Why one Kentucky coach is already comparing a freshman receiver to Wan’Dale Robinson
Perhaps the most important thing to remember about Kentucky football’s generational talents is they left college considered among the best players in program history specifically because of how rare their performances were.
The quest to find the next Tim Couch, next Randall Cobb or next Josh Allen began even before those players moved on to the NFL but ended in the same way, with the realization those players could not be cloned. Still, UK recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow has never been shy about hyping up his latest group of prospects.
He was at it again in December when asked to describe Boyle County star and 2024 Mr. Kentucky Football Montavin Quisenberry.
“This is the closest kid to Wan’Dale Robinson that I ever seen,” Marrow said.
Like Robinson, Quisenberry is an undersized playmaker who did a little bit of everything while starring for his Central Kentucky high school. But even after a stellar senior season, Quisenberry has a long way to go to even come close to replicating Robinson’s production at Kentucky.
In one season as a Wildcat after transferring from Nebraska, Robinson broke the program’s single-season records for catches (104) and receiving yards (1,334).
“I’ve watched him a lot, somebody I resembled my game to,” Quisenberry said of Robinson last week at UK’s spring football newcomer media day. “I’m gonna be my own person, but I like to use his game too.”
At Boyle County, Quisenberry played running back, receiver, defensive back and kick returner. He totaled more than 8,000 offensive yards in his career and scored 112 touchdowns. As a senior, he totaled 794 receiving yards, 882 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns while leading Boyle County to the 4A state championship.
Unlike Robinson, who was one of the top targets for Kentucky coaches in his high school recruiting class from an early age, Quisenberry entered his senior year committed to West Virginia with UK coaches appearing to slow play their pursuit of the local star. Robinson first committed to UK as a senior at Western Hills but flipped to Nebraska after winning Mr. Football.
On signing day in December, UK coach Mark Stoops pushed back at the suggestion that Quisenberry had to convince the staff to go all-in on him, but Marrow acknowledged a standout performance in a September trip to Lakewood, Ohio, against powerhouse St. Edward that cemented his status as a top target for the staff. Playing the three-time defending Ohio Division I state champions, Quisenberry rushed for 141 yards and three touchdowns, caught six passes for 64 yards and completed two passes for 89 yards and another score to lead Boyle County to the upset.
“When they beat them, I was shocked,” Marrow said. “… This kid is underrated nationally. … They played him in every position, and he was very good in every position. So, I’m excited about him. He is the closest thing to Wan’Dale.”
Just more than a month after the upset of St. Edward, Quisenberry flipped his commitment from West Virginia, where Boyle County graduate and former UK player and assistant Neal Brown was head coach, to UK.
He graduated from Boyle County in December before enrolling at UK for the spring semester. Quisenberry will play wide receiver for the Wildcats, a position that should provide opportunities for early contributions with only three scholarship players returning.
“We always have watched him,” Stoops said. “He’s a player that’s not afraid to come over here in camp and compete. So I just think his versatility, toughness, overall athletic ability, I just want him on our roster.”
UK lists Quisenberry at 5-foot-10, 165 pounds on its spring roster, but Boyle County listed him at just 5-foot-8 for his senior season. Robinson, who was listed at 5-foot-10 during his first two college seasons at Nebraska, 5-foot-11 in his one season at Kentucky and measured at 5-foot-8 at the NFL combine, faced similar size concerns as a high school prospect but was a more hyped recruit than Quisenberry.
Rivals and 247Sports both rated Robinson as a four-star prospect while both sites rated Quisenberry as a three-star one.
Robinson totaled more than 700 yards on offense in each of his two seasons at Nebraska in a role that saw him frequently line up in the backfield, but he was not used as a featured receiver until he transferred to Kentucky. Even after the departures of starting receivers Barion Brown and Dane Key, Kentucky looks unlikely to need to rely on Quisenberry for a similar role as a freshman.
Ja’Mori Maclin, a former 1,000-yard receiver at North Texas, returns as the top option after impressing down the stretch in an otherwise disappointing 2024 season. Incoming transfers Kendrick Law (Alabama), J.J. Hester (Oklahoma) and Troy Stellato (Clemson) will compete with returners Fred Farrier and David Washington for starting jobs this spring. Louisiana Tech transfer Tru Edwards could join the team this summer if the NCAA grants his waiver for an additional year of eligibility.
Quisenberry is also joined on the spring roster by fellow freshman wide receivers DJ Miller and Preston Bowman. Miller was rated as a consensus four-star prospect.
Few of those options are proven at the SEC level though, so the door remains open to Quisenberry or one of the other freshmen to stake a claim to an early role.
“I always got a chip on my shoulder anytime I play,” Quisenberry said. “It’s what comes with it when you’re not the biggest guy, don’t weigh the most. But I just keep a chip on my shoulder, and it’s getting me to places that I’ve dreamed of.”