few months and UK is clearly interested in the potential.
As for Haskins, the top 600 recruit already holds offers from the likes of Akron, Miami (OH), Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, and Louisville. The Cardinals were his first-ever Divison I offer, which came back in April 2021. Haskins was also seen individually talking with Kentucky coaches after drills, but no offer has come through as of yet.
Those two weren’t the only local prospects who stood out though. Another Madison Central offensive tackle, class of ’24 Aiden Howard, came to camp with his teammate, Malachi Wood. Howard looked small compared to the 6-foot-8 Wood but still appeared to be around 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5. An offer from Kentucky might not come right now, but he was at least an intriguing prospect with a tie to the program.
Arguably the biggest surprise out of the camp was ’25 Cooper High School (KY) DL Austin Alexander, who is the nephew of former NFL running back Shaun Alexander. The Kentucky coaches, mainly defensive line coach Anwar Stewart, were a big fan of what they saw out of Austin, who matched up a handful of times against Malachi Wood in one-on-one drills, even getting the best of the UK commit on a couple of occasions. He was incredibly quick getting off the line and showcased a fierce spin move to get by his man.
An offer didn’t come on Wednesday, but Alexander was invited back for practice and game visits this fall. He was a camper last summer, too, and even took an unofficial visit during the fall for the Kentucky-Florida game. The ‘Cats will be keeping close tabs on the rising sophomore, who already holds scholarships from the likes of Akron, Eastern Kentucky, and Liberty. Alexander’s been camping at plenty of big names schools the last couple of months, including Ohio State, Maryland, Notre Dame, and Virginia. It won’t be long before the offers being to pour in for the northern Kentucky product. Don’t be surprised is UK ends up being one of them.
Athletic 4-stars show out
A pair of impressive four-star prospects, ’23 S Jaremian Anglin and ’24 WR Brandon Heyward, participated in Wednesday’s camp.
Beginning with Anglin, he’s considered a top 250 recruit in his class according to On3’s individual rankings system. The 6-foot-2 defensive back received an offer from Alabama at the end of April that has really allowed his stock to soar. Tennessee has been heavily involved with the Lake Wales (FL) product and will even get him on campus for an unofficial visit this weekend. Anglin’s cousin, Derwin James, was a one-time blue-chip recruit who played at Florida State and later in the NFL. The Seminoles are also heavily involved with Anglin. Kentucky offered him in February and continues to build a relationship.
Moving on to Heyward, the On3 Consensus considers him to be a top 200 recruit from the ’24 class. The Oak Ridge (TN) pass-catcher clocks in at roughly 5-foot-11, 170 pounds. Heyward, who received his offer from Kentucky in August 2021, heads to Cincinnati tomorrow for another camp. He says he could do one or two more before he’s done for the summer. He’ll be another name we monitor closely moving forward.
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