Kentucky

Recruiting Roundup: Kentucky Offers Penn State Commit

Published

2 years ago

May 24, 2024

Recruiting Roundup: Kentucky Offers Penn State Commit

Today is a good day to check in on the latest Kentucky football recruiting efforts. While out on the trail the Wildcats are extending plenty of scholarship offers to talented underclassmen and one in particular is eye-opening. Let’s dive in.

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Impressive Pennsylvania Prospects

Daikiel Shorts offered three top 100 players during one trip to Harrisburg High School. Messiah Mickens is a top ten running back in the country and the No. 58 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He committed to Penn State early in the process, giving James Franklin a verbal prior to his sophomore season.

Shorts also offered Micken’s talented teammate, Elias Coke. A four-star wide receiver, he’s the No. 262 player in the 2026 recruiting class. Kevin Brown is the highest-ranked player of the trio. The 6-foot-5 interior offensive lineman is the No. 35 overall player in the rising junior class.

Leo Delaney

A top ten player at his position in the 2026 recruiting class, the offensive tackle is the No. 80 overall player in the country. He’s one of a few prospects offered by Kentucky during Brad White and Mike Stoops’ travels to Charlotte, along with LB Elijah Littlejohn.

Tyler Merrill

A 6-foot-5, 330-pound interior offensive lineman from Mechanicsburg, PA, Merrill is ranked as the No. 86 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class. Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Michigan have already extended offers to the exceptional offensive lineman.

Luke Waffle

Hailing from Middletown, NJ, Waffle is a four-star defensive lineman in the 2026 recruiting class, ranked as the No. 158 overall prospect. Penn State, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Texas are among his other early interests.

Ben Nichols

A four-star talent from Michigan, On3 ranks Nichols as the 11th-best interior offensive lineman and the No. 172 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class. Michigan State and Notre Dame are the top schools targeting Nichols.

Lasiah Jackson

A 6-foot-3 safety from Georgia, Jackson is a Top 200 player in the 2026 recruiting class. He does not yet hold an offer from Kirby Smart’s program, but Ole Miss is another SEC school already making a move.

Twin Brothers

The Kentucky coaching staff was in Miami to offer two players from Norland High School, the Desir brothers. Mandrell Desir and Darryll Desir are twins who play on the EDGE in the class of 2025. The three-star rising seniors already have offers from Florida State, Miami, and Oregon, among others.

Multiple Players from Cass Tech

Detroit powerhouse Cass Tech has been kind to the Kentucky football program, sending Deone Walker and DeAndre Square to Lexington. Eric Wolford is trying to keep that Michigan pipeline alive. This week he offered 2026 tight end Victor Polk and 2026 LB Brian Stovall.

More Scholarship Offers

Brayton Feister — It’s the first SEC offer for the 2027 LB from Akron (OH) Archbishop Hoban.

Travis Robertson — Kentucky is the second offer for 2026 offensive tackle from West Bloomfield (MI), the alma mater of UK cornerback Max Hairston.

Joel Ervin — The Fort Myers 2026 offensive tackle has offers from Miami, UCF, and South Carolina.

Donald Tabron — The Detroit quarterback is entering his first season at MLK High. UK is his second Power Four offer.

Kayden Edwards — Another young quarterback, Edwards is a 2027 prospect at talent-rich Ironton (OH) High. Vince Marrow offered two other Ironton players, 2026 OL Caleb Jacobs and 2028 TE Luca Silva.

Darius Dennis — Kentucky is the second Power Four offer for the 2027 Dayton defensive back.

Kai Pritchard — The three-star New Jersey IOL is a top 300 prospect according to 247 Sports and ESPN.

Maddox Cochrane — On3 ranks the Virginia offensive tackle as the No. 209 player in the 2026 recruiting class.

Jamarcus “Fatt” Whyce — The 2026 Dayton EDGE is a four-star talent in two recruiting services. Kentucky is his first SEC offer. His teammate, 2027 DL Jeremiah Nash, also received a UK offer.

Benjamin Corhei — The Naples (FL) 2026 offensive tackle is being recruited by most of the schools in the Sunshine State.

