Will Kentucky football sign a high school QB and other questions for 2024 recruiting class

Kentucky football closed the door on the 2023 recruiting cycle by going 1-for-2 on signing day announcements Wednesday.

Mark Stoops and company flipped four-star defensive lineman Kendrick Gilbert from Purdue but lost three-star offensive lineman William “Woo” Spencer to Louisville. With those decisions out of the way, it’s time to shift the full recruiting focus to the 2024 class.

UK opened its 2024 class last week with a commitment from three-star Taylor County offensive lineman Hayes Johnson. He was joined by three-star Simon Kenton offensive lineman Aba Selm on Thursday, but there is more work to do. Here are three questions facing the Wildcats’ 2024 recruiting efforts in the coming months.

Will Kentucky sign a high school quarterback in 2024 class?

After Will Levis led Kentucky to a 17-7 record in two seasons as quarterback following his transfer from Penn State, UK went back to the transfer portal to find his replacement, landing North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary. The Wildcats did not sign a high school quarterback in the 2023 class though, casting doubt on the future of the position when Leary exhausts his eligibility this fall.

No high school quarterback recruit has been the primary starter for a Kentucky team with a winning record since Morgan Newton in 2009. When Leary signed with Kentucky, Stoops said the fact that Leary only has one year of eligibility remaining was viewed as a positive for Kentucky because he could be a bridge between Levis and the younger quarterbacks already on the roster, but the offense’s struggles with Destin Wade behind center in the Music City Bowl proved significant progress is needed there to feel confident about Wade, Kaiya Sheron or Deuce Hogan entering 2024 as the starter.

It also would not be a surprise to see one of the current backups exit via the transfer portal after spring practice when the depth chart behind Leary becomes solidified. For that reason, a quarterback addition in 2024 seems essential.

Whether that comes in through the transfer portal again or the high school ranks will probably depend on the progress of Wade.

“I think eventually you’d like to be able to get somebody that you can start for a few years, but with the way this thing is going with the portal, especially at the quarterback position, how many Mac Joneses are there anymore?” offensive coordinator Liam Coen said when asked if he felt it was essential to add a high school quarterback signee soon. “How many times is that really going to happen with a guy that’s just going to bide his time, sit behind some guys? Might not win it the first time around, but then the second and third time around he ends of winning the job. He’s a two-year starter or something like that.

“I don’t know how realistic that is in the landscape of college football anymore. You’ve got to believe if you don’t win the job your first two years a lot of these guys are probably going to take off. That’s their own — to each his own.”

Early signs suggest Coen is focused on the class of 2025 for Kentucky’s next high school quarterback — UK hosted top 2025 quarterbacks Cutter Boley, Ryan Montgomery and Stone Saunders over the weekend — but he did reportedly extend a scholarship offer to 2024 five-star Florida commitment DJ Lagway after returning to Lexington. Coen recruited four-star South Carolina quarterback commitment Dante Reno during his previous stint at UK.

It is worth noting that Boley, the Lexington Christian Academy star, was originally a member of the class of 2024 and could theoretically move back to that class, but the current plan is to not enroll in college until January 2025.

Since neither Lagway nor Reno has given any public sign he is considering backing out of his current commitment, another transfer quarterback appears most likely in 2024. If Leary has a strong season to add to Levis’ likely top-10 draft selection in April, the Wildcats should have their pick of top quarterback transfers looking to play in Coen’s offense.

Which in-state recruits will end up as top targets?

On paper, 2024 looks like a down year for Kentucky high school seniors compared to recent classes. No Bluegrass State recruit in that class is currently rated as a four-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite, which averages the ratings of the major recruiting services.

Selma is ranked second among the state’s 2024 prospects and Hayes is ranked third, according to 247Sports. Kentucky is a strong contender for the top prospect on that list, North Hardin wide receiver Shaun Boykins, but it is unclear how many of the other local class of 2024 prospects who were issued verbal scholarship offers earlier in their high school careers are still being pursued.

In the absence of a deep Kentucky high school class, Ohio could be even more important than usual to the Wildcats’ 2024 efforts. UK has issued scholarship offers to 10 class of 2024 prospects in Ohio rated as four-star prospects by Rivals.com, according to the network’s recruiting database.

Are more twins coming to the Kentucky roster?

After signing Destin Wade and his twin brother Keaten in the 2022 class, there are actually two sets of twins among the top targets in Kentucky’s 2024 class.

Brothers Jerod and Jacob Smith can be counted as de facto in-state prospects considering they spent two years at Somerset High School before transferring to the Loomis Chaffe School in Connecticut. Both brothers are rated as consensus four-star prospects. Jerod is a defensive lineman and Jacob is an edge rusher. They recently included Kentucky in their top 10 alongside Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Penn State, and Texas.

Ohio prep offensive linemen Devontae and Deontae Armstrong are both rated as three-star prospects for now but could see their ratings rise this summer after picking up scholarship offers from Ohio State. It will be difficult for Kentucky to counter the Buckeyes’ offer if Ohio State Coach Ryan Day prioritizes the twins, but Vince Marrow and Stoops have been recruiting the pair for some time.

Where Kentucky football’s 2023 recruiting class finished in national, SEC rankings

Before they were Kentucky Wildcats, transfers had awkward moments with new teammates

Why transfers Marques Cox, Tanner Bowles know they can’t fix Kentucky offensive line alone

Will Devin Leary and Marques Cox be 100 percent for Kentucky football spring practice?

Kentucky football lands first 2024 commitment. Why local ties could be key in keeping him.

Tim Couch’s son lands scholarship offer from Kentucky football for 2024 class