One of the more intriguing players on Kentucky’s 2026 roster will be quarterback Matt Ponatoski. A 4-star prospect from Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ponatoski actually committed to Kentucky with the previous coaching staff led by Mark Stoops. Will Stein, though, helped Ponatoski sign in December as opposed to waiting until the Spring, which was his initial plan.
Another great thing for Ponatoski is that Stein is embracing his greatness on the diamond, leaving the door open for him to play baseball
at Lexington in addition to football.
Stein is also unconcerned with Ponatoski potentially skipping college and going straight to the MLB Draft. The two-sport star is ranked by Baseball America as one of the top 50 MLB Draft prospects in 2026.
“Everything that he’s said to me is that he wants to be a big-time college football player,” Stein said during his opening press conference. “Is it concerning? No. I’m just really grateful to be able to have the chance to coach Matt, and I think his best years are yet to come in football.”
“He’s obviously an outstanding baseball player. I would love to get him on the diamond here at Kentucky, too, and let’s do this thing together.”
Ponatoski is ranked as high as 147th nationally and seventh among QBs in the class of 2026 by ESPN.
For both programs at Kentucky, they could both enjoy Ponatoski’s athletic gifts and benefit highly from him. Stein getting him to move his signing day suggests that Ponatoski really wants to play college football, and potentially college baseball, at the University of Kentucky. That’s great to hear.
