Ben Duncum, a three-star defensive lineman from the class of 2026, committed to the Kentucky Wildcats on June 25, adding more firepower to a busy month of recruiting for Mark Stoops and company.
Duncum, standing at 6-foot-6, recently sat down with Kentucky Insider to talk about what motivated him to join Kentucky, his personal aspirations, and more!
Q: I believe you were really warm on Oklahoma State and Wisconsin. Were they your final three along with Kentucky?
Yeah, it was pretty much Oklahoma State and Wisconsin, but Kentucky was kind of number one the whole way through. Whenever they first recruited me, they kind of threw me off on like, what they were telling me and stuff. I decided earlier, but I didn’t really decide earlier. I just kind of had to make sure the OV (official visit) went well and that everything checked out before I actually committed.
Q: Being from Texas, is there a specific thing that really drew you towards Kentucky and to go so far from home?
Kentucky is kind of like where I live, it’s like Austin. We went to some cool stuff on the visit and met this tailor at a horse farm and met this billionaire. They got to be with this $50 million horse or whatever. It was really cool, kind of doing all that. My mom’s a big horse person. But no, leaving Texas wasn’t ever an issue for me. I just wanted to stay somewhere in the south, and Kentucky was the best opportunity for me.
Q: Following the elite defensive prowess we’ve seen from Kentucky in the past couple of years, Deone Walker and Maxwell Hairston just got drafted in the NFL this year – what separates you to be one of those guys in the 2026 class that leads another defense at Kentucky?
Oh yeah. I mean, I think my game is different than a lot of other guys. I don’t know if there’s a lot of guys that are kind of tall and lanky that can move pretty decent now, even though my film I didn’t, wasn’t moving too good. In spring, I kind of changed my body. I think, you know, I’m not worried about any of the transfers or any of the other kids. I’m kind of worried about my own stuff. I mean, I’m going to go in there and I think I’m going to start. The fact that I’m going to go in and start as a true freshman is my goal and mindset.
Q: In today’s age, with the transfer portal, how do you think you’ll maintain your high hopes? With high school recruiting and obviously the portal too, there’s probably thousands of people contacted by Kentucky across all sports. How relieved are you to go into your senior season knowing you already have an elite school choosing you?
Guys that come in from the transfer portal, you know, there’s a reason they’re in there. There’s something wrong with them. So, I mean, if they’re going to the transfer portal, there’s a point. You can’t really, I mean, you can’t really trust kids. There’s always something like, if they’re in the portal, there’s something wrong with them..but yeah, I definitely, I’ve been kind of worried the past month or two about that decision. This is a big relief, kind of committing before and kind of being more calm about it all. I think it’s good I can really focus on my training now and getting ready for senior year, getting bigger, faster, stronger, and then get ready, you know, to go up to Kentucky and go in there and take a spot. That’s my goal.
Q: The consensus around Kentucky is that, if they have another bad season, that a coaching change could take place. How does that make you feel as a player, knowing that someone that lead in recruiting you may not be the coach when you arrive?
I mean, I think there’s a lot of rumors with that stuff, but that staff has been there, at least Stoops has been there for a while. I don’t know if he he could have a bad year or whatever, but I don’t think he should go, to be honest, he’s had too many good years ago for him to get punished for a few bad years. I think the staff is, is great. I don’t know, I have seen stuff. I don’t know who that (Vince) Marrow guy is, but he left, he had no value to that staff. He was just a recruiter guy, and they lost one commit who wasn’t even good. I think a lot of this stuff, I think it’s rumors and people like, you know, shouldn’t really worry about all that. I think the staff will stay.
Q: Did you know you were committed to Kentucky when you visited, or was it directly after?
I’ve kind of known, but, like, didn’t know that I was going to commit to Kentucky until they came to my spring practice. Coach Stoops first came in and I, whenever I was getting recruited by them I didn’t think I was very big recruit. A lot of my offers, I didn’t have any offers until February, and I got them all at once. Most of them aren’t actual, like, most of them are group of five. Whenever they offered me, I thought I wasn’t very high on their board or whatever, and, like, I was kind of like a mid recruit that they’ll pull if they don’t get a commit.
He called the DC. I talked to the DC after, but coach Stoops called the DC and said ‘he’s the kid that we want’ and they moved me to number one in their defensive board. I kind of knew I was going to come here because they’re the staff that believed in me the most, and it’s SEC ball.
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