Kentucky football signs 21 in early signing period

College football's early signing period opened Wednesday, December 4th, meaning high schoolers all across the country have now signed on the dotted line with their future programs. The University of Kentucky football team has received 21 of those signatures for the Class of 2025, including 12 offensive players and nine defensive players from 12 different states.

Four of the signees are from the commonwealth of Kentucky.

Cedrick Works Jr. continues the Frederick Douglass High School pipeline, joining the Wildcats as the No. 21 ranked edge in the class, according to Rivals.

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Montavin Quisenberry has been the most-electric player in the state when the ball is in his hands. Over the past three seasons, the Boyle County product totaled 150 receptions for 2,491 yards and 38 touchdowns in the air, plus 41 touchdowns and nearly 2,700 additional yards on the ground. That's not to mention what he's done on special teams: 13 more touchdowns (seven on punt returns and six on kickoff returns).

"It means a lot because it's something I dreamed of when I was younger. I'm just blessed to be able to play the next level at Kentucky, close to home," Quisenberry told us at his signing in Danville. "They've given me lots of opportunities to prove myself for next year, so I'm going to be up for the challenge."

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"He's a player who's not afraid to come over here in camp and compete. I think his versatility, his toughness, his overall athletic ability, I just wanted him on our roster," UK head coach Mark Stoops said of Quisenberry on signing day.

"This is the closest kid to Wan'Dale Robinson that I've ever seen," associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow later added. "This kid is underrated nationally."

Martels Carter Jr. is a defensive back out of Paducah Tilghman High School, who picked the Cats over offers from schools including Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Louisville, Michigan, Ole Miss and Tennessee. The safety is the highest-rated player in the class, according to Rivals. Stoops praised Carter as a player with the potential to make an impact right away; Carter told us at his signing that's a mission he takes seriously.

"Well I said when I committed my job is to get it back booming. I really take that; I'm a man of my word," Carter said. "When I step on that field, it's going to be a show."

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Javeon Campbell is the fourth and final player from the Bluegrass, coming to Lexington by way of Western Hills High School in Frankfort.

The 6'5" defensive lineman is a two-sport monster, having already broken his high school's all-time scoring record as a member of the basketball team.

Campbell joined Keith Farmer and Maggie Davis in the BBN Tonight studio on signing day:

Mikkel Skinner is joining Marow's tight end room at Kentucky, after playing his high school ball at Riverside in Greer, South Carolina.

"Skinner's probably the best, athletic tight end I've signed since I've been here," Marrow said in his signing day press conference. "I know South Carolina really, really wanted him. Ohio State, a lot of other schools... I was holding my breath all the way until his signature came because you just don't steal a kid out of another SEC school's [state] when they really want him. I've very, very excited about him. He's going to be a good player."

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There's plenty of rebuilding to be done on the Big Blue Wall, with Kentucky's offensive line losing multi-year starters at both tackle positions and in the middle. The performance of the group overall has not been up-to-par with the program's standards in recent seasons, and the line will be a major "portal priority" this off season.

In order to build depth, the Cats also signed four offensive linemen in the class of 2025, including Jermiel Atkins from Dayton, Ohio and Darrin Strey from Paw Paw, Michigan.

"If you've seen Atkins, that's what SEC linemen look like," Marrow said of the 6-foot-8, 300-pound tackle. "All it's going to take him to be here is one year, get in the weight training, start eating right, and I think you're going to have a kid that should be playing on Sundays if he keeps projecting what he's going to go. He's a very good athlete, he can bend and he's smart. I'm very excited about what he will become."

"Strey is a guy that we've loved from the beginning. He's just a great person, great personality, very athletic, is the size that we're looking for," Stoops said of the 6-foot-7, 310-pounder. "He's another guy that we're very excited about. We're working hard to get the O-line fixed for next year and for the future."

When asked about his "sleeper" of the class, Vince Marrow nodded and singled out 6-foot-1 wide receiver, Quintin Simmons Jr., out of Cincinnati, Ohio and Withrow University High School.

