Louisville football star Elijah Reed commits to Kentucky over Utah, Purdue
Right on the heels of getting spurned by a high-profile recruit with connections to the team and state, Kentucky’s football program earned another commitment Friday.
Elijah Reed, a defensive back out of Pleasure Ridge Park High School in Louisville, announced his commitment to UK via Twitter. He’s considered a three-star prospect by both 247Sports and Rivals.
Reed played wide receiver for PRP prior to this season, his second as a senior at the school. He opted into a fifth year of high school eligibility, allowed by a Kentucky law made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, after not having any major college offers following the 2020 season. They came this year; Kentucky was the first to offer the 6-foot-3, 180-pound cornerback back in July. Offers followed from Illinois, Purdue, West Virginia and Utah, to which Reed is scheduled to take an official visit on Nov. 20; he visited Kentucky during the weekend of the Tennessee game.
The uptick in interest was a result of the move to defense. Reed has been training with Aspirations’ Chris Vaughn, who’s also the trainer of five-star offensive tackle Kiyaunta Goodwin, the top-rated recruit committed to UK as part of the 2022 class.
“The biggest thing that they like about me is that I have kept getting better throughout the season; looking more normal out there, just getting used to the position a little bit more,” Reed told 247Sports about UK’s assessment of where he is as a defensive back. “I definitely feel completely comfortable out there.”
The timing of Reed’s commitment somewhat softens a recruiting blow that UK suffered Thursday. Aamil Wagner, a four-star offensive tackle and the brother of former UK receiver Ahmad Wagner, now a graduate assistant on Mark Stoops’ staff, committed to Notre Dame on Thursday. Most analysts believed he was leaning toward Kentucky prior to the commitment.
Reed is the 17th high school or junior-college commitment in UK’s 2022 class, which following his announcement sits at No. 16 and No. 17 in the country in team rankings from 247Sports and Rivals, respectively. Taj Harris, a wide receiver transfer from Syracuse, has also committed to the Wildcats as part of the 2022 class.
PRP finished 6-5 after falling to Manual in the first round of the Class 6A KHSAA playoffs. It was the Panthers’ first winning record since 2017.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 11:10 AM.
