Ohio wide receiver Brandon White commits to Kentucky

For a very long time Cats Illustrated has reported that upgrading the speed present in Kentucky's wide receiver room has been one of the program's top recruiting priorities.

Mark Stoops' staff seems to be going all-in on an approach that's designed to immediately rectify that situation.

Months after landing US 100 champion Jordan Anthony, Kentucky has accepted another commitment from a speedster wide receiver in Brandon White, who hails from Cincinnati (Ohio) Archbishop Moeller.

Ranked the No. 37 player in the state of Ohio, White is a three-star (5.5 RR) prospect on the Rivals.com network.

Iowa State offered White earlier in the recruiting process but Kentucky and West Virginia have been the two schools front and center for most of his recruitment.

Weeks ago White postponed a decision that was originally planned for the summer. Kentucky had verbally offered, but Vince Marrow would make one more trip up to Archbishop Moeller to evaluate White in person.

Speaking of his interest in Kentucky White has said, "They have a new coordinator and knowing what he can bring to the table, being there with him so he could take me through the whole offense and film and showing me lots of things, even talking to Wan'Dale (Robinson) and seeing how he was really happy with that NFL mindset, that all helps. I love that mindset, too. I think that's the best thing about Coach (Coen). He has that mindset of knowing what it takes to get to the next level and how to get everybody involved. I love how he came up from the NFL and a team like the Rams and how they got everybody involved."

White wanted to see how Robinson would be used in Kentucky's offense and he is currently the SEC's leading receiver through four games.

Kentucky and other schools have recruited White as a slot receiver who can also return kicks and punts.

Immediately after Kentucky offered White over the summer after a camp performance he told Cats Illustrated, "Man, I'm feeling real good. I haven't felt this way in a minute. It's been a long time. I'm feeling real special and I'm just humbled by this. It didn't happen out of the blue. I knew they were real interested in me. They had their eyes on me. They were going to have the best of the best guarding me and they wanted to put me through all kinds of stuff. They would have me going through some things other guys wouldn't. It was going to be more reps and wanting to see a lot of different things, like how I adapt to things. It wasn't out of the blue. I knew coming in they were going to handle me like that.

"They loved how coachable I was and how I adapted to things, and how my speed and my separation and patience was untouchable. A lot of different people couldn't match up with me," White said.

The more White learned about the school, while visiting, the more he liked.

"They showed me around the campus. They showed me around everywhere. Outside the campus, the campus. The locker rooms, facilities. We got to meet a lot of the average people there. The counselors, everybody. It's crazy. They had me in the film room for 30-45 minutes with coach just going over the plays and how they're getting guys involved. It's going to be crazy. There was a lot of football talk."

The speed issue in Kentucky's wide receiver room is something that the coaching staff has been talking to White about since they offered in the summer.

"They have a need for speed at receiver," White said. "For sure. Especially with how they're going to play this year, fast and quick. They're going to have Wan'Dale (Robinson), no doubt, and he should be this year or if not this year then next year in the league. No doubt. They said they already see me as similar to him and as a fit in how they're playing. They said if Wan'Dale doesn't touch the ball 15 times a game then something's wrong. They like to have the ball in playmakers' hands."

White had 17 receptions for 272 yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore at Archbishop Moeller. He missed his junior season with a groin injury that never fully healed and that probably impacted the course of his recruitment.

Kentucky is still pursuing four-star Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass wide receiver Dane Key and the program is also set to host Rivals100 wide receiver Barion Brown from Tennessee on an official visit this weekend.

With White's announcement Kentucky now has 15 commitments from Class of 2022 prospects. Before White's commitment UK's class was ranked No. 27 in the nation. White nets Kentucky 60 total points in the Rivals team ranking formula and UK's class is now ranked No. 26 in the nation.

Kentucky and recruiter Vince Marrow have built a strong pipeline to Archbishop Moeller. At UK, White will join former teammates Carrington Valentine and Brenden Bates. He is teammates with fellow Class of 2022 prospect and tight end Josh Kattus.