UCF offers Sanford Seminole freshman receiver Holden
Kenyon Holden didn’t even play varsity football for Sanford Seminole this past season, instead spending his freshman year on junior varsity.
No matter to UCF, however, as Knights coaches liked enough of what they saw during current spring workouts that they reached into the Seminole pipeline once again and offered the freshman receiver.
“I’m very excited and that was really unexpected,” said Holden, who was offered Thursday by UCF receivers coach Grant Heard, through Seminole head coach Eric Lodge.
“I thought it was just going to be a normal practice day for me. It says I have what they’re looking for, but I know showing them what I got at practice isn’t the only thing I got to do. I got to show I got it on game days and in the classroom.”
Holden, who carries a 3.6 GPA, may not have played his freshman season at the varsity level, but he said he uses every day at Seminole practice to compete hard and get better.
“Every day we’re always competing to make each other better, and not only that but to make our competition not look so great,” Holden said. “I will do my best on [certain] plays in practice and that way when our DB gets in the game, he’ll know I did that to him in practice so he’ll know he can do better in the game. He’s kind of got a feeling on how to stop it.”
Holden is a big receiver at 6-foot-3, 170 pounds, and UCF likely expects him to put on a few more pounds and perhaps even grow taller with three high school seasons remaining.
UCF has had good luck with Seminole recruiting in the past with players such as Brandon ‘Bam’ Moore, Gabe Davis (now with the NFL Bills), Davis’ brother Jordan Davis, and then signing three players from Sanford this past recruiting cycle: the Henderson twins, Demari and Ja’Cari, and their best friend Kameron Moore, who is Bam’s younger brother.
The UCF offer does not sit lightly with Holden.
“It gives me motivation like, ‘Don’t stop and work harder,’ ” Holden said. “I just put my foot in the door. Now I got to walk through it.”
Seminole players get plenty of attention:
Another freshman, running back Avis Brown (5-11, 180), was offered by Iowa State this past week, and scholarship offers also have gone out to 2024 linebacker Jordyn Perkins (6-2, 185) from Kentucky and UMass; 2025 safety Ethan Pritchard (6-1, 180) now has Purdue, Iowa State and Kentucky to go along with Miami, Minnesota and USF; 2024 defensive tackle Preston Watson (6-1, 245) was offered by Iowa State; and 2025 offensive lineman Max Buchanan now has Penn State, Iowa State and USF.
Osceola CB Jackson offered by Alabama, Georgia:
Ja’Keem Jackson already had 30 scholarship offers this spring and it was becoming pretty common to hear from numerous coaches for the 6-2, 184-pound Kissimmee Osceola cornerback. But offer Nos. 31 and 32 weren’t exactly of the mainstream variety. When Alabama and Georgia come along with scholarship offers, it means something to high-school recruits.
“I was surprised, shocked really,” Jackson said. “It means a lot. They’re the biggest schools in college football, so it shows me all this hard work I’ve been putting in during the offseason is really paying off and I’m very excited about that.”
Jackson, a two-way player who can also play receiver, said he’s in no hurry to make his college decision.
“I might wait until during the season because the offers are coming in weekly,” he said. “And I still got to build relationships with these coaches and see how they are.”
The recruiters from defending national champion Georgia were co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and defensive backs coach Fran Brown. Alabama coaches were running backs coach Robert Gillespie and cornerbacks coach Travaris ‘T-Rob’ Robinson.
Oviedo 2023 RB Scott finally picks up offers:
D.J. Scott, one of the top returning running backs in the 2023 senior class, has been quite patient. Despite what he has done on the field, which included rushing for 1,015 yards and 12 touchdowns and catching 10 passes for 144 yards and another touchdown as a junior, he remained somewhat obscure in the recruiting cycle.
This week, however, the hardnosed 6-foot, 195-pound running back finally saw some attention. Marshall and Cincinnati jumped on board with a pair of verbal scholarship offers.
“It feels good,” Scott said. “I trusted the process. It feels like I’ve got my confidence up and I’m going the right direction.”
His versatility was not lost on Cincinnati running backs coach Darren Paige. Defensive line coach Ralph Street was the offering coach from Marshall.
“They said they like the way I run the ball and how I’m a physical back,” Scott said. “Cincinnati [coach] said I could be a threedown back.”
Scott is looking forward to his senior season.
“I feel like I can be a lot better with the offensive line I have in front of me,” he said. “We have a lot of good chemistry.”
Scott gives a lot of credit for his versatility to second-year Oviedo head coach Greg Odierno.
“He’s helped a lot. He’s changed me to being both a run and pass running back,” Scott said, who hits his holes fast and has great field vision.
“[Vision] helps me be able to see where the holes are and also make guys miss.”
Oviedo will wrap up its spring season next week by hosting a three-team jamboree against Olympia and Boone.
Etc.: Osceola’s other cornerback 2023 Bo Mascoe was offered by Rutgers this week and also has FAU, Marshall, Miami (Ohio) and Western Kentucky . ... Daytona Beach Mainland 2024 cornerback Zavier Mincey was offered by Texas A&M.