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Four-Star 2024 Prospect Schedules Official Visit to Kentucky

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Two of Kentucky’s football biggest priorities in the 2024 class were a pair of twin brothers from Somerset, Jacob Smith and Jerod Smith. While Jerod has already pledged his commitment to Michigan, Jacob is still making his decision.

Michigan is one of Jacob’s final six schools, which he released on April 22nd, along with Notre Dame, Kentucky, Nebraska, Georgia, and Alabama. Of those six schools, only three have secured fates for an official visit: Michigan (June 2-4), Kentucky (June 9-11), and Nebraska (June 16-18).

While the brothers have always played together and have suggested that they would like to play at the same school, that’s not a certainty. With that said, that family connection is already there, which will make Michigan a favorite, if not the favorite, until the very end.

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On the other hand, Smith says Kentucky is “home”. Kentucky was one of the first schools to express interest in Smith, dating back to June 2021, with Defensive coordinator Brad White leading the recruitment. Can they pull it out in the end?

“That’s my home, I’ve been talking to them for a minute so I felt like they deserved it and they’re obviously an option,” Smith told KSR back in February.

Listed at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Smith is ranked 204th in the country and the 18th-best EDGE in the class (247Sports). He will be joined on his visit by five-star QB Cutter Boley (2025) – who is rumored to be reclassifying to 2024 – and three-star OT Jordan Floyd (2024).

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Top 10 In-State Prospect Willie Rodriguez to Take Official Visit to Kentucky

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With Cutter Boley recently committing to Kentucky and reclassifying, the next domino to fall could potentially be class of 2024 Covington Catholic Tight End Willie Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has told KY Insider that he is going to take an official visit at Kentucky on June 9 with Boley and another commit from Kentucky offensive line Aba Selm. Rodriguez says he is excited to see Boley and Selm.

“I can’t wait to meet to everyone on the official [visit],” says Rodriguez.

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Rodriguez also adding since Boley has committed to Kentucky, that they have been communicating together.

“For sure,” Rodriguez says. “[I] have already talked to him, it’s definitely very intriguing and very cool.”

During his visit, there are certain goals that he has in mind that he wants to accomplish when visiting the team.

“[I] definitely want to check out everything and see really how I will fit in the offense and how I will be used,” Rodriguez tells A Sea Of Blue. “I am very excited for the visit.”

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As for other official visits he has planned, he tells KY Insider that he will also be visiting Virginia Tech and he is still scheduling two other official visits with Ole Miss and Purdue, but at this time they have not been scheduled.

Rodriguez also tells us he plans to commit to a school during the summer, but once he is done with all of his official visits. Once we learn more details on his upcoming visit we will keep you all informed.

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Top Quarterback Prospect, Cutter Boley, Commits to Kentucky

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UK Athletics

For much of the Mark Stoops era at Kentucky, the Wildcats have been successful without a high-level quarterback. That has changed of late as the transfer portal has helped Kentucky bring in Will Levis – who went on to be the 4th QB taken in this past year’s NFL Draft – and this year, Devin Leary – who was widely considered to be one of the best, if not the best, QB transfer available.

While the transfer portal has been great, those players usually come with only 1-2 years of eligibility remaining. Therefore, the staff has made it a point to start looking at the high school ranks for a QB.

On Thursday, Kentucky found that player, and in their own backyard with Cutter Boley from Lexington Christian Academy (LCA). At a live announcement at LCA’s auditorium, Boley chose Kentucky over Florida State, Michigan, Penn State, and Tennessee with a pair of custom Nike Air Force 1s.

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It is safe to say that Coach Marrow enjoyed the news!

Despite being a Kentucky native, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Boley would end up a Wildcat. While Liam Coen did build a strong relationship in his first season as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator, that relationship suffered with Rich Scangarello at the helm of the offense this past year. With Coen’s return, he was able to rekindle that relationship and get the commitment.

Rivals has Boley ranked as the 12th-ranked overall prospect and the second-best pro-style QB in the 2025 class, while 247Sports has him ranked 72nd overall and the sixth-best QB prospect. According to 247Sports, which dates back to 2000, Boley currently stands as the highest-ranked QB to commit to Kentucky.

While there is some disparity between the rankings, one thing is clear, Boley is highly thought of and it is easy to see why.

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Standing 6-foot-5, 203 pounds, Boley already possesses elite size. Add in his gunslinger mentality, impressive arm, and improvision and he is an intriguing package. This past season at LCA, he threw for 3,901 yards with 36 TDs and a 66 percent completion percentage. With that said, that gunslinger mentality can get him in trouble sometimes as he has thrown north of 20 interceptions in two seasons at the varsity level.

It should be noted that while Boley is listed as a class of 2025 prospect after reclassifying in the wake of the global pandemic, he will turn 18 this summer. He has confirmed that he will be reclassifying to the 2024 class and will enroll at Kentucky in January.

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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Jackson State Transfer Linebacker, Jurriente “JD” Davis, Takes Official Visit to Kentucky

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UK Athletics

On April 15th, the transfer portal will open once again for college football. This will allow teams to fill any foreseen holes on the roster and/or just fill open scholarship spots for depth.

Mark Stoops and Kentucky will definitely be active in the portal looking for options at right tackle, but also to add depth with the scarce number of scholarships they have remaining. One position they are interested in adding depth for is inside linebacker, as they hosted transfer LB Jurriente “JD” Davis this week.

Out of high school, Davis was an unranked safety in the Class of 2019. With little interest, he played for Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, earning JUCO All-American honors as a sophomore. After two seasons, he received an offer from Middle Tennessee State, where he proved himself as one of the most productive players on the team in his lone season there, recording 68 tackles, three sacks, and six tackles for loss.

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After three seasons at two schools, Davis chose to transfer to Jackson State and join Deion Sanders last season. As a junior, Davis finished as the team’s third-leading tackler and showed that he can make an impact in a short amount of time, averaging just 31 snaps per game last year.

While some would consider three schools in four seasons as a red flag – in the process of transferring to his fourth – every one of Davis’s moves has been for better opportunities/higher level of play. In the case of Jackson State, a majority of the team has transferred with Sanders leaving for Colorado.

Now up to 6-foot-1, 225-pounds – vastly improved from the 5-foot-10, 201-pound physique he had coming out of high school – Davis is not the most physically imposing player, but in every stop he has made, he has proven that he can make an impact. That is why Kentucky is interested.

D’Eryk Jackson and Trevin Wallace are expected to be the starters at inside linebacker, but Davis could join others such as Luke Fulton and Martez Thrower in a competition for backup snaps. Given depth issues at linebacker due to injury last season, a proven and experienced linebacker will be a welcomed addition.

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Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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