State of the Class: Where Kentucky’s recruiting sits leaving Fourth of July

The Fourth of July has become the unofficial biggest day in high school recruiting. America’s birthday serves as a huge checkpoint with a large majority of announcements taking place after official visits are wrapped up in June. Prospects use the summertime to claim sports in classes as the recruiting process moves faster since official visits were allowed in the summer and signing day got bumped up to December.

Kentucky leaves the Fourth of July in a good spot in the 2025 high school recruiting cycle. The Wildcats are now up to 17 commitments after adding Jermiel Atkins to the fold. Before one more big announcement arrives on Friday evening, KSR+ is stepping back to see where the class sits as high school football and Kentucky’s training camp are now just around the corner.

Kentucky’s Class of 2025

PlayerHigh SchoolPositionRankingCedric WorksClayton (Ohio) NorthmontEDGE (6-5, 230)4-star (No. 144 overall)Javeon CampbellFrankfort (Ky.) Western HillsDL (6-5, 260)4-star (No. 167 overall)Marquise DavisCleveland (Ohio) HeightsRB (5-11, 200)4-star (No. 186 overall)Martels CarterPaducah (Ky.) TilghmanS (6-1, 185)4-star (No. 198 overall)Kalen EdwardsDyersburg (Tenn.) HighiDL (6-4, 325)4-star (No. 320 overall)Quintin SimmonsCincinnati (Ohio) WithrowWR (6-0, 170)4-star (No. 328 overall)Darrin StreyPaw Paw (Mich.) HighT (6-6, 295)4-star (No. 397 overall)Ja’Kayden FergusonMissouri City (Texas) Fort Bend MarshallWR (6-2, 175)High 3-star (No. 420 overall)Andrew PurcellEnterprise (Ala.) HighCB (5-10, 185)High 3-star (No. 472 overall)Stone SaundersHarrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevittQB (6-0, 205)3-star (No. 651 overall)Demarcus GardnerCedartown (Ga.) HighCB (6-0, 165)3-star (No. 676 overall)Brennen WardGahanna (Ohio) LincolnQB (6-2, 205)3-star (No. 736 overall)Tucker KattusCincinnati (Ohio) St. XavierOL (6-5, 300)3-star (No. 1,094 overall)Bryan AugusteCoconut Creek (Fla.) MonarchT (6-6, 285)3-star (No. 1,299 overall)Nicholas SmithLoganville (Ga.) Walnut GroveDL (6-7, 255)3-star (No. 1,347 overall)Preston BowmanPickerington (Ohio) NorthWR (6-0, 196)3-star (No. 1,386 overall)

Positional Breakdown

Kentucky currently sits at 17 commitments with 10 on offense and seven on defense. Tight end and off-ball linebacker are the only two positions without an addition. The Wildcats could have three scholarship commitments at wide receiver, tackle, defensive line, and cornerback on Friday evening if Columbus (Ohio) Marion-Franklin cornerback Dawayne Galloway picks the Cats.

Remaining Uncommitted Targets

PlayerHigh SchoolPositionRankingAndrew MarshFulshear (Texas) Katy JordanWR (6-0, 175)High 4-star (No. 61 overall)Dawayne GallowayColumbus (Ohio) Marion-FranklinCB (5-11, 170)4-star (No. 149 overall)Dejerrian MillerSt. Louis (Mo.) Cardinal RitterWR (6-3, 190)High 3-star (No. 423 overall)Isaac “Spike” Sowells Jr.Louisville (Ky.) MaleiOL (6-1, 290)High 3-star (No. 544 overall)Jaiden BrakerSnellville (Ga.) South GwinnettLB (6-2, 210)3-star (No. 682 overall)Noah KingHamilton (Ohio) HighS (6-2, 187)3-star (No. 878 overall)

The board is beginning to shrink with most players now committed to a college football program. We will all be watching Dawayne Galloway on Friday while Andrew Marsh‘s recruitment will likely leak into the season despite Michigan grabbing the lead in June. Dejerrian Miller‘s recruitment appears to be wide open between Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. Isaac “Spike” Sowells will announce his decision later this month.

Top Storylines

1.) Kentucky is doing a terrific job finding star power: The Wildcats currently have seven four-star recruits in the class and four top-200 prospects. Those numbers could grow to eight and five with Galloway in the fold. The Wildcats have never had more than three top-200 recruits in a single signing class.

2.) Spatula SZN might be less busy: Over the last two cycles, we have seen Kentucky get active in the flip market. Jerod Smith II (Michigan), Jacob Smith (Michigan), Jason Patterson (Cincinnati), Cam Dooley (Missouri), Jaden Smith (Michigan), and Marc Nave (Ohio State) were all committed to other power conference programs at this point last year before landing at Kentucky. Early decisions mean more decommitments during the season. Some unknown targets will become available, but UK will also likely lose some players in this class. Elijah Groves (NC State), Jadon Lafontant (Boston College), and Lorenzo Cowan (USC) all decommitted last year. Khalifa Keith (Tennessee) did the same thing in 2023. The flips could work both ways, but the Wildcats are in an overall better position in this cycle due to the total number of commits.

3.) Following new hires: Expectations were high for Eric Wolford and Daikiel Shorts Jr. on the recruiting trail. We’ve seen some immediate results. Wolford helped UK land three true tackle commits, and pulling four-star Darrin Strey out of the Big Ten footprint was a big win. Shorts got Kentucky into Texas to land top-500 receiver Ja’Kayden Ferguson. Now we will see if these two can make some more noise down the stretch. Shorts has Kentucky battling for Andrew Marsh, and Wolford has a history of pulling off late recruiting wins around signing day. There could be some more fireworks from each later in this cycle.

4.) How big does this haul get for Vince Marrow: Kentucky’s top recruiter and the highest-paid tight ends coach in college football has recorded nine recruiting wins this cycle with seven Ohio players and two Kentucky players in the class. Priority targets Dawayne Galloway and Spike Sowells could join the class soon. Marrow will reach double-digit recruiting wins this year, and the ace recruited has already added four top-200 recruits to the class. This has a chance to go down as a special class. Some more big developments could be in store with five months left until the December signing day.

5.) Kentucky is a legitimate top-25 recruiting program: The Wildcats signed a top-25 class in 2020, 2022, and 2024. Another one is coming in 2025. Kentucky has raised its blue-chip ceiling this cycle and is doing some major damage in Ohio while also going to Michigan, Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee to find top-500 players. The Wildcats have raised the recruiting floor and are consistently showing they can win top-250 recruiting battles. There is still a long way to go up the SEC ladder in the recruiting wars, but UK is maximizing its potential on the trail. High school recruiting is becoming a legitimate program strength for Kentucky. The NIL era plus the switch to a big two conference model seems to be helping Kentucky’s recruiting operation.

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