Moments after big victory, UK lands commitment from quarterback recruit
Victories on the field often mean victories on the recruiting trail.
This one sure didn’t take long.
Less than an hour after UK defeated Mississippi State, 28-7, in front of a raucous crowd at Kroger Field on Saturday night, three-star quarterback Amani Gilmore announced that he would be a Kentucky Wildcat.
Gilmore — a 6-foot-3, 195-pound prospect from Amite, La. — was at the UK-Mississippi State game on an unofficial visit, one of many high-profile recruiting guests for the Wildcats for what might have been their biggest home game of the season.
“It really felt like it was the place for me to grow as a student, a player, and also a man,” Gilmore told the Herald-Leader late Saturday night. “The program is up and rising and I feel like I fit well in the offense, and so does Coach Stoops.”
247Sports ranks Gilmore as the No. 42 pro-style quarterback nationally in the class of 2019, and Rivals.com pegs him as a three-star prospect and the No. 51 overall senior from the talent-rich state of Louisiana. UK wide receivers coach Michael Smith, who has previous experience recruiting Louisiana, was Gilmore’s lead recruiter.
Tennessee was among the other schools that had extended scholarship offers.
Gilmore joins Nik Scalzo as the second quarterback in UK’s recruiting class of 2019, which is now up to 17 players. The Cats’ class moved up to No. 38 nationally with Gilmore’s commitment, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
Kentucky has four scholarship quarterbacks on the current roster: sophomores Terry Wilson and Gunnar Hoak — the top two players at that position on UK’s depth chart — and redshirt freshmen Danny Clark and Walker Wood.
Gilmore will be eligible to officially sign with the Cats in December.
This story was originally published September 22, 2018 at 11:54 PM.