“Game-Changer” – Kentucky lands top-25 QB Matt Ponatoski in massive recruiting coup
BREAKING: Four-Star QB Matt Ponatoski has Committed to Kentucky, he tells me for @rivals
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 6, 2025
The 6’2 195 QB from Cincinnati, OH chose the Wildcats over Oregon, Alabama, & Arkansas
Will play baseball as well
“All Glory to God…Big Blue Nation, let’s do it”https://t.co/BsYop6wxaD pic.twitter.com/He9cXkJVkc
In what may go down as one of the most important recruiting wins of the Mark Stoops era, Matt Ponatoski, a top-25 national quarterback and dual-sport star, has committed to Kentucky.
Yes, Kentucky.
The same school that just beat out Alabama, Arkansas, and Oregon for a blue-chip signal caller, that last year couldn't put up 24 points versus a power 4 school.
Ponatoski, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound product from Cincinnati powerhouse Archbishop Moeller, gives Kentucky its highest-ranked QB commitment since Drew Barker. And while Barker's story was cut short by injuries and off-field complications, Ponatoski brings both elite production and a clean slate — plus two-sport stardom.
The Wildcats didn’t just land a quarterback. They landed the Gatorade National Player of the Year in both football and baseball. Ponatoski is a nationally ranked shortstop with legitimate MLB interest and will play both sports in Lexington.
“Stocky pocket passer with eye-popping production,” said 247Sports Director of Recruiting Andrew Ivins. “Accurate, quick release, and can throw with both pace and touch. Flashes off-balance arm angles and fastball-level velocity at the short and intermediate levels. Baseball arm and football IQ.”
While he isn’t a dual-threat in the traditional sense, Ponatoski manipulates the pocket like a middle infielder and keeps defenses guessing with timing, anticipation, and toughness under pressure. He set multiple school records as a junior, and his turnover ratio was among the best in the country.
The long-term plan? Cutter Boley holds down the job as a redshirt junior in 2026 after Zach Calzada steadies the ship this year, with Ponatoski redshirting or pushing for backup reps. That’s the strongest quarterback room Kentucky has had in the modern era.
This commitment flips the script for a program that badly needed a recruiting jolt. The ripple effect on offensive skill players could be massive.
Make no mistake — this is a program-changing win.
Kentucky just took a swing at the national elite... and connected.