UK’s only QB commit eager to embrace step up from high school to SEC
Kaiya Sheron had two offers from Football Bowl Subdivision schools: Kentucky, a Southeastern Conference institution in his home state, and Marshall, a Conference USA school just a couple hours east of Lexington.
That Sheron chose the Wildcats over the Thundering Herd didn’t shock many, but that a three-star prospect at any position — especially quarterback — would have just two official scholarship offers extended his way raises an eyebrow. That’s the fewest offers of any top-40 pro-style quarterback rated by 247Sports as part of the 2021 recruiting cycle; Alexander Honig, a German club player who’s signing with TCU, had the next fewest with three offers (Baylor and Massachusetts).
UK offered Sheron during the summer preceding of his junior season, and Marshall’s offer came a few months later. He visited and camped at a few other nearby schools — Louisville, Purdue, Western Kentucky — but he ultimately committed to the Wildcats in late March, a couple of weeks into the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He managed to squeeze in a final unofficial visit during one of UK’s few spring practices before everything was shut down.
“It always felt like home but the last time, I don’t know, it just felt different,” Sheron, who is expected to be one of the Cats’ early signing day additions on Wednesday, told the Herald-Leader in March. “It felt like I should be there with them.”
Robbie Lucas, Somerset’s head coach, said Sheron isn’t much of an attention-seeker and was eager to focus on the Briar Jumpers’ 2020 campaign, which didn’t end until a couple weeks ago.
“He didn’t want that process to drag out and be a distraction,” Lucas said. “He found what he wanted, what he liked and who he liked. … Did he enjoy the recruiting process? I think part of him did. I think there’s a larger part that probably is glad it was over.”
Sheron had a strong bond with quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw, whom UK fired on Dec. 6 following its final 2020 regular-season game. In the wake of that development he affirmed his commitment to the Wildcats with Coach Mark Stoops over the past week.
Despite shutting down his recruitment in March, there were other suitors who came to the table over the last eight months. They were basically told, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Kaiya is good to his word, his parents are good to their word,” Lucas said. “This wasn’t one of those things where they took a scholarship hoping more would come along, but there were some that came along. Some would have offered but those schools knew that he was firm.”
UK’s offer put a spotlight on him that intensified following last year’s Class 2A championship, in which Sheron threw a game-winning touchdown on an untimed down to give Somerset, a tradition-rich program that for long had been a bridesmaid, its first state football title in school history.
That was a big deal within Kentucky’s borders, but imagine he’d done something like that in a football hotbed like Georgia or Ohio.
“Anytime you play at a small high school in Kentucky, I don’t know that you get the same attention, the same ‘points’ playing QB,” Lucas said. “No matter how good you are.”
To date, Stoops’ staff has signed three in-state quarterbacks: Conner’s Drew Barker (2014), Lafayette’s Walker Wood (2017) and Lexington Catholic’s Beau Allen (2020). A back injury ended Barker’s career before it ever really got going and Wood, who ultimately transferred, was not trusted enough after multiple surgeries on his throwing shoulder.
Allen and Sheron, assuming good health, will both vie for the starting quarterback job as early as this spring, along with Joey Gatewood, under a new offensive coordinator. Lucas expects Sheron to fully embrace the opportunity with the right attitude whenever he enrolls in January.
“He wants to get in, learn the system and see where he fits in and how he can fight for playing time and what it’s gonna take,” Lucas said. “Nothing against my staff or our program or anything like that, but there’s a huge damn difference between 2A Somerset and SEC football. The quicker jump he gets on that, the more it’s gonna help him with his future and his career.”
