KSR's Wednesday night Kentucky football recruiting notes

On3 imageby:Zack Geoghegan12/07/22

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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 regular season may be over for Kentucky football, but the sport has become a 365-day season. With so much coaching staff turnover and players coming in and out of the transfer portal, there is a lot going on inside the UK facilities this week, especially on the recruiting trail.

We’ve put together some notes on all the recruiting happenings of the last few days. Let’s dive right in.

2023 visitors expected in Lexington this weekend

Walker Himebauch (LS) 6-2, 205 | Bishop Manogue (Reno, NV) Kentucky commit

  • After a season full of snapping issues on punts, field goals, and PATs, the Wildcats went out and earned a commitment from Walker Himebauch on Nov. 3. Himebauch is rated as a five-star long snapper by Rubio Long Snapping — considered by the outlet as an “FBS Freshman Year Starter.” He announced on Twitter Wednesday morning that he’ll make another trip to Lexington this weekend.

Rico Walker (EDGE) 6-3, 235 | Hickory (Hickory, NC)
4-star: No. 225 overall, No. 29 EDGE

  • It wasn’t even a month ago that four-star pass rusher Rico Walker backed off his commitment to North Carolina. Now, he intends to officially visit Kentucky this weekend, according to his social media. He initially chose UNC over the likes of Tennessee, Auburn, Maryland, and Florida. UK offered Walker back in January, but the ‘Cats did not make any of his top lists heading into his first commitment. This will be his last visit before making a final decision.

CJ Blocker (CB) 5-10, 160 | New Caney (New Caney, TX)
3-star: No. 454 overall, No. 47 CB

  • On Tuesday, CJ Blocker announced an official visit to Kentucky for this weekend. A little over 24 hours later, he dropped a top-five list of schools that included the ‘Cats, Southern California, Utah, Alabama, and Colorado (which offered him just a few hours before he announced his list). Utah coaches came and visited him on Wednesday, as well.

Khamari Anderson (TE) 6-4, 230 | Cass Technical (Detroit, MI)
3-star: No. 477 overall, No. 26 TE

  • With Luke Fickell out at Cincinnati, there are plenty of Bearcat commits who will be considering other options. One of them is Khamari Anderson, who decommitted from UC on Nov. 28. The Kentucky coaching staff has had great success recruiting Cass Techincal, and will hunt for more with Anderson visiting Lexington this weekend, according to 247Sports Allen Trieu. Anderson also plans to visit Washington and Alabama at a later time with Wisconsin and Coach Fickell also looming. He was paid an in-home visit by Kentucky associate head coach Vince Marrow on Sunday.

Asa Newsom (LB) 6-4, 205 | Waverly-Shell Rock (Waverly, IA)
3-star: No. 594 overall, No. 60

  • After being offered by Kentucky on Nov. 24, Asa Newsom confirmed with KSR that he will visit UK this weekend. He took multiple official visits to the likes of Minnesota, Kansas State, Iowa, and Stanford over the summer, but is now gaining some SEC attention with Kentucky and Vanderbilt both offering in late November.

Ardell Banks picks Kentucky, Brandyn Hillman heads for ND

Kentucky nearly landed two commits in the first half of the week but had to settle for one in three-star wide receiver Ardell Banks, who chose the ‘Cats over Arizona State, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, and Pittsburgh on Monday. Coach Marrow secured the commitment for the program during an in-home visit with Banks on the same day he made the announcement.

Check out Adam Luckett’s Film Room breakdown of what Banks will bring to Lexington beginning next season.

The same day that Banks committed to Kentucky, four-star athlete Brandyn Hillman included the Wildcats among his top five options. However, just two days later, he opted to land with Notre Dame over the likes of North Carolina, Southern California, and Virginia Tech, along with the ‘Cats. Hillman was in Lexington last month to catch Kentucky’s loss to Vanderbilt for an official visit, but the Fighting Irish won out in the end.

There’s also another top prospect out there considering Kentucky down the final stretch of his recruitment, although he’s not trending toward the ‘Cats. Four-star running back out of Hannibal, MO, Aneyas Williams, has set a commitment date for Friday, Dec. 16 with a final group of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Penn State, and Tennessee. Notre Dame appears to be the leader heading down the final stretch.

Cincinnati commit Trevor Carter hearing from UK

Trevor Carter is a four-star linebacker who has been committed to Cincinnati since last November, but with Luke Fickell moving on to Wisconsin and being replaced by former Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield, his recruitment remains very much in flux.

Carter posted on Twitter near the end of November that his recruitment was “100% open” but that he remains committed to the Bearcats. A couple of weeks later and that is still the case. Carter is “definitely happy” about the Satterfield hire, but continues to listen to other schools. He tells KSR that Kentucky is one of the schools that has reached out since the UC head coaching shuffle. UK was one of the first programs to offer the Ironton, OH product back in March 2021.

Speaking of Ironton, keep a close eye on running back Jaquez Keyes, a three-star running back who is teammates at Ironton High School with Carter. Keyes decommitted from Wisconsin on Monday, just one day after members of the Kentucky coaching staff paid the school a visit over the weekend.

Savion Washington is another OL target

Right tackle Savion Washington, who announced on Dec. 4 that he would transfer out of Kent State with multiple years of college eligibility left, has been in touch with the Kentucky coaching staff since his decision, he told KSR this week. The two sides are in the process of trying to set up a visit, although nothing has been set in stone.

Washington has also heard from the likes of Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers, and NC State since he announced his transfer on Sunday. Oklahoma State, NC State, BYU, and Nevada have already extended scholarships to him over the last 48 hours, with the Cowboys getting him on campus this weekend for an official visit.

Prospects offered scholarships

Transfers

Re’Mahn Davis, Vanderbilt (RB) 5-10, 210 | Blair Academy (Blairstown, NJ)

  • After a successful career at Vanderbilt, Ray Davis put his name in the transfer portal on Monday. The same day, he received an offer from Kentucky. Davis was one of four 1,000-yard rushers in the SEC this season, finishing with 1,042 total rushing yards and five touchdowns. He will enter the portal as a graduate transfer. Davis was at Temple for two seasons before making the move to Vanderbilt.

Class of 2024

Melvin Laster II (LB) 6-2, 230 | Liberty North (Liberty, MO)
4-star: No. 298 overall, No. 28 LB

Hevin Brown-Shuler (DL) 6-3, 300 | Pace Academy (Atlanta, GA)
4-star: No. 51 overall, No. 8 DL

Jayshawn Ross (EDGE) 6-2, 210 | St. Pius X (Kansas City, MO)
4-star: No. 148 overall, No. 15 EDGE

Chase Tyler (WR) 6-4, 155 | Hiram (Hiram, GA)

Class of 2025

Elmotie Williams Jr. (IOL) 6-3, 270 | Liberty North (Liberty, MO)

Isaiah Mozee (WR) 5-11, 160 | Lee’s Summit North (Lee’s Summit, MO)

Dante McClellan (LB) 6-3, 200 | McKinley (Canton, OH)


Learn more about Andy Luedecke and franchise ownership through these resources:
Andy’s Story
Why a Franchise
Service Based vs Brick and Mortar
Semi Absentee Ownership
The Process and How It works

e: [email protected]

Book time with Andy: Andy’s Calendar

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2024-03-28