Dane Key with his parents after his making his college choice. (Alex Otte Photo)
It could not have been easy for Donte Key to remain impartial about his son’s college choice, but the former University of Kentucky linebacker did just that.
“Our job as parents is to make sure we support whatever he wanted to do. Our job was to give information so he could make an educated decision,” said Donte Key. “It is his life. He had to be the decision-maker.”
Frederick Douglass senior Dane Key made his “educated decision” when he picked hometown Kentucky over the 20 other national offers he had. The four-star receiver said his father, who is also an assistant coach at Douglass, didn’t “really say anything” to influence his choice.
“He let me do what I wanted to do,” Dane Key said. “He let me go through the recruiting process. If I needed help, I would ask and he would tell me it was my decision, not his.”
Dane Key narrowed his final choices to Oregon, South Carolina, Michigan, Kentucky, and Western Kentucky where his brother Devon played. Donte Key said he knew his son was going to get a “quality education” at all those schools.
“I would just ask him does this college have everything you want in your field of study,” Donte Key said. “Dane wants to be like his brother and study finance and marketing. He was looking for a school with a strong base in that area but all his final schools had great academic support for athletes.”
Dane Key is the highest-rated player in Kentucky in the 2022 recruiting class. He does not have spectacular numbers because of Douglass’ balanced offense that does not try to feature him because of other talented players on the team. Yet he does have 40 catches for seven touchdowns and 664 yards —about 16 yards per catch — going into Friday night’s Class 5A playoff game against Scott County.
“Dane is comfortable with whatever role he has and is a good team player,” Donte Key said. “One thing that makes Dane such a good receiver is that his hands are so big. They are bigger than mine. He catches the ball really well. His catch radius is enormous. He’s kind of like (former UK basketball player) Anthony Davis and has a lot of stretch in his arms.
“He really has great ball skills. If you put the ball around a receiver and it touches his hands, he should catch it. Kids will drop some balls but the majority of the time a quarterback should feel confident if he gets the ball around you, you should catch it and Dane will.”
Dane Key says there really are no 50-50 balls in the air — or at least not in his opinion.
“I can go get balls. If the ball is in the air, I think of it as mine. I think my route running and speed are really good and I move pretty well for as tall as I am,” Dane Key said. “Having the opportunity to get the ball in my hands and do what I can is just a blessing. But I know I need to work more on my route running in the offseason once I am on campus working with the (UK) coaches. I know they will get me to where I want to be.”
Dane Key also quickly learned just how happy Kentucky fans were with his commitment to Kentucky. He went to KSBar in Lexington for dinner after making his announcement and received a hero’s welcome.
“All I heard was, ‘Congratulations. It’s going to be something special here for you.’ It’s just an awesome experience to feel the love from home,” Dane Key said. “All these fans wanted me to stay home and play for UK. I know I am going to have the biggest fan base there is when I step on that field to play.
