‘He’s gonna be on the field.’ Four-star linebacker Trevin Wallace chooses Kentucky.
Linebacker Trevin Wallace signed with the University of Kentucky on Wednesday, giving the Wildcats another highly-regarded recruit as part of their 2021 recruiting class.
Wallace, a 6-foot-2, 209-pound linebacker from Jesup, Ga., chose Kentucky over Auburn and Mississippi. By 247Sports’ ranking, he is the highest-ranked signee as part of the class, passing Frederick Douglass offensive lineman Jager Burton, and the site tabs him as the 35th best player in the entire country and the No. 2 inside linebacker behind Deontae Lawson, a five-star prospect who’s signed with Alabama.
“Trevin is as talented an inside linebacker as we have recruited here,” UK head coach Mark Stoops said in a news release. “He jumps off the tape as you watch film. He’s the type of athlete with the potential to make an immediate impact.”
Wednesday was “National Signing Day,” the kickoff to the regular signing period that runs through Aug. 1 for Division I and Division II football recruits. Kentucky signed 16 high school players and an international player during the three-day early period in mid-December. It also has added three transfers — linebacker Justice Dingle, linebacker Luke Fulton and receiver Wan’Dale Robinson — in the last two months.
Rivals does not have Wallace ranked nationally, but it and 247Sports both rate him as a four-star recruit. Rivals considers him the 19th best linebacker in the country and the No. 21 player in Georgia. Going by his 247Sports composite rating of .9184), which factors in other recruiting services, Wallace is the 15th best player to sign with UK since 2000 (as far back as its ratings go) and the eighth best player from outside of Kentucky to do so. He’s the 10th player on that list to sign with UK during Stoops’ tenure as head coach.
“I’ve been coaching for 34 years, and he’s one of the best kids I’ve ever had the privilege to coach, and it starts with his character and his personality,” said Ken Cribb, the head coach at Wayne County High School. “Give his parents a lot of credit. They did an amazing job raising Trevin.
“And as a football player, if you could go into a program and design your own player, Trevin Wallace would be the product that would come out of it if you want the best attributes of a kid. He’s crazy strong, incredibly fast, can play just about any position.”
Wallace played every snap at linebacker for Wayne County on defense and spent time at running back and wide receiver on offense. He was its starting quarterback in the last game of the 2020 season, and rushed for 386 yards. He also ran back kickoff and punt returns,.
He was at one time committed to Boston College. He backed out of that commitment in November, and for a while Auburn was believed to be the leader for his services. The Tigers’ staff shake-up allowed for UK and lead recruiter Jon Sumrall to become more of a factor down the stretch.
His commitment, coincidentally, comes on the heels of Kentucky losing another four-star linebacker commit to Auburn. Joko Willis, a junior-college product who committed to UK last summer but did not sign in the early period, committed to the Tigers on Monday.
Cribb believes Wallace will compete for immediate playing time at Kentucky.
“He’s gonna be on the field,” Cribb said. “I won’t be surprised to see him running back kickoffs and punts, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him as the wildcat quarterback in certain situations. If you go back and watch some of his film on offense, you won’t catch him.”
Mike Farrell, the national recruiting director for Rivals, tweeted that he believes Wallace could be a first- or second-round NFL Draft selection in a few years. He likened him to Tennessee Titans linebacker Harold Landry.
Wallace spoke with 247Sports director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong about his decision.
“Coach Stoops is one of a kind,” Wallace told the site. “He speaks highly of me, and the program he’s built is going to be something to mess with. I think I will have a great impact on the program with Coach Sumrall coaching me and teaching me the technique of playing linebacker.”
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 9:22 AM.
