SI All-American Watch List: 11 Kentucky commits and 25 key UK targets named

Top 10 position rankings start this week; preseason SI99 out in August

Kentucky isn't just a basketball school. Coach Mark Stoops has slowly but surely pushed his long-struggling program past respectability, as the Wildcats enter 2020 having posted four consecutive winning records – including an  8-5 campaign last season that culminated in a thrilling victory over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl.

And young football players across the country, it's clear, have begun taking notice of UK's rise.

11 prospects already committed to Kentucky and 25 other rising high school seniors considering the Wildcats have been named candidates for the 2020 Sports Illustrated All-America team. Headlining the group is quarterback Kaiya Sheron, a dynamic runner with high-level throwing mechanics.

Listed below is the full breakdown of UK verbals and prime targets on the SI All-American watch list.

VERBAL COMMITS

WR Dekel Crowdus Jr./5-foot-10.5, 165/Lexington, Ky.

WR Christian Lewis/6-3, 190/Pleasant Grove, Ala.

WR Chauncey Magwood/6-0, 187/Leesburg, Ga.

S Jordan Lovett/6-2, 195/Radcliff, Ky.

OT Paul Rodriguez/6-5, 305/Mason, Ohio

OT David Wohlabaugh/6-6, 280/Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

DE Kahlil Saunders/6-5, 270/Huntsville, Ala.

DE Martez Thrower/6-1, 210/Rochelle, Ga.

QB Kaiya Sheron/6-3, 195/Somerset, Ky.

RB Lavell Wright/6-1, 210/Radcliff, Ky.

TOP TARGETS

LB Emile Aime/5-10, 205/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

LB Deshauwn Alleyne/6-1, 210/Port Saint Lucie, Fla.

OG Jager Burton/6-3, 270/Lexington, Ky.

OG Colin Henrich/6-3, 300/Washington, D.C.

TE Jordan Dingle/6-4, 235/Bowling Green, Ky.

DT Dorien Ford/6-4, 290/Pittsburgh, Pa.

DT James Gillespie/6-2, 300/Woodbridge, Va.

DT Patrick Tukes/6-3, 280/Mcrae, Ga.

DT Tim Williams/6-2, 254/Clearwater, Fla.

OLB Mikai Gbayor/6-2, 210/Irvington, N.J.

OLB Jabril McNeill/6-4, 225/Raleigh, N.C.

OLB Damon Owens/6-1, 200/Brentwood, Tenn.

WR Kamonte Grimes/6-2, 180/Naples, Fla.

WR Malik McClain/6-4, 195/Bradenton, Fla.

WR Brandon Schabert/6-0, 180/Delray Beach, Fla.

WR Quincy Skinner Jr./6-1, 175/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

WR Jaquez Smith/6-0, 190/Hapeville, Ga.

WR Jace Williams/6-3, 185/Grand Rapids, Mich.

CB Adrian Huey/5-11, 160/Nashville, Tenn.

S Dink Jackson/6-2, 185/Melbourne, Fla.

RB Joshua McCray/6-0, 205/Enterprise, Ala.

RB Joseph McKay/6-0, 210/Phenix City, Ala.

RB Kyree Young/6-1, 200/Akron, Ohio

QB Cam'Ron Ransom/6-3, 224/Seffner, Fla.

ATH Zamon Ross/6-1, 200/Ellaville, Ga.

More than 1,000 student-athletes, representing every state in the country, are SI All-American candidates. Video highlights, scouting analyses and a list of each player’s college verbal commitment and/or top college contenders can be found on their bio pages, broken down by state, at SIAllAmerican.com.

Over the coming weeks, SI will unveil its preseason top 10 for each of 14 position groups (kicking off with quarterbacks this week). SI will unveil its initial top 99 ranking, the SI99, on August 24.

The evaluation process will continue throughout the season “until the list of 1,000 contenders coalesces around just 25 young men who can say proudly they are the best of the best -- they are Sports Illustrated All-Americans,” said SI Director of Football Recruiting John Garcia, Jr.

The candidates will be narrowed to 250 in October and 99 in November, and will culminate with 25 first-team Sports Illustrated All-Americans saluted at SI’s annual Sportsperson of the Year banquet in New York in December.