Keaten and Destin Wade remain all-in with UK
No doubt Steve Clinkscale was the “lead face” of the Kentucky football program when it came to recruiting twins Destin and Keaten Wade of Tennessee. However, the two four-star recruits did not verbally commit to UK just because of Clinkscale.
That’s why the UK secondary coach’s departure for Michigan was certainly noticed by the Wades but it does not change their commitments to UK.
“Position coaches are important,” Valerie Wade, the players’ mother, said. “But we all love the head coach (Mark Stoops) and the Kentucky program. We are sad to see him go and wish him nothing but the best. We understanding coaching is a fluid situation and coaches are going to make moves.”
Still, as soon as Clinkscale took the Michigan job, speculation started that the Wades might change their minds about UK.
“Not going anywhere. Peer recruiting!” Valerie Wade tweeted after Clinkscale’s departure.
A day later, she tweeted this, “Committed to a program, not a person.”
Kentucky recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow reached out to the Wade family not long after Clinkscale made his decision.
“Coach Marrow is fantastic,” Valerie Wade said.
Her sons have not wavered about their reasons for wanting to be at Kentucky — Keaten is a talented outside linebacker and Destin a quarterback/athlete.
“They are young and still trying to learn the whole college-level experience,” Valerie Wade said Thursday. “They are excited about going to Kentucky and building something special. They are excited about the recruits coming in for 2022.”
They plan to attend camp at UK this summer where they can do individual workouts for coaches.
Are other schools still contacting the twins, especially after Clinkscale’s departure?
“We still hear from Tennessee occasionally,” she said.
