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The Kentucky Wildcats got some good and bad news Monday on the recruiting front.
The good news came in the form of 2021 defensive back Maxwell Hairston, who announced his commitment to the Wildcats this afternoon.
My main focus is to remain focused...#COMMITTED pic.twitter.com/WU5skvDJnV
— . ¹ᵏ (@MHairston22) August 17, 2020
The bad news is that came about 30 minutes after fellow 2021 DB Kamal Hadden announced his pledge to the Auburn Tigers. Kentucky was among Hadden’s finalists.
ITS UP THERE COMMITTED thank you for everything @CoachCParker man truly appreciate you but we not done! LETS WORK @AuburnFootball @CoachGusMalzahn @coachcrimedawg pic.twitter.com/iJbyLtwQ5J
— Mal (@KamalHadden9) August 17, 2020
Ironically, this came right after the SEC announced Kentucky and Auburn would face off in Week 1 of the 2020 SEC football season.
Hairston is a three-star defensive back from West Bloomfield High School (MI). He has a lot of upside and got a ton of offers from top football programs. But as of today, he is committed to playing his college football at the University of Kentucky, becoming the fifteenth commit for Mark Stoops and his staff in the 2021 class.
Hairston was also considering Arkansas, Boston College, Kansas, Cincinnati, Iowa State, West Virginia, Ole Miss and Temple. He actually did not add Kentucky to his final list until this summer. But all of the predictions on his 247 Sports crystal ball were correct in projecting him to land in Lexington.
According to the 247 Sports Composite, Hairston is the No. 129 ranked cornerback in the country, and the No. 39 player in the state of Michigan. Kentucky has had a lot of success recruiting in Michigan in recent years, and the coaching staff hopes Hairston can come in and add to the culture of excellence that has developed within the defensive backfield.
As for Hadden, he’s a three-star junior college recruit from River Rouge (MI) who plays at Independence Community College. 247 Sports Composite has him ranked 28th among JUCO recruits and the fifth-best JUCO cornerback prospect.
Among the other schools who offered Hadden include Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Nebraska, Maryland and West Virginia among others.
Check out the highlights from Hairston’s junior year below and get an idea of the type of player Kentucky is getting in their newest commit.
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