Signing day updates: Get to know Kentucky football’s 2023 recruiting class

More than a year of work on Kentucky football’s 2023 recruiting class comes to fruition Wednesday as high school players can sign their National Letter of Intent for the first time.

You can keep track of the Wildcats’ class here with the information you need to know about each signee as he is confirmed by Kentucky. In addition to high school seniors, UK is expected to confirm the addition of multiple transfers from other colleges Wednesday as well. Players are listed in alphabetical order.

Kentucky football high school signees

Nasir Addison

Defensive back

6-foot-1, 185 pounds

Irvington, New Jersey (Irvington)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: The first New Jersey high school product to commit to Kentucky since future national defensive player of the year Josh Allen in the class of 2015, Addison was initially rated as a wide receiver by the recruiting services but was recruited to Kentucky to play defensive back. He first committed to Maryland before decommitting and picking UK over reported interest from Michigan State, Ole Miss and Florida State.

Khamari Anderson

Tight end

6-foot-4, 235 pounds

Detroit, Michigan (Cass Technical)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 4 stars

Notes: Anderson was Kentucky’s first tangible benefit from the coaching change at Cincinnati. With Luke Fickell leaving Cincinnati for Wisconsin, Anderson decommitted from the Bearcats in November. Less than a month later, Anderson committed to Kentucky, continuing a pipeline from Cass Tech that also sent UK DeAndre Square and Deone Walker.

Jaremiah Anglin

Defensive back

6-foot-1, 185 pounds

Lake Wales, Florida (Lake Wales)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: Anglin reported scholarship offers from Alabama, Oklahoma, Auburn, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida State and others when he committed to Kentucky in August. ESPN is the highest recruiting service on Anglin, rating him as a four-star prospect. Anglin is the first Florida high school product to sign with Kentucky since the 2020 class.

Ardell Banks

Wide receiver

6-foot-4, 190 pounds

Massillon, Ohio (Massillon)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: A late riser on UK’s recruiting board, Banks did not receive a scholarship offer from the Wildcats until November. Just more than a month later, he committed to UK over finalists Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Wisconsin and Syracuse. At 6-foot-4, Banks should bring some needed size to Kentucky’s wide receiver room.

Anthony Brown

Wide receiver

5-foot-10, 170 pounds

Springfield, Ohio (Springfield)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 4 stars

Notes: A four-star prospect according to Rivals and ESPN, Brown picked Kentucky over finalists Cincinnati, Michigan, Penn State and Oklahoma. As a junior, Brown caught 40 passes for 829 yards and nine touchdowns. He is the nephew of Grammy Award winner John Legend, who tweeted his congratulations shortly after Brown committed to Kentucky.

Jayvant Brown

Linebacker

6-foot, 220 pounds

Pompano Beach, Florida (St. Thomas Aquinas)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 4 stars

Notes: Brown first committed to Michigan State in November then reopened his recruitment just days before signing day after reportedly taking a visit to Lexington. While Brown only emerged on UK’s recruiting radar late in the cycle, he was a target of multiple SEC programs with reported offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and South Carolina.

Ty Bryant

Defensive back

6-foot, 190 pounds

Lexington (Frederick Douglass)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: The Wildcats’ first commitment in the class will not have to travel far for college. Bryant joins the Frederick Douglass High School pipeline that also sent Dekel Crowdus, Dane Key and Jager Burton across town to UK. The son of former UK wide receiver Cisco Bryant, Ty used the extra year of high school granted all students due to the COVID-19 pandemic to reclassify from 2022 to 2023. Bryant plays on both sides of the ball for Frederick Douglass but has been recruited as a defensive back by Kentucky.

