Kentucky Recruiting Notebook: Quiet Time

If you were to ask me to pull out a calendar and point to the slow time in college football I would immediately point to May. The draft is over, colleges are on summer breaks, the spring transfer portal moving and shaking is nearly wrapped up, and the lion’s share of summer official visits will not begin until June. We’ve reached a quiet part of the college football calendar, but recruiting never stops.

We’ve seen Kentucky coaches hit the road to visit high schools with a ton of 2026 offers being issued. Some groundwork is being done with current high school sophomores, but a huge summer looms large for the class of 2025. The Wildcats got both some good news and bad news this week.

KSR’s Recruiting Notebook is back to recap the latest in Kentucky football recruiting.

Ohio State hosts pair of Kentucky targets

Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph’s Prep tailback Isaiah West has been committed to Kentucky since March 1. West recently received a nice recruiting rankings bump and gives the Wildcats an excellent one-two punch at tailback in the 2025 class after Kentucky recently added Marquise Davis.

However, this recruitment might not be over yet. Ohio State has recently entered the chat.

New Ohio State running backs coach Carlos Locklyn visited West last week, and that relationship is growing fast. The Buckeyes are hosting the high three-star recruit for an unofficial visit this weekend. There will also be another Kentucky offensive target in Columbus.

Roswell (Ga.) High offensive lineman Andrew Stargel has official visits locked in with Kentucky, Pittsburgh, and UCF. The Wildcats are in great position, but an Ohio State offer on April 26 likely changed things.

The Buckeyes will host Stargel for a visit this weekend and now appear to be Kentucky’s top competition in this recruiting battle. Expect things to move quickly in both of these recruitments. Stargel could very well be a current take for Ohio State, and West could become an option if Georgia can close on Bo Jackson.

Kentucky and Ohio State butt heads on the recruiting trail quite frequently, but it rarely happens in Pennsylvania and Georgia.

N-Kye Wynn is a rising tackle prospect

In the most recent recruiting rankings released by On3, Kentucky tackle target N-Kye Wynn received a surprising ranking. The former unranked recruit at Muskegon (Mich.) High was tabbed as the No. 264 overall player and the No. 21 tackle in the class of 2025. That is quite the development.

Wynn is still a mid-three star recruit in the On3 Industry Ranking as we’re still waiting on rankings from ESPN and Rivals, but the junior is currently one of Kentucky’s top tackle prospects. Rutgers, Kentucky, Michigan State, and Pittsburgh are all scheduled to get official visits. Nebraska just entered the race with a scholarship offer.

Kentucky is in a very good spot here and has a chance to close on a fast-rising recruit at a position of need.

Blue-chipper Andrew Marsh locks in official visit with Kentucky

We are still waiting for new Kentucky wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr. to log his first official recruiting win at Kentucky, but the early returns have been promising. Shorts is responsible for building a relationship with one of the highest-ranked players on Kentucky’s recruiting board, and that player locked in an official visit to Kentucky this week.

Fulshear (Texas) Jordan wideout Andrew Marsh is the No. 55 overall recruit in the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking. Oklahoma, Texas, and USC are all heavily involved with the top-15 prospect in Texas. Shorts has Kentucky in contention.

Those top three schools will all get official visits from Marsh. So will Penn State and Kentucky. The high-four star recruit was at Kentucky’s Junior Day in January and will be making a return trip to Lexington in June for a mid-week official visit.

The Wildcats have some ground to cover in this battle, but Shorts has them in the arena.

Dalen Penson is a special athlete

Tyrone (Ga.) Sandy Creek cornerback Dalen Penson took unofficial visits to Georgia Tech and Kentucky. The cornerback prospect has official visits locked in with both programs. North Carolina is also sniffing around.

The program that lands the top-200 recruit will be getting a special athlete.

Penson played quarterback for Sandy Creek as a junior and just went back-to-back as a triple jump state champion. Recent third-round pick Andru Phillips was also a triple jump state champion in high school who went on to have a successful career at Kentucky.

Could Kentucky hit on another secondary prospect with some explosive athleticism traits? Chris Collins has the Wildcats in a good position heading into June official visits.

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