Highly touted class of 2018 linebacker Xavier Peters picks Kentucky

A look at the list of scholarship offers that Xavier Peters has accumulated over the past few months is enough to justify his status as one of Kentucky’s biggest additions for the class of 2018.

Peters — a 6-foot-4, 225-pound outside linebacker from West Chester, Ohio — announced his commitment to the Wildcats on Tuesday, giving a UK a major recruiting victory over some of the top college programs in the country.

Though still coming along on the field, Peters’ frame, athleticism and upside have attracted ample attention in recruiting circles.

“He certainly looks the part,” Rivals.com’s Josh Helmholdt told the Herald-Leader recently. “He’s such a tall and long kid. I think he’s ideally suited for that outside linebacker position at the next level. And he strikes you as a very intelligent, mature young man. So I assume the intangibles are there as well. On the field, he’s a little raw, but he has a lot of natural ability.”

Rivals.com still classifies Peters as a three-star recruit, but that could change soon. Scout.com, ESPN and 247Sports have already bumped him to four-star status.

247Sports ranks Peters as the No. 8 outside linebacker and No. 129 overall prospect nationally in the 2018 class, making him UK’s second-highest-ranked player on that list after lineman Marquan McCall (No. 111 overall).

Peters, who visited UK for a game last fall and has been a regular recruiting guest in Lexington, recently narrowed his list to 10 schools: UK, Alabama, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, Penn State, Southern Cal, Tennessee and Texas. He had scholarship offers from all 10 of those programs, and Penn State and USC were thought to be in his top tier before he announced for Kentucky.

There’s still a chance that Ohio State could come in with a late scholarship offer, too.

Over the past few days, Peters has competed in The Opening Finals in Oregon, arguably the top summer camp for high school football prospects and a highly-selective, invitation-only event. Peters has also accepted an invitation to play in the Under Armour All-America Game in January.

Kentucky now has 15 commitments for the class of 2018, and seven of those players are from the state of Ohio. Peters joins defensive lineman Tyler Bentley as the second player from Lakota West High School to commit to UK’s class. Lakota West is also the alma mater of current Wildcats George Asafo-Adjei, Kyle Meadows and Kayaune Ross.

247Sports ranks Kentucky’s class at No. 14 nationally, and the Wildcats’ group of 2018 commitments is No. 4 in the Southeastern Conference behind only Louisiana State, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

This story was originally published July 4, 2017 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Highly touted class of 2018 linebacker Xavier Peters picks Kentucky."