Football star Kiyaunta Goodwin chooses Kentucky over Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson
Kiyaunta Goodwin will be a Wildcat.
One of the nation’s top offensive line prospects, Goodwin selected Kentucky ahead of Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State and Ohio State during a ceremony Saturday afternoon at Aspirations Fitness Institution in Louisville.
His commitment was the Wildcats’ third in a little more than 24 hours; it proceeded that of twin brothers Destin Wade and Keaten Wade, who picked Kentucky over Tennessee, Louisville and Virginia on Friday. It also gave UK its fifth four-star commitment in the 2022 class, already surpassing the total number of such prospects it eventually signed during the 2021 recruiting cycle.
Goodwin as of now would be the cream of the crop: both 247Sports and Rivals rate him as the No. 54 prospect in the country and a top-10 recruit at offensive tackle. Based on his current rating, Goodwin would be the highest-rated prospect to sign with Kentucky under Mark Stoops; his current 247Sports rating (.9775) is a tick higher than that of the final rating given to defensive tackle Justin Rogers (.9744), the cornerstone of Kentucky’s 2020 signing class.
Goodwin played last season for Charlestown High School in Indiana after moving in with his trainer, Chris Vaughn, a former U of L and NFL player who owns Aspirations. The Louisville native intends on completing his high school career at Charlestown after transferring twice before, first from Louisville Holy Cross and then Ballard.
UK’s recruitment of Goodwin goes all the way back to 2018, while he was still an eighth-grade student at Olmsted Academy North in Louisville. Recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow was among his biggest supporters when his weight shot up to 425 pounds early in his high school career; as some schools backed off, UK remained steadfast in its pursuit of the borderline five-star talent.
Goodwin admired what John Schlarman achieved as UK’s offensive line coach under Stoops prior to his death in November. He’s struck up a strong relationship with new offensive line coach Eric Wolford in large part due to his off-the-field mentality.
“One of the biggest things for me is somebody that cares about their family,” Goodwin said. “I want to be a part of the family and I want someone that, just as much time as they spend with us, you should be spending with your family too. Yes, the kids that you have at your school are family and it’s your job, but you have to spend time with your family. There’s been times where I’ve talked to Coach (Wolford) and he’s on his way back to (South) Carolina just to go see his kids. I’ve got a great amount of respect for him.”
In addition to the Wade twins, Goodwin joined Grant Bingham, an offensive tackle at Johnson Central, and Jeremiah Caldwell, an athlete out of Belleville, Mich., as four-star prospects currently committed to the Wildcats. Two three-star recruits — athlete Treyveon Longmire (Corbin) and defensive back Andre Stewart (Snellville, Ga.) — and Boyle County specialist Jackson Smith, considered the country’s top kicker and punter by ProKicker.com, have also committed to Kentucky as part of the 2022 class.
Kentucky with Goodwin’s commitment rose to No. 4 in the Southeastern Conference — behind Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M — and 11th nationally in Rivals’ class of 2022 team recruiting rankings.
