Kentucky trending for 4-star recruit Kiyaunta Goodwin

The Kentucky Wildcats have dominated in-state recruiting for the past few years and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. Kiyaunta Goodwin, a consensus top-100 recruit, seems to be trending towards the Cats.

Goodwin is a massive offensive tackle, standing at 6-8 and 300 pounds. He grew up in Louisville and started receiving offers from the likes of the Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers as early as the eighth grade. That list has expanded to include the Clemson Tigers, Florida Gators, Oklahoma Sooner, and Ohio State Buckeyes, just to name a few of the 54 total offers he holds.

After beginning his high school career at Louisville Holy Cross, Goodwin transferred to Ballard, another Louisville high school, before ultimately ending up at Charlestown High School in Indiana.

Goodwin is ranked as high as No. 47 overall by the 247Sports Composite Rankings. His top five includes the Cats, Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, and the Michian State Spartans.

Despite receiving three early Crystal Balls and two FutureCasts for Ohio State, it looks like Kentucky might be the favorite now. The last Crystal Ball and last three FutureCasts have been for the Cats.

One of those FutureCast picks is from Rivals’ Justin Rowland, who recently discussed the Cats’ position with the former in-state recruit. In the newest edition of “Fact or Fiction,” the UK analyst joined Ohio State’s Rivals’ analyst, Adam Gorney, and they had a clear difference of opinion.

The statement posed was the following: “Kentucky is a smart pick to land Kiyaunta Goodwin.”

Gorney started off by stating that he believed it was fiction and while all the UK hype is real due to their connections within the state, “if Ohio State wants somebody, especially within driving distance, then the Buckeyes rarely lose those recruiting battles.”

Rowland countered by saying that it was fact that Kentucky is the smart pick to land the big-time prospect. Here’s what he had to say:

I’m feeling pretty confident about my FutureCast for Kiyaunta Goodwin to Kentucky. For a long time there was a widespread assumption that he was going to end up at Ohio State but Kentucky has always been confident about him. He’s been around UK since he was a junior high kid and they offered so early in the process. Vince Marrow has really locked down the state and offensive line coach Eric Wolford has gotten a good reception as well. If I had to guess I’d say COVID shutting down visits to other places has helped UK, a school he was familiar with well before all of that started. They’re telling him that he’s their No. 1 priority in the class and that pitch seems to be doing well for them. I don’t think I’ll be flipping the pick from UK.

If Kentucky does land Goodwin, it could be the start of what’s expected to be a monster 2022 recruiting class. Goodwin would just be the start, and that’s exciting to think about.

Come on down, big fella.