Signing day storylines: Can Kentucky hold off Tennessee for top in-state recruit?
The next step in Kentucky football’s offseason roster rebuild comes Wednesday with the opening of the early signing period for high school recruits and transfers.
The majority of players who will sign with Kentucky on Wednesday are already known, but there is some drama heading into signing day. Here are three storylines to keep an eye on.
1. Can UK hold off Tennessee for CovCath tight end?
UK coach Mark Stoops and his staff got much of the work on the 2024 high school class finished early, but the last month has proven work is still needed to keep the class currently ranked 24th nationally together.
In the last two weeks, four-star edge rusher Elijah Groves flipped his commitment from Kentucky to North Carolina State, three-star edge rusher Lorezno Cowan flipped his commitment from Kentucky to Southern California and three-star offensive lineman Jadon Lafontant flipped his commitment from Kentucky to Boston College. UK did lock down three star defensive back Quaysheed Scott amid late interest from South Carolina.
There could be at least one current commitment who makes UK coaches sweat while waiting for his letter of intent Wednesday.
Three-star Covington Catholic tight end Willie Rodriguez, who committed to Kentucky in June, reported scholarship offers from Auburn and Tennessee this month and spent the last weekend before signing day on an official visit to Tennessee. Rodriguez also tweeted a photo of a home visit from UK recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow and offensive analyst Mark Perry on Thursday. UK will hope their long relationship with Rodriguez is enough to hold off the late pursuit from SEC rivals, but nothing is certain until he signs his letter of intent.
2. Can Kentucky add a former All-American to its transfer class?
To date, all of Kentucky’s transfer portal commitments have come on offense, but there is hope for the first defensive transfer commitment to come from one of the top uncommitted players in the portal.
Georgia linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson, a 2022 All-American and starter on the undefeated national championship team, visited UK over the weekend. In three seasons at Georgia, Dumas-Johnson has totaled 125 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. The Bulldogs won every game he started over the last two seasons.
On3 ranks Dumas-Johnson as the top linebacker in the portal. While his 2023 season did not live up to the high bar of his All-America season in 2022, some of that drop in production can be attributed to an arm injury that ended his season after nine games. Had he returned to Georgia, Dumas-Johnson might have faced competition from several former blue chip recruits for his starting job, but he would undoubtedly be an upgrade for a Kentucky defense that just lost inside linebacker Trevin Wallace to the NFL draft.
Dumas-Johnson has also reportedly visited Auburn since entering the portal, so Kentucky faces competition for his commitment.
3. An uncommitted high school prospect to watch
Signing day normally brings at least a few new commitments to the class, but it appears only one prospect planning to announce his decision Wednesday is considering Kentucky.
Four-star Alabama prep defensive back Cam Dooley is expected to choose between Kentucky, Maryland and Wisconsin on Wednesday morning. Dooley was briefly committed to Missouri this summer, but Kentucky offered him a scholarship in March.
While Dooley is the only known Kentucky recruit planning to announce his commitment on Wednesday, it would not be a total shock to see the Wildcats add a surprise commitment. Even before the transfer portal era, Stoops and company have proven capable of a signing day surprise, and the program has been particularly tight lipped about the visitor list leading up to signing day this year.