Kentucky commit DJ Hunter with UK coach Mark Stoops. (X Photo)
Kentucky already has an early start on its 2027 football recruiting class.
Sophomore quarterback DJ Hunter of Knoxville (Tenn.) Bearden High School told UK coach Mark Stoops Monday night he wanted to become a Wildcat.
The 6-2, 195-pound quarterback has been timed in 4.56 seconds in the 40-yard dash and has a 34-inch vertical jump.
Hunter, a Lexington native, is not ranked nationally yet. However, he took visits during spring practice to Virginia Tech, Clemson, Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky and committed to UK about a week after his visit.
He played in only eight games last season because of an injury but still completed 53 percent of his passes for 1,431 yards and nine touchdowns. He also ran for three touchdowns.
In seven starts as a freshman in 2023 at Horn Lake (Miss.) High School, Hunter passed for 1,135 yards and 10 touchdowns with five interceptions and ran for an additional touchdown.
6 Responses
Wow…..now we are moving up to accept unranked prospects. Maybe he knows that Stoops may not be here.
First Stoops will be here as long as HE wants to be here. Just because some media outlet hasn’t put a star by a players name doesn’t mean he’s no good. Do you remember a unranked player that had one scholarship offer from UMASS that Stoops took? He came and terrorized SEC backfields. He went 7th in the NFL draft and is making millions. His name is Josh Allen. Rankings are just an opinion. Go Stoops Troops!
Agree Jimmy. Rankings just a number doesn’t mean squat.
now more than ever stars don’t mean anything. I would put all my chips on the best 10-12 high school recruits and win in the transfer portal. Some coaches are only diving in the portal so they know what they are getting. Stoops seems like he’s terrible at making decisions. The less high school seniors you get the better you can do in the portal. The only positions you want to recruit and develop are offensive and defensive lineman. Playmakers want to play now. Not later. They are more used to personal accolades compared to lineman. I would get 3-4 4* offensive lineman and 3-4 defensive lineman the best money can buy and figure everything else out in the portal.
He will be junior this year he might be on another team by the time his senior year gets here. Especially if he jumps up in the top 250 of the rankings. Alot can change in 2 years like Stoops might not even be the coach. I think Stoops adding a player like this he is trying to milk it as long as he can in lexington. He has one more year to prove his worth. His contract will be in the 20 millions after this year so he either sinks or swims. A bowl game will get another year out of him. If we fail to make a bowl game he might as well start packing his bags. Building that statue seems like a stretch to me.
Stoops isn’t going no where regardless how the season goes. Unless he steps down. Mitch didn’t have the nerve to get rid of Cal and he will not likely get of Stoops. Money is too steep.