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Kentucky

Mark Pope can’t gamble on three-point shooters in the transfer portal

Published

7 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

Mark Pope can’t gamble on three-point shooters in the transfer portal

Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats will be looking to replace a lot in the transfer portal, and one thing that Pope will need a ton of is three-point shooting. The three-point shooting this season for Kentucky outside of Collin Chandler was rough. Otega Oweh, Kam Williams, and Denzel Aberdeen all had a solid shooting season, but Chandler was the only true, reliable three-point shooter.

Williams is a player that fans expect to get much better from three next season if he is back in Lexington, but Pope is still going to need a lot of shooting.

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope reacts during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

When Pope took the job at Kentucky, he wanted to shoot over 30, perhaps even 35 threes per game, but in his two seasons, this has not happened. Coach Pope needs to get back to this for his offense to work at a high level, but he will need the roster to get it done.

While the portal is not technically open yet, some players have announced that they plan to enter the portal when it does open on April 7th. Some Kentucky fans have already started to list players whom Pope should reach out to in the portal. Many of the guard’s BBN wants look good on paper, but don’t have elite three-point shooting percentages.

The point of this article is to make the case that Coach Pope can’t gamble with the players he brings in via the portal to be shooters. A great example of this is Jaland Lowe, as he came over from Pitt with a bad three-point shooting percentage. He didn’t play enough this year to really judge him as a shooter, but Pope doesn’t need projects like this.

Mar 19, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope speaks during an interview at the practice session ahead of the first round of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

He shouldn’t take guards who shot 31% from three. Pope needs to take players who are true knockdown shooters from deep, so the Wildcats offense next season will have a handful of players who are all capable of making threes.

There are some guards and forwards in the portal right now who had great seasons shooting the ball from deep and more will enter when it officially opens on the 7th. Coach Pope needs a bunch of players who shot 35% or better from deep, so the Wildcats are an elite team from beyond the arc.

If Kentucky isn’t a good shooting team, we will see a season similar to this one next year, so shooting is a top priority for the staff when the portal opens here in about a week.

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Kentucky

2026 top-50 recruit Chris Washington Jr. drawing interest from Kentucky Basketball

Published

19 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

2026 top-50 recruit Chris Washington Jr. drawing interest from Kentucky Basketball

Even in the era of the transfer portal and NIL, fans of a team will still focus on and care about recruiting. That’s especially the case with the Kentucky Wildcats. Fans are already up in arms about Kentucky’s recruiting for the class of 2026, or, in their case, lack thereof.

Only one player is signed for the class of 2026, after 4-star point guard Mason Williams announced his commitment to play for the Cats on Friday. On the board. Still work to do.

Chris Washington Jr., an Alabama decommit and top-35 senior prospect, is a new target for Mark Pope and UK ahead of the spring signing period in mid-April. The staff reached out to his AAU coach, Bobby Maze, to gauge the athletic wing’s potential interest. This is all according to Kentucky Sports Radio.

Washington is a 6-9, 195-pound forward who originally committed to Alabama, but decommitted in November. Kentucky is now included among the likes of Tennessee, Oregon, Oklahoma State, USC, and SMU that are interested in Washington.

“It’s a good program,” Washington said of Kentucky while adding, “Honestly, I just want to go where I’m wanted — and the play style. I got to go where I fit in and where the coaches really want me. (My recruitment is) open. Whenever the time is right.”

Only four players ranked ahead of him remain available in 2026, including No. 1 Tyran Stokes. That tells you just how big of a prospect Washington will be in the spring signing period.

Kentucky has swung and missed in recruiting a lot recently. But there is still time to get things moving in the right direction this spring on both the high school front and in the transfer portal.

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Kentucky

Kentucky man arrested after police said he was riding horse while intoxicated

Published

1 day ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky man arrested after police said he was riding horse while intoxicated

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WKRC) — A Kentucky man was arrested Thursday after police said he was riding a horse while intoxicated, reports WBKO.

Bowling Green police said they found 48-year-old Jorge Luis Hernandez on a horse, partially slumped over, as it walked along a road. He and the horse then began traveling on a sidewalk, according to an arrest record.

Police said Hernandez had a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage” and had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and delayed movements. Hernandez said he had just left the liquor store and had a liquor store bag tied to the horse’s saddle.

Hernandez was arrested and charged with operating a non-motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants.

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