Former five-star defensive lineman commits to Kentucky football as transfer
Less than a week after losing one former five-star recruit from its defensive line, Kentucky football has found a new former five-star prospect for the position.
North Carolina transfer defensive tackle Keeshawn Silver, who was ranked as the No. 31 prospect in the high school class of 2021 by the 247Sports Composite, committed to Kentucky on Sunday after an official visit to campus. While Silver was considered one of the best prospects in his high school class as a five-star recruit, he totaled just four tackles in two years at North Carolina.
At 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, Silver looks the part of an SEC defensive lineman, but he has work to do to cash in on his immense recruiting hype. Kentucky will hope he can develop into a rotation piece a line that is on track to return five of its top six players, led by freshman All-American defensive tackle Deone Walker.
Silver is not a like-for-like replacement for nose guard Justin Rogers, a former five-star recruit who started every game in 2022 for UK before entering the transfer portal next season, but if he develops into a contributor at tackle, it would allow Kentucky to play Walker more at nose guard. Or Silver could move positions to play nose himself.
The Rocky Mount, North Carolina, native is the seventh transfer to commit to Kentucky since the end of the regular season, joining quarterback Devin Leary (N.C. State), running back Ray Davis (Vanderbilt), offensive tackle Marques Cox (Northern Illinois), offensive guard Tanner Bowles (Alabama), cornerback JQ Hardaway (Cincinnati) and defensive back Jantzen Dunn (Ohio State).