"He is fast and he comes from a very good program," Marrow said. "I will say keep an eye on him, with his return ability he can make an impact as a freshman, like Barion [Brown] did."

Another major talking point within this particular class is the quarterback duo: Stone Saunders, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Brennen Ward, from Columbus, Ohio.

"It'll be interesting. Stone, there's so much film on him," Stoops said of Saunders. "He'll probably break the all-time yard record in Pennsylvania. I think he already has the touchdowns [record] and so he's just got so much good film out there. Just a ball player... It doesn't take long to put on the film and just like the way he plays ball. Obviously throwing for that many yards and that many touchdowns, you know he can distribute the football."

"Brennen is a guy who came into camp and we watched in person. No disrespect, I don't mean this in a bad way, but he probably didn't play on as good of a team, but was impressive with his skill set in person," Stoops said of Ward.

With those two incoming freshmen and Cutter Boley expected to return (likely as a redshirt freshman, after only playing four games in 2024), Kentucky's quarterback room is shaping up to be incredibly young. Neither Brock Vandagriff nor Gavin Wimsatt have made official announcements regarding their plans, and Coach Stoops floated the possibility of adding an additional quarterback via the transfer portal.

"I think we have to go get one, you know what I mean, just to have some stability in there," Stoops said on signing day. "When you're counting on the two true freshmen coming in, I just haven't seen them yet. Not at all. We've watched them throw and believe in them or we wouldn't sign them, but I think we all know you need to have at least two or three quality quarterbacks to be on your roster.

Here is the complete list of 2025 signees, as of December 5th:

• Jermiel Atkins OL 6-8 305 Fr.-HS Trotwood, Ohio (Madison)
• Bryan Auguste OL 6-4 295 Fr.-HS Coconut Creek, Fla. (Monarch)
• Preston Bowman WR 5-11 201 Fr.-HS Pickerington, Ohio (Pickerington North)
• Javeon Campbell DL 6-5 270 Fr.-HS Frankfort, Ky. (Western Hills)
• Martels Carter Jr. DB 6-0 195 Fr.-HS Chattanooga, Tenn. (Paducah Tilghman)
• Jayden Clark OL 6-4 300 Fr.-HS Clayton, Ohio (Northmont)
• Kalen Edwards DL 6-3 320 Fr.-HS Dyersburg, Tenn. (Dyersburg)
• Demarcus Gardner DB 5-11 175 Fr.-HS Cedartown, Ga. (Cedartown)
• Grant Grayton DB 6-3 185 Fr.-HS Laurel, Md. (Good Counsel)
• Cameron Miller WR 5-11 175 Fr.-HS Camden, N.J. (Winslow Township)
• Dejerrian (DJ) Miller WR 6-3 195 Fr.-HS (Saint Louis, Missouri (Cardinal Ritter College Prep
• Andrew Purcell DB 5-10 185 Fr.-HS Enterprise, Ala. (Enterprise)
• Montavin Quisenberry WR 5-9 173 Fr.-HS Danville, Ky. (Boyle County)
• Stone Saunders QB 6-1 210 Fr.-HS Harrisburg, Pa. (Bishop McDevitt)
• Quintin Simmons Jr. WR 6-1 170 Fr.-HS Cincinnati, Ohio (Withrow)
• Mikkel Skinner TE 6-4 225 Fr.-HS Greer, S.C. (Riverside)
• Nicholas Smith DL 6-5 290 Fr.-HS Loganville, Ga. (Walnut Grove)
• Darrin Strey OL 6-7 310 Fr.-HS Paw Paw, Mich. (Paw Paw)
• Brennen Ward QB 6-3 205 Fr.-HS Columbus, Ohio (Gahanna Lincoln)
• Dyllon Williams DB 6-2 177 Fr.-HS Demopolis, Ala. (Demopolis)
• Cedric “CJ” Works Jr. DL 6-5 235 Fr.-HS Dayton, Ohio (Frederick Douglass)

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