Kentucky is finally ready to let Alex Afari loose.
After all the NCAA chaos around fifth-year players from the high school class of 2022, the veteran linebacker has already cleared the biggest hurdle: he’s rostered, eligible and has one game in the books for the Wildcats. Now the focus shifts from legal wrangling to football, and Kentucky coach Will Stein made it clear Tuesday that Afari’s role is about to grow.
“We’re planning on ramping up his workload this week and playing him as much as we can,” Stein said.
Afari’s path to that point has been anything but simple. Louisville Circuit Court Judge Brian Edwards allowed him to join the lawsuit against the NCAA, which effectively gave him a temporary restraining order to play for Kentucky in 2026. The Kentucky Court of Appeals then denied the NCAA’s emergency motion, clearing the way for him to suit up right away.
Kentucky AD and Champions Blue CEO J Batt confirmed Afari was rostered for the season opener against Youngstown State, but Stein still had to decide how much to use him. The Cincinnati native, wearing No. 9, handled kickoffs and later got onto the defense in the third quarter.
That debut was modest, but it was enough to get him back on the field.
“There are moments you’re like, ‘What is going on?'” Stein said Tuesday, reflecting on the back-and-forth with the NCAA, the SEC, other league members and the courts.
“The good thing is that my roster is set. I know who I’m playing with.
I know Afari is on our team and he’s playing. He was the big one, in terms of the five-for-five, that we knew that we had a chance to get and we were able to get him back here.
“But, yeah, it is a wild time in college football. It is what it is.”
Now Kentucky is looking at what Afari can actually do in a bigger role, starting Saturday against Alabama. He’s got 11 regular season games left in his Kentucky career, and Stein made it clear the Wildcats didn’t bring him back just to spot him on special teams or use him in garbage time.
Afari arrives with plenty of mileage already on him: four-year letter winner, 48 games, 31 starts, 193 career tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, three pass breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Against Alabama, Kentucky needs every edge it can find. Stein didn’t hide the fact that Afari is one of the best players on the roster, and he said the plan is to use him accordingly.
“I think so,” Stein said when asked about getting creative with Afari alongside linebackers Grant Godfrey and Bo Barnes. “He’s a very - I mean, he’s a really good athlete.
He’s got range. He can run.
He’s tough. He can tackle.
It’s about getting our best players out there. I mean, it’s just like, offensively, we have personnel groupings.
Same on defense. So, any way that we can use our better players that are skilled, like Alex, we’re going to try to do it.”
For Kentucky, that means Afari’s first appearance was just the opening act. The real test comes now.
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Will Stein Gets An Early Kentucky Test Fans Will Obsess Over
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.
For Stein, the appeal is obvious. This is the sort of SEC test that can shape how a new coach is viewed in a hurry, especially against an Alabama program that has won eight straight in the series dating back to 2003. Kentucky does not need a miracle to make the game matter, but it does need a result that changes the conversation, and that is why this one will have fans watching every snap with a little extra edge. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Is Trusting Its Own Read On Alex Wilkins
Alex Wilkins arrived at Kentucky with the kind of rsum that invites debate. The 6-foot-5 guard showed real production as a freshman at Furman, scoring and creating for others in a way that made him an obvious transfer name, even as some of the broader analytics around his profile remained mixed because of his turnover rate and other red flags. That disconnect is part of what makes his move to Lexington interesting: Kentuckys staff did not simply chase the numbers, they layered them with scouting and their own eyes before deciding he was worth the bet.
For a program that lives under a microscope, trusting that internal read matters. Wilkins has already been the subject of the kind of analytical scrutiny that can follow a player from college to the NBA, with Jaylen Brown-style comparisons surfacing in the discussion, but Kentuckys evaluation leaned on more than spreadsheet debate. The Wildcats believed the fit was there, and now the question is whether that conviction holds up once Wilkins is asked to translate his skill set to a bigger stage. [Read more 🡒]
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.
The bigger question is whether that kind of production can hold up once the schedule tightens and the physical toll starts to matter more. Will Stein sounded encouraged about the position group after the game, but he also knows the Wildcats need that depth to stay intact if they want the offense to keep looking this versatile against SEC competition. [Read more 🡒]