Joe Sloan’s fingerprints were all over Kenny Darby’s Kentucky debut.
The Wildcats’ first high school commitment of the Will Stein era didn’t come to Lexington because he already knew Stein. In fact, Darby said his path to Kentucky was tied much more closely to the coach Stein brought with him from LSU.
“I was committed to LSU and (Joe Sloan) was the offensive coordinator at LSU,” Darby said. “So when he got here, I was like, I have to go play for Coach Sloan.”
That connection mattered from the start. Darby, a four-star wide receiver from Bossier City, Louisiana, originally pledged to LSU in November 2024 and stayed committed there for more than a year, even after LSU moved on from Sloan and Brian Kelly. He reopened his recruitment on Dec. 2, the day after Stein was announced as Kentucky’s new coach, and committed to the Wildcats on Dec. 5, the same day it became public that Stein had hired Sloan as offensive coordinator.
Darby was the only high school recruit to sign with Kentucky in December who came aboard after the new staff was in place. The rest were holdovers from Mark Stoops’ final class.
One game into the 2026 season, that decision already looks significant.
Darby opened his college career with three catches for a team-high 74 yards and a touchdown in Kentucky’s 45-13 win over Youngstown State. He made his first grab on the opening drive, turning it into a 33-yard gain, then finished the night with a 37-yard catch-and-run for the Wildcats’ final touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“You could stick Kenny Darby anywhere, and he’d make a play,” quarterback Kenny Minchey said. “...I think it was a good confidence booster for him and me really to just connect on a bigger play like that, especially in the first drive.
“...He’s not going to say it, but he wants the ball, and I’m giving him the ball.”
Darby’s rise was already building well before kickoff. When the transfer portal opened in January, there was a stretch where he looked like he might be Kentucky’s top wideout by default.
All but one player from the main receiver rotation last season entered the portal, and the staff missed on several major portal targets. Then sophomore DJ Miller announced he was staying.
On the final day before the spring enrollment deadline, former Oklahoma and LSU receiver Nic Anderson and former Southern Utah standout Shane Carr also joined the roster.
That eased some of the pressure on Darby, though he still made a splash in the public spring game with a touchdown on a reverse pass from Carr.
He kept drawing praise through August camp, and after the second scrimmage, Stein essentially said Darby had secured the slot job.
“I think the biggest growth he’s taken is in taking personal accountability for his own growth,” wide receivers coach Joe Price said. “He does a really good job of studying the installs and studying the scripts before practice in a fashion that helps him learn it the best.
“...He’s an electric player that plays really fast, so we hope some positive things happen for him this season.”
Those positives showed up immediately in the opener. Darby brushed off any idea that being the first high school commitment of the Stein era created extra weight.
He also said that while he dealt with some homesickness after arriving at Kentucky, he never questioned whether he could make an early impact. The nerves were there before his first college game, but the preparation Price praised helped settle him.
By now, Darby knows Stein well enough to appreciate what he’s getting in the offense - “The things he did at Oregon, he’s a mastermind,” Darby said of Stein - but after his strong debut, he still pointed back to Sloan as the coach who made Lexington the destination.
Stein was blunt about that, too.
“My relationship (with him) was zero,” Stein said. “It was Joe Sloan and his relationship working at LSU, recruiting him.
… It was really all Joe. That’s why we hire guys like Joe and Jay (Bateman) who have been in this league, who recruit this area of the world: To get great players like Kenny.”
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The early part of Will Steins first season at Kentucky is about to meet the kind of barometer fans circle on the calendar. Alabama comes to Lexington in Week 2 as a 10.5-point favorite, with traders giving the Crimson Tide a 78% chance to win and the over/under sitting at 49.5 points, a number that suggests the matchup could still have plenty of movement if Kentucky can make it uncomfortable.
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Kentuckys Backfield Could Be A Real SEC Problem If It Holds Up
Kentuckys offense looked more like a group with answers than one searching for an identity in its win over Youngstown State, leaning on both the passing game and a steady ground attack to keep things moving. The backfield, in particular, stood out as a source of balance, with CJ Baxter and Jason Patterson both making their presence felt and Patterson finishing as the teams top rusher.
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