As Trevin Wallace takes on NFL combine, Kentucky football is recruiting his brother

Of the six former Kentucky football players invited to the NFL combine, none may be more likely to shine at the annual pre-draft showcase than linebacker Trevin Wallace.

Hyped as one of the most athletic players in college football last season, Wallace seems likely to turn heads with his drill work in Indianapolis. A standout performance there could boost his draft stock. Wallace joining the list of recent UK defenders drafted can only help the Wildcats recruit the next wave of talent moving forward.

But Mark Stoops and company will hope Wallace’s experience at Kentucky has already made an impact on one of the program’s top targets in the high school class of 2025: Tavion Wallace, Trevin’s younger brother.

“My brother is a better recruit than me,” Trevin told the Herald-Leader last fall. “He’s a better player than me.”

A consensus four-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, Tavion is being pursued by many of the top programs in the Southeast. The Georgia prep linebacker has already scheduled spring unofficial visits to LSU, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida State. He told 247Sports he has scheduled official visits to Georgia and South Carolina for June.

Kentucky was not among the schools Wallace said he has scheduled a spring or summer visit to, but he already has plenty of information about the Wildcats program.

Trevin’s assessment of his younger brother’s skills came after the Wildcats’ 2023 win over Florida with Tavion sitting just a few feet away on one of his many trips to Lexington to watch his older brother play.

“I’m trying to tell him come on (to UK),” Trevin said. “But it’s up to him where he wants to go. I’m all 10 behind my brother.”

247Sports ranks Tavion as the No. 40 recruit in the 2025 class. The same website ranked Trevin as the No. 36 recruit in his high school class.

Kentucky had to beat a host of traditional powers to land Trevin from Wayne County High School in 2021, but the coach that led Trevin’s UK recruitment, Jon Sumrall, is now the head coach at Tulane. Whether Tavion decides to follow his brother to UK will likely depend heavily on his relationship with Stoops, defensive coordinator Brad White and linebackers coach Mike Stoops, who coached Trevin’s position after Sumrall left UK.

Trevin proving a top recruit can turn down traditional powers and still develop into an NFL player at Kentucky can only help the Wildcats’ chances with Tavion.

Trevin’s 38.5-inch vertical jump reported by UK would have tied for the top mark among all linebackers at the 2023 combine. UK clocked him at 22 mph on its GPS units, a time comparable to most wide receivers. The school reported Trevin had hit 380 pounds on the power clean lift and squatted almost 600 pounds.

There was hope at UK that Trevin would return to school for his senior season in 2024 in hopes of translating those athletic gifts into more consistent on-field production, but he elected to forgo his final season of eligibility and declare for the 2024 draft.

“Ultimately the decision that he felt was best for him,” White said after Wallace’s announcement in December. “We’re supportive. All of us, when they decide and they think that’s the best decision for them, we’ve got their back. Anything they need through the next process that they do, we’re here for them. I think he’s going to show really, really well for himself.”

Of course, that support could help leave a positive final impression for the Wallace family as Stoops and company try to convince Tavion to follow Trevin’s lead.

“Don’t piss their parents off now,” recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow said on signing day when asked about the general dynamics of recruiting family members of current players. “Don’t piss their people off now that are players here. Just do right. It’s not different when you recruit a guy that went to a high school in 2014 and now they’ve got a guy that’s coming out in 2020.

“Everybody talks. If your program did that guy wrong, you’re probably not going to get that kid. If he’s got a brother or a cousin or a nephew or something like that, you better have a good relationship with that school. … I think it’s always about relationships.”