Jakob Dixon

Tight end

6-foot-5, 210 pounds

Louisville, Kentucky (Pleasure Ridge Park)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: Kentucky continued its recent momentum recruiting the city of Louisville with a commitment from Dixon. Dixon emerged on UK’s recruiting radar later than many of the commitments in the class, only earning a scholarship offer after a standout camp on the Kentucky campus in June. Kentucky was his only Power Five offer. As a senior, he caught 64 passes for 1,089 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Tavion Gadson

Defensive line

Savannah, Georgia (Jenkins)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: Kentucky’s second signing day commitment, Gadson picked the Wildcats after a visit to Lexington the weekend before the early signing period opened. Gadson had been committed to Florida State for four months. The visit to UK was impressive enough that Gadson canceled his original plan to also visit Tennessee in January and then sign with a school in February.

Grant Godfrey

Linebacker

6-foot-3, 215 pounds

Suwanee, Georgia (North Gwinnett)

247Sports: 4 stars

Rivals: 4 stars

Notes: Tennessee, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri and Louisville were among the other schools that had reportedly offered Godfrey a scholarship when the consensus four-star prospect picked the Wildcats. He is the son of Randall Godfrey, who starred at the University of Georgia before being picked in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft. Randall played in the NFL from 1996 to 2007 with Dallas, Tennessee, Seattle, San Diego and Washington.

Koby Keenum

Offensive line

6-foot-4, 295-pounds

Florence, Alabama (Mars Hill Bible School)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 4 stars

Notes: Keenum visited rivals Kentucky and Louisville during the same trip to the Bluegrass State in June then picked the Wildcats over the Cardinals. He also reported offers from Arkansas, Florida State, LSU, Miami and Michigan, among others. Kentucky had to hold off late interest from multiple SEC programs to secure his signature. He is expected to play center in college.

Tanner Lemaster

Tight end

6-foot-5, 250 pounds

Washington Court House, Ohio (Washington)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: Recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow has gone back to his Buckeye State roots to land tight ends from Ohio the last two years. Lemaster will hope to follow in the footsteps of current freshman Josh Kattus in making an immediate impact for the Wildcats this fall. Lemaster picked Kentucky over reported offers from Tennessee, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas and others.

Shamar Porter

Wide receiver

6-foot-3, 210 pounds

Gallatin, Tennessee (Ensworth)

247Sports: 4 stars

Rivals: 4 stars

Notes: One year after signing Freshman All-American Barion Brown as a speedy wide receiver from Nashville, Kentucky will hope to strike gold again with Porter. Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Penn State were among the schools that had reportedly offered scholarships when Porter committed to Kentucky. While they did not attend the same high schools, Porter, Brown and Kentucky freshmen twin brothers Destin and Keaten Wade did previously play on the same team in 7-on-7 tournaments.

Austin Ramsey

Offensive line

6-foot-4, 335 pounds

Philadelphia (Roman Catholic)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: Kentucky’s recent recruiting inroads in the Mid-Atlantic continued with a commitment from Ramsey, who picked the Wildcats over reported offers from Penn State, Pittsburgh, Miami, Illinois, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Maryland, West Virginia and others. The recruiting services rate the 6-foot-4, 360-pound lineman as a tackle, but Ramsey told the Philadelphia Inquirer UK plans to move him to guard.

Avery Stuart

Defensive back

6-foot-2, 185 pounds

Montgomery, Alabama (Alabama Christian Academy)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 4 stars

Notes: One of four consensus four-star prospects in the class according to the 247Sports Composite, Stuart gave UK some much-needed momentum in the cycle by committing just days after the Wildcats lost in-state prospect Cristian Conyer to Tennessee. Stuart stars in both football and basketball for Alabama Christian. He is rated as the No. 19 safety in the country by the 247Sports Composite.

Malachi Wood

Offensive line

6-foot-8, 290 pounds

Richmond, Kentucky (Madison Central)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: Marrow discovered Wood while watching him play basketball against Marrow’s nephew. The 6-foot-8 behemoth could be one of the tallest players to ever suit up for Kentucky football, but he will likely need multiple years to develop in the weight room to add the muscle needed to his massive frame. West Virginia, Purdue, Louisville, Maryland and Kansas were among the other schools that reportedly offered scholarships.

