Burlington (N.J.) The Pennington School three-star offensive tackle Ian Walker has committed to Kentucky, according to Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett.
The 6-foot-5, 305-pounder chose head coach Will Stein and the Wildcats over the likes of Florida, Nebraska and Ohio State.
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Walker is the No. 408 overall prospect and No. 35 OT in the 2027 cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 8 recruit in New Jersey.
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UK continues to roll on the recruiting trail and it has now added another trench monster to the class. Walker visited Lexington this spring and has felt the love from position coach Cutter Leftwich. He’s already locked in an official visit with the SEC program, too.
“I mean, from the first moment (Leftwich) called me it was all gas, no brakes,” Walker told Justin Rowland of KSR+ earlier this month. “Coach is very transparent and communicates with me basically every day. It’s basically everything I’m looking for.”
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Walker becomes commit No. 15 for the Cats this cycle, adding to a class that ranks No. 16 nationally, according to the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. That’s a nearly 40-spot improvement from Mark Stoops’ final class in 2026, which finished No. 53 nationally and dead last in the SEC. This crop, meanwhile, sits at No. 7 in the league — notably ahead of programs like Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn.
Kentucky keeps stacking commitments
While Stein and the new UK staff are yet to coach a game at Kroger Field, they’ve already won over a good chunk of Big Blue Nation thanks to their impressive recruiting efforts. Walker is the ninth prospect to choose the Wildcats since the beginning of April and he’s also now the eighth top-500 commit overall.
The highlight of the spring was landing Prospect Heights (Ill.) John Hersey four-star quarterback Jake Nawrot, the No. 2 QB in the Rivals300 rankings. He could be the passer of the future in the Bluegrass.
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“Nawrot’s a prospect we really like on film, he put a ton of high-difficulty throws on tape as a junior,” Rivals’ Charles Power recently said. “Nawrot has the projectable size at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, he’s a multi-sport athlete with a bunch of fluid movement skills and just looks to be a natural at the position. He blew up as a junior in his first year as a varsity starter. Highly-accurate passer, instinctive, can fit the football into tight windows.”
The Cats have added some serious firepower on the defensive side of the ball, too. Rolesville (N.C.) four-star safety Marquis Bryant is a former North Carolina commit who locked in with Kentucky on April 29. He’s the No. 27 safety in the nation.
Prattville (Ala.) four-star defensive lineman Elijah Brown and Rocky River (Ohio) four-star safety Tristin Hughes also pledged last month. The up-to-date UK class can be seen here.
