The Kentucky Wildcats are still offering players for the class of 2025, although sometimes it may be too late to join as other teams have been recruiting players for years.
In other cases, players could be rising at the right time for teams to take notice.
That is what is happening with Serious Stinyard. Heading into his senior season, many teams are starting to take interest in Stinyard, a 6-foot, 180-pound cornerback from Tampa, Florida.
Stinyard didn’t receive his first offer until February of this year when USF offered him. Since then, his recruitment has been gaining traction.
Kentucky just offered him on Saturday, May 4th, and Stinyard was not expecting it at all.
“It felt great,” Stinyard tells A Sea of Blue. “UK was a big and pleasant surprise.”
As for who Stinyard has been talking to on the coaching staff, it has been defensive backs coach Chris Collins, and they are setting up for him to take an official visit on campus from the 21st through the 23rd of this month.
Stinyard has seen many players be successful at cornerback for Kentucky and go to the NFL, including Brandin Echols, Carrington Valentine, Kelvin Joseph, and others. The success could be a huge factor for Stinyard.
“Yes, player development and getting guys on to the next level is one of my main focuses on choosing my future home,” Stinyard says.
At this point in Stinyard’s recruitment, he is still scheduling official visits with the hope of announcing his commitment in late July or August. What he is looking for when he commits will not just be playing on the field but the school itself.
“I’m looking for a few things, being at a stable coaching community, meaning coaches that are going to be there for 3+ years, a good degree, and a school that wants me and needs me in their scheme,” said Stinyard.
Even though he is considering all options, he could see himself playing in the blue and white next.
The depth of the challenge facing Mark Stoops and Kentucky in the newly expanded Southeastern Conference is best illustrated by how the Wildcats’ 2024 schedule was altered due to the changes that accompanied the pending arrivals of Oklahoma and Texas into the SEC.
From its original 2024 SEC schedule, UK lost a home game with Mississippi State and road games at Missouri and Arkansas.
In their place, UK added a home meeting with Auburn and road contests at Mississippi and Texas.
To give full context to what the alterations on the Kentucky schedule mean, consider:
UK has won its last four home games over Mississippi State; Kentucky has won on three of its last four road trips to Mizzou; and the Wildcats have a 5-3 all-time mark against Arkansas.
Conversely, UK has lost nine straight games versus Auburn in Lexington and 18 of its last 19 against the Tigers overall; the Wildcats have lost their last seven games against Ole Miss that were played in the state of Mississippi; and Kentucky is taking on a road game at Texas in the season immediately after the Longhorns made the College Football Playoff.
Suffice to say, the “new SEC” is going to be an even more rugged test for a Kentucky program that has produced only nine winning league records while playing in the Southeastern Conference since it began in 1933.
If UK is going to rise to the occasion in 2024 against a schedule that will feature four teams ranked in the top 15 of ESPN.com’s post-spring top 25 — No. 1 Georgia; No. 3 Texas; No. 6 Ole Miss; and No. 15 Tennessee — Kentucky must fix the single biggest weakness that has undermined the past two Wildcats seasons.
Simply stated, UK has to put an end to the abundance of sloppy play that has plagued the Wildcats over the past two years.
How could I not see myself playing in that blue and white?!” said Stinyard.
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