Will Stein was ready to make waves the second he accepted the UK football head coaching job.
Stein was named the Kentucky head coach on December 1, 2025, and just four days later, he nabbed a massive four-star recruit in Kenny Darby.
Darby was a consensus four-star wide receiver ranked as high as No. 188 overall by Rivals. The shift wideout caught 83 passes for 1,124 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior in high school, while rushing for 609 yards on 49 carries with nine touchdowns.
The 6-1, 180-pounder
chose Kentucky over Alabama, LSU, Colorado, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, among many other suitors. Darby was committed to LSU and followed offensive coordinator Joe Sloan from Baton Rouge to Lexington.
Darby has the chance to make a splash now in his first season donning the blue and white, and folks are paying attention nationally. 247 Sports has named Darby to their Preseason True Freshman All-American Team.
“The explosive Darby is an elite separator who’s a threat to find the end zone any time the ball finds his hands,” Andrew Ivins wrote. “The Wildcats are hoping for big things out of Nic Anderson after an injury-riddled 2025 season at LSU. Darby could give them quite the duo in Will Stein’s offense.”
One of Kentucky’s biggest question marks going into this season is wide receiver, so Darby making headlines would be welcome news for Stein, Sloan, and Co. Let’s hope the national pundits are right.
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