Garrett Witherington with parents after committing to Kentucky Sunday night. (Instagram Photo)
Garrett Witherington had 55 tackles, including 30 solo stops, in 2024 for Briarwood Christian in Birmingham, Ala., and also played on offense as a blocking tight end in certain situations.
The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Witherington is a three-star prospect and top 125 defensive lineman nationally in his recruiting class according to 247Sports Composite — and he’s also now a University of Kentucky commit.
Witherington picked Kentucky over Stanford, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Mississippi State and others. He actually committed almost a week ago but made it public during a ceremony Sunday night with family and friends watching.
“I think Kentucky is an amazing school and what coach (Mark) Stoops has done up there to build that program is remarkable,” Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester told Tyler Raley of the Shelby County Reporter. “They really pursued Garrett and they really wanted him and so for Garrett to make a choice like this, get to play in the SEC, get to go to a respected defensive coach in the SEC.
“To have that stability and to go to a place like Kentucky is pretty special. I’m super excited for him, super excited for our team. It shows what hard work and commitment will do.”
The Alabama edge rusher, who had four quarterback sacks and 19 quarterback pressures in 2024, gives UK 13 commitments in the 2026 recruiting class. He was also used as a tight end in certain offensive packages.
Witherington told Ray that Stoops, defensive coordinator Brad White and defensive line coach Anwar Stewart all impressed him. He told CatsPause.com he had “high expectations” going into his Kentucky visit and he liked the culture he found at UK.
One Response
I’m loving the recruits we have been getting. Freshman that come in and don’t expect anything. Hard work wins over how many stars are next to the guys name. Garret Witherington is exactly the type of defensive lineman we’ve been missing from our team. Very high motor, very high IQ player who bull rushes the hell out of the offensive lineman. After a while the flood gates open when the offensive lineman runs out of steam then he can basically have his way with them. You rarely see this in defensive lineman and its what I complained about our defensive lineman last year. Its like they got off the ball very slow often times not even ready. Then once the ball was hiked they had to play catch up problem is they were to slow to play catch up. Another thing that killed us has been 3rd downs for the last couple of years. Its like we look great on first and second down then the defense lets up on third down. This is because of 2 things. I could blame the secondary for allowing a 6-15 yard pass on third down no matter the yards the other team seems to always get it. You could also blame the linebackers and lineman for never getting pressure on the QB. This is were Garrett comes in and gets you a sack on third down or makes the QB have to rush the throw. Garrett’s tape looks like a high 4* tape. I think he has a role as a redshirt freshman. Probably starts as a redshirt sophomore. But he will have a role his second year on campus. He’s too good not too.