Can LSU transfer Kelvin Joseph reach his potential at UK? ‘Time will tell.’
The University of Kentucky on Monday night added a former four-star recruit to its football team, but he won’t be able to play for a while.
Kelvin Joseph, a top-50 prospect out of Louisiana in the class of 2018 who played last year at LSU, enrolled at the University of Kentucky and began classes Tuesday. Justin Rowland of Cats Illustrated first reported Joseph’s transfer to UK and Joseph early Tuesday morning listed himself as a “DB at the University of Kentucky” on his Twitter bio and retweeted several posts indicating that he had enrolled at school.
A spokesperson for UK later Tuesday morning confirmed that Joseph has enrolled at the school. According to NCAA transfer rules, Joseph will have to sit out the 2019 season; he would have three years of eligibility remaining after using a redshirt this season.
Joseph last season recorded 12 tackles in 11 games for the Tigers as a true freshman. He missed one game due to a leg injury and was suspended for LSU’s trip to the Fiesta Bowl due to a violation of team rules.
Joseph’s name appeared in the transfer portal in May but it was withdrawn, according to a report from the The Advocate in Baton Rouge. He officially entered the portal again in July, and last week on Twitter revealed a top-six list of potential destinations: Auburn, Florida, Grambling State, Maryland, Mississippi State and UK.
The Baton Rouge native was the No. 42 overall recruit in 247Sports’ final rankings of the 2018 class and the No. 5 safety nationally. Rivals ranked Joseph 55th overall nationally and also as the No. 5 safety in the class. He did not have a reported offer from UK as a high school student.
Steve Wiltfong, the director of recruiting for 247Sports, said Joseph was lauded for his versatility and space-eating ability in high school. UK under Stoops has valued interchangeability between the cornerback and safety positions in its defense; Joseph was ranked as a safety in high school but was listed at cornerback for LSU.
“He was fearless against the run, he would come down and fill and be physical,” Wiltfong said. “ ... There was a little bit of rawness to him but there was a lot of upside.”
He originally committed to LSU in January 2016 but, following the Tigers’ 24-21 loss to Troy (then coached by former UK star Neal Brown) in October 2017, Joseph decommitted from LSU (but acknowledged they were still his No. 1 option). He eventually picked the hometown Tigers again over offers from Alabama, Clemson and many others.
“I don’t think anyone was surprised he went to LSU, being from Baton Rouge,” Wiltfong said. “ ... We’ll see if Kentucky can get it out of him now.”
Joseph is the second high-profile transfer to enroll at UK prior to the 2019 season, joining linebacker Xavier Peters, who is still awaiting an NCAA decision on a hardship waiver appeal for immediate eligibility.
UK is set to lose only one defensive back, safety Jordan Griffin, to graduation come May. If he were available this season, Joseph would by default be one of UK’s most experienced defensive backs; the Cats’ depth chart for their season opener against Toledo included three sophomores, two true freshmen and a redshirt freshman expected to see the field in the secondary.
“Kentucky had one of the more talented secondaries in college football last year,” Wiltfong said. “Is he on the level of those guys? Time will tell. But coming out of high school we thought he could be.”
Season opener
Toledo at Kentucky
Noon Saturday (SEC Network)
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 7:36 AM.
