Quarterback DJ Hunter Decommits from Kentucky

DJ Hunter was rocking Kentucky gear on Sunday. Less than 24 hours later, the quarterback officially decommitted from the Cats.

Hunter committed to play for Kentucky last April. At the time, he was playing high school football in Knoxville, preparing to miss his junior season with an ACL injury. Mark Stoops and Bush Hamdan were happy to have a dual-threat athlete locked in early. When the Kentucky coaching staff changed, this change was inevitable for Hunter.

The quarterback told Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett on Monday that he is reopening his recruitment ahead of his senior season at Buford High School in Georgia. He rocked Kentucky gear to Sunday’s Rivals Elite Camp in Miami.

Kentucky QB commit DJ Hunter is rocking all the Kentucky gear at @RivalsHS Miami Elite Camp😼https://t.co/nxzVDmqS04 pic.twitter.com/YLZcMAofMn

— Rivals (@Rivals) February 15, 2026

Once other schools got a chance to see him healthy, the time was probably right for Hunter to publicly reopen his recruitment. Even though he was sidelined in 2025, Hunter took numerous unofficial visits to other schools. He’s already eyeing a few ACC programs.

“I would say some schools that stand out to me are USF, Maryland, West Virginia, Florida State, and Duke,” he told Rivals’ Chad Simmons. “USF is one school I will visit in the spring. Duke is one I am thinking about too. I have talked with Maryland and West Virginia about official visits as well.”

It’s unclear when Hunter finally spoke with the new coaching staff, but Will Stein and Joe Sloan were always going to hand-pick their QB in the 2027 recruiting class. Kentucky has some new-coach momentum, and they’re using it to bring some of the most talented quarterbacks in the country to Kentucky. Three of the top five quarterbacks in the class — Elijah Haven, Andre Adams, and Israel Abrams — plan on unofficially visiting in the spring. Abrams even scheduled an official visit for this summer to Kentucky.

Stein’s coaching staff has secured two commitments in the 2027 recruiting class, both from the state of Kentucky. Pulaski County IOL Brady Hull was the first to jump on board. Louisville was expecting to hear good news from J-Town ATH Larron Westmoreland, but he had a change of heart and committed to the Cats on Friday.

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