UK football caps busy recruiting week with commitment from Covington Catholic TE

Kentucky football capped an busy week for its 2024 recruiting efforts with a commitment from three-star Covington Catholic tight end Willie Rodriguez on Friday.

Rodriguez is the fifth player to commit to UK’s 2024 high school class since Monday. He joins Florida running back Tovani Mizell, Georgia defensive back Jiquavious Marshall, Montana kicker Jacob Kauwe and Connecticut offensive lineman Jadon Lafont in pledging to the Wildcats this week. Four of the five recruits are rated as three-star prospects by the 247Sports Composite, which averages the ratings of the major recruiting services. The fifth, Kauwe, has not been rated yet.

Of the week’s commitments, Rodriguez will be the name most familiar to many Kentucky fans.

As a junior at Covington Catholic, Rodriguez totaled 14 catches for 295 yards and five touchdowns. On defense, he was credited with 10 tackles and two sacks.

“He wants to be the best, so he does the work,” Covington Catholic head coach Eddie Eviston said. “Fortunately for us, we’ve never had an issue. His commitment, his dedication has always been 100%. That’s the type of kid they’re going to get.”

He will hope to follow in the footsteps of former Covington Catholic tight end Michael Mayer, who starred for Notre Dame before being drafted in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. Rodriguez would be the first Covington Catholic player to sign with Kentucky in the recruiting website era.

While acknowledging comparisons to Mayer might be unfair, Eviston sees some similarities between the former Notre Dame All-American and Rodriguez.

“The biggest similarity is their work ethic, their dedication to saying, ‘Let’s go to work, I’m going to practice hard, I’m going to do things the right way,’” Eviston said. “I think that’s helped Michael in his success and it’s helped Willie as he’s grown into a player. As long as he keeps that, which I have no doubt he will, his ceiling is going to be pretty high.

“One thing all coaches know is you can’t coach the size. He’s got it. He’s athletic, he works on his weaknesses. He maintains his strengths. There’s a lot of good things going for him.”

Rodriguez was a late riser on the 2024 recruiting scene. He took multiple unofficial visits over the last year but did not receive a scholarship offer from the Wildcats until after several out-of-state programs began to pursue him.

Power Five conference programs Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Boston College, Syracuse, Minnesota, Duke, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech all reportedly offered scholarships to Rodriguez in February. Ole Miss, Illinois, Texas Tech, South Carolina, Purdue and Arkansas followed in March and April. Rodriguez also took unofficial visits to Penn State, Ohio State and Notre Dame during the spring.

On April 18, the offer from Kentucky finally came. Rodriguez took official visits to Purdue, Virginia Tech and Kentucky in June before announcing his commitment to the Wildcats.

With Rodriguez in the fold, four of Kentucky’s nine 2024 commitments are from the state. Lexington Christian Academy quarterback Cutter Boley, Simon Kenton offensive lineman Aba Selm and Taylor County offensive lineman Hayes Johnson were the first three commitments in the class.

The productive recruiting week was needed for a Kentucky class that entered June with just three commitments, but more star power is needed to raise the national perception of the group.

Following Rodriguez’s commitment, the 247Sports Composite ranked the class 53rd nationally. Boley is the only four-star commitment in the class so far.

Kentucky remains in the running for several high-profile prospects who could help add buzz to the 2024 cycle. UK is battling Michigan and Penn State for four-star Youngstown, Ohio, edge rusher Brian Robinson, who took an official visit to Lexington earlier this month. Boley and Rodriguez were on campus for their official visits the same weekend that Robinson was in Lexington. Four-star Florida offensive lineman Jonathan Daniels, four-star Florida cornerback Cameron Keys and four-star Ohio tight end Damarion Witten were also in Lexington that weekend.

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