Kentucky adds another four-star recruit to class that could be Stoops’ best

The University of Kentucky football program picked up its 10th commit of the 2022 recruiting class, which is shaping up to be one of the finest in school history.

Alex Afari chose the Wildcats over a group of three finalists that included Cincinnati and Indiana. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound cornerback out of West Chester, Ohio, announced his decision during an appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio on Friday.

Rivals rates Afari as a four-star recruit and has him as the No. 12 overall player in the Buckeye State. Afari is considered a three-star prospect and the No. 14 Ohio player by 247Sports. The former ranks him as a cornerback (No. 33 in the country) while the latter considers him an athlete (No. 39 nationally).

Both major recruiting services prior to Afari’s commitment ranked Kentucky’s recruiting class as the 12th best in the country and fifth in the Southeastern Conference behind Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M and Mississippi State. Since recruiting services rose to prominence in the early part of this century, Kentucky’s highest finish in either of the final rankings came in 2014, when the Wildcats were 17th in Rivals’ list.

Afari took an unofficial visit to Kentucky last January, prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent report from Rivals’ Josh Helmholdt, Afari cited favorable reviews of the UK experience from current players Carrington Valentine (whom UK signed last year out of Cincinnati) and JuTahn McClain (a running back from Fairfield, Ohio) as part of his reason for selecting the Wildcats, in addition to long-standing relationships with head coach Mark Stoops, recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale.

He became the fourth player listed as a defensive back to commit to Kentucky, joining Corbin’s Treyveon Longmire, Jeremiah Caldwell (Belleville, Mich.) and Destin Wade (Spring Hill, Tenn.). The 2014 class was also bolstered by defensive backs; two of its four-star commitments were Mike Edwards and Darius West, who were selected in the 2019 NFL Draft.

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