Ashton Woods (5) was in the Kentucky dressing room with his twin brothers when they played at UK along with his brother, Dom (18) who played on Georgia's two national championship teams. (John Woods Photo)
His twin brothers, Daron and Zack Blaylock, came to Kentucky to play for coach Joker Phillips before he was fired after one season and then played sparingly for two seasons for coach Mark Stoops.
However, the brothers apparently still have a love for Kentucky according to their youngest brother, Ashton Woods, a top 400 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class. The 6-3, 210-pound linebacker from Marietta, Ga., has over 20 scholarship offers, including one he recently received from Kentucky assistant coach Anwar Stewart.
“I didn’t even know he was coming (to Walton High School) that day. Once we started talking I kind of thought maybe an offer was coming but it was still crazy to get it,” he said. “I still have pictures on my phone of me in a Kentucky jersey and helmet when I was 5 or 6 years old.”
He also recently added an offer from Southern Cal to go with ones he already had from Auburn, Arkansas, Boston College, Charlotte, Duke, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Louisville, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Central Florida, South Florida, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. He recently spent a weekend taking unofficial visits to North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest — all high level academic schools that appealed to him since he has a 4.0 grade-point average.
“Coach Stewart told me he liked the way I read plays and how physical and fast I am,” Woods said. “He said I have a good IQ for the game.”
He jokes he’s “smarter” than his other brothers, including Dom Blaylock, a receiver on Georgia’s two national championship teams who is now in the transfer portal.
“They were all tough on me. I would come in crying because Dom would beat up on me,” Ashton said. “Daron and Zack would protect me some but they could also be tough. However, they always had my back and would help me out.”
He’s also planned visits to North Carolina, Tennessee and Auburn but also said Kentucky has a “legit chance” to sign him because of what his twin brothers told him.
“They said it was the best four years of their lives. Kentucky definitely would not be a bad choice based on all they said,” Woods said. “I want to see if I can find a time to go visit. There’s no reason not to. All my brothers do is rave about the Cats. They still bleed blue and sometimes maybe bleed blue a little too much.”
Ashton remembered going to a Kentucky-Georgia game and sitting in the Georgia family section to watch Dom play.
“Daron and Zack wore their Kentucky stuff under their Georgia stuff. They kept talking before we had to make sure they shut up about Kentucky in the Georgia section,” Woods said.
He says he has enjoyed recruiting and hopes to make his college choice this summer. He says having three brothers that were all high-level recruits has helped him.
“They have a lot of experience with recruiting. They see through some things and tell me what I should look for and what I should talk to coaches about to see if they are really interested in me or not.”
