Four-star Cleveland running back Marquise Davis was the 2023 Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year. (Laura Saltenis/One Nine Sports Photo)
Mark Pope is not the only coach on the Kentucky campus having a big week.
Kentucky football recruiting coordinator has made back-to-back steals from defending national champion Michigan. First, highly-touted freshman defensive back DJ Waller of Youngstown, Ohio, transferred from Michigan to Kentucky. Second, highly-touted high school junior running back Marquise Davis of Cleveland committed to UK over Michigan Wednesday.
“Kentucky checked all the boxes he was looking for,” Cleveland Heights High School coach Mac Stephens told 19 News in Cleveland. “Marquise wanted to go somewhere where he felt he was the priority, where he’d have an opportunity to play as a freshman.”
His coach said he also wanted to eventually play in the NFL and Kentucky sending running backs Benny Snell, Chris Rodriguez and Ray Davis to the NFL impacted him.
“He’s looking for the fit in terms of offensive scheme. Like most young guys he has dreams of playing in the NFL, he wanted to play in an offense that mimicked what you see at the NFL level,” Stephens told 19 News.
The 6-2, 206-pound Davis announced his decision on Kentucky Sports Radio Wednesday morning.
He said out of the 32 offers he had, Kentucky “just felt like home” to him.
“Everybody was really welcoming. They showed me the most love,” he said.
Davis also said this speed “plays a big factor” in what makes him the player he is.
“I weigh around 206 but move like a 190-pounder,” he said.
247Sports has him as the No. 165 overall player in his recruiting class and No. 11 running back. On3.com rated him as the nation’s No. 106 recruit. He’s a consensus four-star player.
Davis had a remarkable junior season in 2023 when he was named the Gatorade Ohio Football Player of the Year. He ran for 2,405 yards and 34 touchdowns and on defense had 91 tackles and three interceptions, including one for a touchdown. The linebacker also had three forced fumbles.
“The fact that Marquise was selected the Gatorade Ohio Football Player of the Year is very indicative of what a phenomenal student-athlete he is,” Stephens said in the Gatorade release. “Marquise embodies the Heights blueprint; which is academic excellence, being socially responsible and giving athletic effort. I am very proud of him and this is just the beginning of success that he will continue to achieve.”
8 Responses
Once again Vince Marrow (& whoever else was involved) with the strong support of Stoops, has raised the level of recruiting and now Stoops needs to get the most out of his assistants to elevate UK to the elite SEC status.
8 wins must become the minimum wins in the regular season, which should only occur no more than 25% of the time.
10 wins must become the standard with expectations to exceed it at least 25% of the time.
Stoops has been here long enough, is paid a whopper salary and has the liberty to pay Assistants at a level that matches Top 10 teams.
7 wins with a bowl loss should not be acceptable with the talent UK is now fielding.
1st – use guests to fire up the team before kickoff & abandon whatever method that induced a daze for over a decade to start the season & nearly every game. I’m available for a small fee & travel expenses & i guarantee great results.
2nd – remove the control & cuffs from the OC !!!
Expectations are a premeditated way to create disappointment. UK can fire Stoops and go back to winning 4-5 games a year with a bowl every 6 years and loose it. That’s what you deserve.
Amen, Jimmy.
Especially, when crap like this comes from people that are NOT part of the team, just go by what they read and what others say. I have been through a whole lot of terrible years with UK football and am happy where we are at this point. Yes, I like winning and yes, I hope UK can win even more, but I don’t expect it and don’t put my hopes on it. Like one of the former presidents at UK stated, "I just want to watch the game and not know who is going to win before it starts".
Amen to that. Late 80s early 90s Kentucky was a dumpster fire.
Any UK fan that expects UK to win 9-10 games on a regular basis is going to be perpetually disappointed. I certainly think that we can occasionally win 10 or maybe 11 games in a special season with the talent we are bringing in. I do agree that 7 win seasons with a bowl loss is no longer acceptable.
