By LARRY VAUGHT
He was on a recruiting call with Kentucky defensive line coach Anwar Stewart and then later that night found out UK head coach Mark Stoops had been fired. That left Texas high school defensive lineman Ben Duncum in a bit of a quandary considering national signing day was only two days away.
“It was definitely crazy,” said the 6-foot-5, 255-pound lineman from Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas. “I didn’t talk to coach Stew for two days and was not sure what was going on. Once I found out coach (Will) Stein was the favorite to be the new coach, I got on a group chat with all the (Kentucky) commits. Finally Coach called one of our guys and said he was going to be the coach.”
That was especially good news for Duncum, a four-star prospect and top 300 player nationally by Rivals, because Stein once coached at Lake Travis under Hank Carter, Duncum’s high school coach.
“I asked my coach about him (Stein) and coach Carter got hold of him pretty quickly to confirm everything,” Duncum said. “I called coach Stew and he told me he was going to stay too, so I was ready to sign. It was very stressful the two days I didn’t talk to coach Stew and not knowing what he was going to do. I trusted him and understood it was stressful for him, too.”
Duncum picked Kentucky over Auburn, Colorado, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Wisconsin and Houston. He had over 100 tackles combined his junior and senior seasons.
“Coach Carter having that connection made it a lot easier for me. I loved Kentucky but did not want to go there with no connection. I wanted to have some ties to someone, so coach Carter knowing him (Stein) made a big difference,” Duncum said. “My parents probably stressed out more than me. I tried to let them know everything that was happening. I tried to stay calm because I knew how much they cared and worried.”
Duncum did not talk to Stein until a day after he was officially hired.
“I was supposed to call him the night before but he went to that basketball thing (UK game). He also had to talk to the donors before me and I knew that was really important,” Duncum said. “He called me the next morning at 6 a.m. right before I officially signed. He was excited and talked a lot about coach Carter and working for him.
“Coach Carter said he was a really smart guy and very ambitious. He’s a nice genuine dude that is really easy to like and respect.”
However, Stewart’s role is what kept Duncum connected to Kentucky.
“He was the dude who wanted me the most out of any coach and acted like he cared and was so genuine. He’s put out a bunch of NFL guys. Every year Kentucky has a good D-line. I wanted to play for him,” Duncum said.
Lake Travis went 26-4 in the two years Stein was the offensive coordinator there before going back to the collegiate ranks. Carter is convinced Duncum can have a successful career at Kentucky,
“He played on the edge for us but also played inside when he was younger,” Carter said. “For a big guy, he is athletic and can bend. He’s explosive and can run a 4.7 or 4.8 (second 40-yard dash). He is still growing into his body and I think eventually he will be a mountain of a man, the kind of player you have to have in the SEC.
“His grandfather played in the NFL, his dad played at Texas and his brother played at SMU. It’s just a family of football players.”
Carter said not only is Duncum physical but he’s also smart.
“Football is very important to him and he cares about it a lot,” Carter said. “He grew up knowing that being a good football player was part of his pedigree. He got a flurry of over 30 offers last spring. Only two or three of them fired him up and Kentucky was definitely one of the three and that never really changed.”
