UK adds four-star lineman to 2020 class a day before early signing period begins

The University of Kentucky football program added another high-profile lineman to its recruiting class before the early signing period kicked off.

RJ Adams, a 6-foot-3, 320-pound offensive guard from Woodbridge, Va., committed to UK on Tuesday. He chose the Wildcats from a final list of schools that included Alabama, Penn State and N.C. State, believed to be the front-runner in his recruitment until recently.

Adams committed to Penn State in April but re-opened his recruitment in September. In the time between his original commitment and de-commitment, Adams earned a four-star rating from Rivals and picked up a host of offers, including the one from Alabama. He reported his offer from UK on April 29, 16 days after he announced that he was committed to the Nittany Lions.

Rivals considers Adams to be the 12th best offensive guard in the country and the No. 6 player in Virginia. He’s the No. 16 offensive guard in the composite ranking supplied by 247Sports, which rates him as a three-star prospect.

“Adams has a ton of potential as an offensive lineman and his versatility is a big reason so many schools wanted him,” Rivals’ Adam Friedman wrote. He told Rivals that he could compete for playing time early at Kentucky due to the graduation of seniors Logan Stenberg and Mason Wolfe.

Adams in May was named an Under Armour All-America game participant. He is the seventh lineman to commit as part of Kentucky’s 2020 recruiting class, and the fourth offensive lineman, joining four-star prospect John Young (Christian Academy of Louisville) and out-of-state standouts Deondre Bufor (Michigan) and Joshua Jones (Alabama), both considered three-star recruits.

He was the first of three UK recruiting targets set to announce their commitment on Tuesday. Jeremy Flax, a junior-college lineman, and Joel Williams, a four-star defensive back, were expected to make their decisions known later in the day.

This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 3:32 PM.

Josh Moore

Lexington Herald-Leader

Josh Moore covers the University of Kentucky football team for the Lexington Herald-Leader, where he’s been employed since 2009. Moore, a Martin County native, graduated from UK with a B.A. in Integrated Strategic Communication and English in 2013. He’s a fan of the NBA, Power Rangers and Pokémon. Support my work with a digital subscription