He reminds me of a young adrian peterson.. He’s long and uber athletic. He’s going to get a ton of reps as a freshman. Pattersons sophomore year these 2 will be fighting for the starter spot but I think but I think you take a 2 headed monster with both of them. Whoever wins the starting gig maybe gets 60/40 splits with the backup. Maybe 40 more carries or so…
I think after this year when Kentucky surprises everyone and goes 10-2 (6-2) in a loaded SEC the world will see that Kentucky has finally caught up with the pack. Maybe we finish tied for second or tied for first. Last year I predicted 8-5 I wasn’t sold on the offensive line and that can make you or break you. But remember me saying this we will have a top 3 offensive line in the SEC this year. Our QB play will be night and day better than last year. Our receivers will be a year older with 2 years starting experience already under their belt. You haven’t seen nothing yet. Watch how much more dominant we are when they are not relying only on their athletic ability but know what to and where to go to get open. The line will give them plenty of time for Brock to set up and make a excellent throw. Another thing you will notice get better this year is the yards after catch. I think they will be stronger and you won’t see as many drops as well. The tight end play will be the best its been in over 10 years. The play calling will be more improved and at a faster pace to get more plays in. Trey is a more power runner than we had last year with davis. You will see bigger holes blown open for him.
I could talk all day about the defense too. Our front 7 will be one of the best in the SEC our 2nd team will also be great on the line. If our linebackers stay healthy it will help alot because we are kinda thin on experience but the starters are the greatest they have been in the Mark Stoops era. I think the line and linebackers are the best Stoops has had. Secondary is very very good too. Way better than last year which shouldn’t be too hard. Receiving room is the best under stoops tight ends best under stoops offensive line is the deepest and best its been under stoops. QB play will be the best under stoops. Running back I will have to see but I think its average for Kentucky.
For those who have difficulty with the English language, I did not say to fire Stoops. Just let him know the stage is set after a lot of money never before invested in UK FB has been flowing into the FB program and now recruits are well above average, so Stoops needs to review his practices which have fallen short and correct them.
I remember the UK Homecoming game when Houston beat UK 0-56 or close to that, so I know Stoops has done an impressive job to lift UK from the deep hole chjoker left the program in. After 10 years, it’s time to raise the program up out of the middle of the SEC pack into the elite status.
Don’t be so quick to attack an ole 3/4 century old UK fan whose seen a lot of good, bad and ugly FB.
UK to move up
I think 8 wins or better should be the norm. Anything more than that will be a very exciting year. I think Stoops surprises alot of people this year. We were a good offensive line away from being very good the last couple of years and we addressed that issue. Our secondary will finally have some experience which will help us get out of the 3rd and 7 situations which we couldn’t get done last year. The defense is going to cause a ton of turnovers this year. The only thing that makes me angry when I watch is that we are to conservative on defense but I think that changes this yeae with how good our defense is going to be. JJ Weaver is going to be a monster this year he’s finally 100% and hasn’t been the last couple of years. D. Jackson will be one of the best linebackers in the SEC as well then you have the Georgia transfer POP. He is extremely talented and is like a man amongst boys. The same with our line extremely experienced. We have to have the most experience in the SEC with our front 7. The Michigan transfer DJ Waller is a game changer. With him and Hairston at the cornerback positions will let jantzen Dunn play more free. You havent seen nothing yet with Deone Walker. He will completely dominate this year along with Octavios oxendine who is very underrated. He’s been banged up the last couple years and he’s 100%. Keeshan Silver is who you need to really keep an eye on he’s a beast. Remember me saying this Silver is going to be unstoppable. He’s so agile like Walker. With walker and silver wooooweeee be ready to see the greatest defense in Kentucky’s history. Mark it down. The offense will be much improved as well. Its going to be Avery exciting year. We are easily a top 20 team but I like being ranked 23. We are gonna shock alot of people this year. We might even sneak into the football playoff at the end of the year. I’m calling for 9 or 10 wins easily this year. As long as injuries don’t mount up we will be unstoppable.