Boyle County senior Montavin Quisenberry has already scored 612 points, rushed for 3,449 yards and caught 127 passes for 3,223 yards in his high school career. He also passed for over 1,000 yards his freshman season. (Chris Zollner Photo)
It was nothing that West Virginia did wrong that made Boyle County senior Montavin Quisenberry decide he wanted to play his college football at Kentucky, not West Virginia.
Instead, it was the feeling he got on his official visit to UK last weekend that he was now a “priority” recruit for the Wildcats and would also be much closer to home playing for the Wildcats.
Quisenberry, a three-star receiver/defensive back, flipped his commitment from West Virginia to Kentucky Wednesday.
“He just really enjoyed himself on his visit. He got to talk to the offensive coordinator (Bush Hamdan) and coach (Mark) Stoops made him the priority that he wanted to be,” Boyle coach Justin Haddix said.
Quisenberry announced his decision to flip his commitment on social media.
“After careful consideration and talks with my family, I have decided to decommit from West Virginia University. The decision was not made lightly as I have tremendous respect for the WVU coaching staff and team,” Quisenberry posted.
Haddix said Quisenberry communicated with West Virginia coach Neal Brown, a former all-state player at Boyle, and assistant coach Shadon Brown, a former all-state player at Danville, about his visit to Kentucky and how he was feeling.
“He did not want this to be done behind closed doors. They knew he was going to visit,” Haddix said. “Neal did a great job recruiting him. It was not anything negative with West Virginia. He just enjoyed Kentucky more.
“It was not a money thing, either. There was more money at other schools when he committed to West Virginia. It was just about where he felt most comfortable.”
Quisenberry can play quarterback, receiver, running back, kick/punt returner and defensive back — and play them all well.
Quisenberry has put up some amazing numbers:
2024— In seven games Quisenberry has 439 yards rushing and eight scores on 43 carries and 27 catches for 492 yards and eight more touchdowns. He is 3-for-4 passing for 91 yards and one score. He has also returned a punt for a touchdown. If that’s not enough, he has 22 tackles, fifth best on the team. His marquee performance came in a huge upset of defending Ohio state champion St. Edwards when he ran for 141 yards and three scores, caught six passes for 64 yards, completed two passes for 89 yards and one score, and returned an interception 66 yards.
2023 — He caught 43 passes for 864 yards and 12 touchdowns and ran for 800 yards and 18 more scores while averaging almost 10 yards per attempt. He also returned three punts and two kickoffs for scores to finish the season with 210 points. On defense, he had 51 tackles, four tackles for loss and two interceptions.
2022 — He had 57 receptions for 833 yards and 13 scores and ran 96 times for 1,009 yards and 10 more scores. He returned three kickoffs and three punts for scores to finish with 174 points. On defense, he had 36 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
2021 — As a freshman he played quarterback at Garrard County and completed 90 of 130 passes for 1,034 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also ran for 1,501 yards on 19 scores on 162 carries. On defense, he had 34 tackles, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
That means he now has rushed for 3,749 yards and 55 scores going into Friday’s game with Lincoln County. He has caught 127 passes for 3,223 yards and 43 scores. That gives him a combined 6.972 yards rushing and receiving to go with over 1,200 yards passing. He has scored 612 points.
He has nine interceptions, nine punt returns for scores and five kickoff returns for touchdowns.
“He is just a dynamic player. People say he is like (former UK star/NFL player) WanDale Robinson but he’s different. Robinson caught over 100 balls, ran reverses and got the ball all they could get it to him during his one year at Kentucky,” Haddix said. “I think they can use him in the return game and find ways to get him the ball in space.
The 5-9 Quisenberry ran a laser-timed 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds at an Under Armour showcase and has gone from 155 pounds his sophomore year to between 170 and 175 pounds this season.
“He is a physical football player and I think he will be able to step in and play as a freshman. I know I am biased but he is going to enroll early, get in the weight room, get on a meal plan and put on more weight and strength,” Haddix said. “He won’t be playing basketball or having to do anything other than just focus on getting faster and stronger.
“He’s really a football nerd. All he thinks about is football. That’s all he wants to do is play football. He’s put on weight but has actually gotten faster. I have never coached anybody quite like him or seen anybody quite like him play. What he did in Ohio against that team where he dominated both sides of the ball was unreal.”
That game got Quisenberry on the MaxPreps National Player of the Year watch list. He’s also on the list for Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, Paul Hornung Award presented by the Louisville Quarterback Club and Kentucky Mr. Football
“We have a lot of good players on our team and it is never about numbers for him. I have never one time had him ask for the ball more or to score a touchdown,” Haddix said. “We don’t really talk about stats because he doesn’t ask. He just wants to play.”
4 Responses
I’m so glad he committed. He is the best offensive product in the state of Kentucky I felt that he is the type of player and receiver we need. I just hope he doesn’t get put on defense. He’s the type of receiver that is missing on this team. I thought Maclin was going to be explosive. So far I haven’t seen anything. He got his money and that’s all he was worried about. What kills me is in the nil era you would think he would field some punts and try to take one to the house. The better players play the more money they make. I bet Key is making the most money on offense and Walker is making the most on defense. That’s just how it goes you get rewarded for playing great not disappearing during the game. I’ve seen a handful of punts this year already that he could have fielded and returned but to me he looks terrified to field the kick. So the other team gets great field position because we call a fair catch every single time. The reason he had 1,000 yards last year is because he played in conference USA which is at the bottom of the barrel. You could take any average player off our team and put them on north Texas and I bet they are one of the best players on the team.
Great recruit!! Yes!!!
The punt return & kick return for UK is weak because Stoops instructed the inept Special Teams coach to us freshmen & lower rated players instead of using the experienced and most talented players. It’s always difficult to know if the OC & his assistants are incompetent or limited due to reigns put on them by Stoops.
I was 100% for Stoops when he was hired and recruiting instantly improved.
Stoops lost some of my support when he lost the 1st game of his era to WKU because he dictated to the awesome OC who would be the QB and he chose the least competent passer in the group.
Stoops made a big plunge when he sacrificed any chance to win @ TX A&M when Snell never touched the ball the last few plus of regulation & in OT but instead let the pseudo-QB who could not pass (and had a QBR of about 17 in that game!!!) run the all over and over in futile efforts to get yards, and never let the backup QB play a snap even though he was an awesome passer.
And we all know how he has slipped lower and lower (now in the 3rd year of the slide) during which time he tried to bolt to TX A&M but they realized he was not qualified to be the HC, bad is over his head when he steps beyond being a DC.
Welcome to UK
Montavin Quisenberry
You will bring back great memories of versatile super talent Lynn Bowden!!
that would be awesome