When Alex Afari came out of Lakota West, he was a four-star recruit ranked amongst the top 250 players nationally. After getting offers from 12 Power 5 schools, Alex would choose Kentucky to make his future home.

In 2022, he started three games and had 21 tackles as a true freshman. This season, he is starting each game and has 13 tackles, including 1.5 TFLs. He also recorded a fumble recovery, a forced fumble, and a quarterback hit. All of that would lead up to this last Saturday against Florida.

Alex was a large contributor to Kentucky’s defense in Saturday’s game. He had a career-high nine tackles, including five solo tackles and one for loss (-1 yard). He would also have two tackles on third down that forced punts, plus a fourth-down stop that turned over the ball on downs. Alex would help lead Kentucky to a 33-14 win over ranked Florida.

As talented as Alex has been, UK associate coach Vince Marrow thinks he will be even better and become a future defensive star for the Wildcats.

“He is a dog. I put him up there with (UK defensive lineman) Deone (Walker). He’s just under 6-3 215 (pounds) and he will strike you,” Marrow said.

‘QBox “We held our breath until he signed. We thought Ohio State or Notre Dame would come after him harder.” QEnd’.

“He is going to have a great career. This is going to be a really big year for him. I love him and so does (UK defensive coordinator Brad) White. He’s going to be an impact player in so many ways.”

With Saturday’s win over Florida, Kentucky has officially moved into the top 25 in the AP Polls, currently sitting at #20. They play their next game on October 7th, against #1 Georgia. Both teams are 5-0 and tied for first in the SEC. The game will be at 7 pm on ESPN.