Kentucky TE Commit Tanner Lemaster Ready to Build 'Something Special' in Lexington

The 3-star prospect is "all-in" on Kentucky after dominating the competition in his senior year at Washington High School in Ohio.

Kentucky football is getting a do-it-all tight end in its 2023 class in 3-star prospect Tanner Lemaster.

The 6-foot-6, 235-pounder out of Washington Court House, Ohio was a weapon in his senior season at Washington High School. He racked up 40 receptions for 540 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Blue Lions, who finished the year with a 9-3 record. 

"My final season, it was really well, it was good for me. I performed pretty well in my opinion," Lemaster told Wildcats Today. "I helped my team have one of the best seasons we've had in I think the past 30 years maybe. So it was it was a good last one with all of my friends i've been grinding out with, it was a great year overall."

Lemaster's efforts were good enough to earn him First-Team All-District, All-Conference and All-State honors. 

The Wildcats were in on the 3-star far before, as they offered him at the end of March 2021. UK was amongst a slew of offers, but Lemaster would eventually announce his commitment to the blue and white in April 2022.

Tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow led the recruitment of Lemaster. Marrow has since visited, catching up with the TE last week.

"Always good to talk with him and stay close. He and I have a pretty good, honest relationship with each other," Lemaster said of the visit. "We just kind of discussed some of the things that's going on in the football world, just kind of catching up because you know, being in season he's kind of busy so we don't get to talk unless I go to the games or something. It was a good talk."

Growing up watching Ohio State, Lemaster admittedly fell under the "basketball school" umbrella when thinking about UK Athletics in general. It wasn't until he took the couple-hour trip down south to Lexington, where he noticed that there was much more to being a Wildcat than hoops. 

"Once I started to get in contact with Vince and tried to learn about the program and follow it, come on visits, check out Big Blue Nation and just view around the campus and Lexington in general when I went on my official visit — after all that — you just realize that there's so much more," he said. "What we're building, it's going to be something special."

Lemaster took his official visit to Kentucky on June 10. Since then, a lot has happened for the Wildcats, mainly a 7-5 football season that led to the firing of offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. 

Reports of Liam Coen returning to Lexington have since appeared, though nothing has been confirmed. Regardless, Lemaster remains all-in on becoming a Wildcat.

"Me and Scangarello had a pretty solid relationship. Seeing him go, it made me think about it a little bit, but there's definitely no hesitation," he said. "I'm still locked in and still have a lot of faith in what we've got going on."

There was plenty of tight end usage in UK's offense in 2022, as the position tallied 40 receptions for 488 yards and four touchdowns. True freshman and Cincinnati native Josh Kattus managed to break out towards the end of the season, grabbing seven passes for 125 yards, making the most out of every opportunity. 

Lemaster will look to mirror the work ethic and play of his fellow Ohioan upon his arrival to the Bluegrass.

"I thought Josh played really well, just from what I was looking at, especially being a true freshman," he said. "He's one of those guys that when I get there, I'm gonna really kind of just learn from him and just kind of figure out what he did to make him successful, follow his steps and just try to learn as much as I can."

Part of what helped Kattus excel in 2022 was his willingness and ability to get nasty and throw blocks. If the offense is to change under Coen or any OC, and tight ends aren't as involved in the pass game, that may become the key to playing time in Lemaster's position. 

Luckily for him and Kentucky, Lemaster has an affinity for anything and everything that comes with playing tight end:

"I think what really helps me and my overall game is i'm down with both. I'm down to get in the trenches, i'll block, but everybody likes catching passes, and I feel like that was one of the things that I really excelled at my high school career. At the same time, I was one of my team's best blockers. I think that's what helps me, I have a complete game to be able to do both."

It's expected that Kentucky will retain four of six tight ends that were on the 2022 roster. Lemaster is currently the Cats' only TE in the 2023 class, and head coach Mark Stoops is yet to add any from the transfer portal. 

Lemaster is yet to decide, but there remains a chance he'll sign during the early signing period from Dec. 21-23. Otherwise, National Signing Day is set for Feb. 1. 

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