Tommy Ziesmer

Defensive line

6-foot-2, 245 pounds

Danville, Kentucky (Boyle County)

247Sports: 3 stars

Rivals: 3 stars

Notes: For the second year in a row, Kentucky has a commitment from Boyle County, the same high school that produced program legend Jacob Tamme. Ziesmer is in line to join former Boyle County teammate Jackson Smith, a kicker in UK’s 2022 class, in Lexington. The edge rusher won three state championships at Boyle County.

Kentucky football transfers

Tanner Bowles

Offensive line

6-foot-5, 293 pounds

Glasgow (Alabama)

247Sports Composite transfer rating: N/A

Notes: Stoops kicked off his offensive line makeover with a commitment from former Glasgow High School standout Tanner Bowles on Dec. 8. Bowles played primarily on special teams at Alabama but did appear in 19 games across four seasons in Tuscaloosa. He is expected to compete for a starting offensive guard spot as a fifth-year senior at Kentucky next fall. As a four-star recruit in the high school class of 2019, Bowles committed to Alabama over Kentucky, Florida State, Georgia, LSU and Louisville.

Marques Cox

Offensive tackle

6-foot-6, 309 pounds

Peoria, Illinois (Northern Illinois)

247Sports Composite transfer rating: 3 stars

Notes: Cox started 33 consecutive games at left tackle before suffering a season-ending injury against Kentucky in September. Now, the 6-foot-6, 309-pound Peoria, Illinois, native becomes the favorite to start at left tackle for the Wildcats in 2023, assuming he returns to full health. Signing Cox allows UK to move Kenneth Horsey from left tackle back to his natural guard position if Horsey returns for his pandemic year of eligibility.

Ray Davis

Running back

5-foot-9, 205 pounds

San Francisco, California (Vanderbilt)

247Sports Composite transfer rating: 4 stars

Notes: Kentucky fans need no introduction to Davis after he rushed for 129 yards and one touchdown in Vanderbilt’s November upset of UK, which snapped a 26-game SEC losing streak for the Commodores. Davis rushed for 1,042 yards for Vanderbilt this season, topping the 100-yard plateau in four SEC games. Davis, who started his college career at Temple, has rushed for 2,512 yards and 15 touchdowns across four college seasons.

Jantzen Dunn

Defensive back

6-foot-1, 192 pounds

Bowling Green (Ohio State)

247Sports Composite transfer rating: N/A

Notes: The second former Kentucky high school star to commit to UK’s transfer class, Dunn, a South Warren High School graduate, is expected to play cornerback for the Wildcats. He was rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 2 prospect in Kentucky’s high school class of 2021 when he committed to Ohio State. Dunn appeared in six games across two seasons in Columbus but did not record any statistics.

JQ Hardaway

Cornerback

6-foot-3, 200 pounds

Columbus, Georgia (Cincinnati)

247Sports Composite transfer rating: 4 stars

Notes: A former four-star recruit who entered the transfer portal after Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell left for Wisconsin, Hardaway appeared in 11 games as a freshman for the Bearcats. He will have three years of eligibility — along with a redshirt season — at Kentucky. Hardaway’s commitment came just hours after Carrington Valentine declared for the NFL Draft.

Devin Leary

Quarterback

6-foot-1, 215 pounds

Sicklerville, New Jersey (N.C. State)

247Sports Composite transfer rating: 4 stars

Notes: The No. 1-ranked quarterback in the portal according to multiple national rankings, Leary picked Kentucky over Auburn. A torn pectoral muscle ended his 2022 season early, but he was one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which goes to college football’s best quarterback, in 2021. He threw 35 touchdowns with just five interceptions that season. Assuming he is healthy, Leary will replace Will Levis as Kentucky’s starting quarterback.

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