4-star Smith twins trending toward flipping from Michigan to Kentucky
Could Flipmas come early this year?
Tuesday was a seemingly important one in the recruitment of four-star twins, Jerod and Jacob Smith. Although both are committed to Michigan, the tides appear to be shifting. The natives of Kentucky recently transferred from their Connecticut prep school back to the Bluegrass State where they’ll play the 2023 season at Corbin. Since their arrival back in KY, the twins have made multiple visits to the University of Kentucky.
But the possibility for a flip from the Wolverines to the Wildcats turned serious on Tuesday. KSR’s Nick Roush submitted a Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) pick in favor of the Smiths ultimately committing to Kentucky. Roush placed his picks in the middle of the afternoon, and ever since, other recruiting insiders have followed suit.
Notably, EJ Holland of The Wolverine (On3’s fansite covering Michigan) logged picks for the Smiths to flip to Kentucky, as did a pair of 247Sports insiders, Steve Wiltfong and Brian Dohn. Between On3 and 247Sports, there are now a total of seven picks predicting a flip from UM to UK for the Smith twins.
“If the twins go anywhere but Michigan, I think it would be Kentucky,” Roush told The Wolverine’s Zach Libby. “It does feel like Kentucky got thrown a lifeline in a seemingly dead recruitment when the twins decided to move back home.”
As of the time this article was published, the Smiths are still not deemed eligible by the KHSAA to play for Corbin — No. 4 in KSR’s preseason rankings — this fall. A ruling regarding their eligibility is expected sooner rather than later though. Corbin’s season begins on Friday, August 18 against Hughes (Cincinnati).
Looking back at how we got to this point, the Smiths began their high school career in Somerset before transferring to the northeast ahead of their sophomore seasons. They first played for The Loomis Chaffe School (CT) then moved again to Chesire Academy (CT) for their junior season and are now back in the Commonwealth for the final high school seasons.
But in between that, they were being heavily recruited by the likes of Kentucky, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, and several others. Associate head coach Vince Marrow has been all over the Smiths for years now. Jerod is ranked only slightly higher (No. 250 in the On3 Industry Ranking) than Jacob (No. 270), but both are considered high-level, four-star prospects. Jerod made the call first by committing to Michigan in April before Jacob followed him a few months later in July. Neither has used their official visit with Kentucky yet, so expect those to be taken sometime during the 2023 season.
What would be better than one present under the Flipmas tree? Two, of course.
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