Recruit who flipped from U of L to UK is Cats’ third 2018 commit from same high school

The University of Kentucky added another Hollywood attraction to its 2018 recruiting class on Wednesday night — and it came at the expense of archrival Louisville.

Akeem Hayes, a three-star wide receiver who committed to the Cardinals in late April, announced on Twitter that he had flipped his commitment to UK.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Hayes joins two of his high school teammates in UK’s 2018 recruiting class — defensive end Davoan Hawkins and wide receiver Marvin Alexander. The three will be teammates this fall at Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory School in Hollywood, Fla.

Hayes posted the following statement on Twitter in explaining his flip from red to blue:

“First off, I would like to thank God for giving me the talent to play this game at the next level; without him this would have never been possible. I would also like to thank the Louisville coaching staff for the relationship we have built in the last couple months. I also want to say that I love the relationship the Kentucky coaching staff and I have built in these last couple months of my recruiting process, but after talking it over with my family I’ve decided to flip my commitment to the University of Kentucky.”

Hayes also received scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Oregon, North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Marshall, among others.

Kentucky now has 13 commitments for the class of 2018, and the Wildcats’ group of recruits is ranked No. 19 nationally and No. 4 in the SEC, according to Rivals.com.

In addition to the three commitments from Florida players, UK has five from Ohio, two from Michigan and one each from Georgia, Kansas, South Carolina.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 11:29 AM with the headline "Recruit who flipped from U of L to UK is Cats’ third 2018 commit from same high school."