Sting Factor: Kaden Moorman's decommitment from Kentucky
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
Kaden Moorman and his father grew up admitted diehard Kentucky football fans.
The Frankfort (Ky.) Franklin County three-star running back also loved his interactions with position coach John Settle, who helped mold Jonathan Taylor and Melvin Gordon so when Moorman committed last October it made complete sense.
An in-state kid who loved the Wildcats growing up was going to be an early part of Kentucky’s 2023 class.
But in recent days, Moorman decided to back off his pledge to Kentucky and look elsewhere in his recruitment even as the Wildcats are off to a solid 5-2 start this season.
Kentucky already has a running back commitment from three-star Khalifa Keith although he’s visited Tennessee twice and is looking at other programs as well. Douglasville (Ga.) South Paulding’s Jamarion Wilcox, who is having a huge senior season, is also a top target with the Wildcats high on his list.
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LOCAL REACTION
UK has a big need at running back but this was not unexpected. Moorman missed some time with injury this year. The hope was he could be the kind of bigger back who has thrived at UK in recent years but with Khalifa Keith on board and the Cats pursuing Jaquez Keyes and Jamarion Wilcox there is no shortage of options. - Justin Rowland, CatsIllustrated.com
Sting factor: 3
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NATIONAL REACTION
Moorman is one of the top players in the Kentucky state rankings and he grew up a fan of the Wildcats but it looks like coach Mark Stoops and his staff have some bigger targets in this class and things could turn out really positively in that respect. Keeping Keith is definitely important but the main player here is Wilcox, who is having a monster season and really loves what’s happening in Lexington. If Keith leaves, this number could move higher. But if Wilcox joins Kentucky’s class then this decommitment from Moorman doesn’t hurt nearly as much. - Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 4