GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators' newest addition to the roster looks like a semi and runs like a Camaro.
That is how transfer offensive lineman Kiyaunta Goodwin's high school coach described Goodwin when he signed with Kentucky. Florida announced Wednesday that it has officially added the 6-foot-8, 351-pound Goodwin to the roster after he visited campus last weekend.
Goodwin instantly becomes one of Florida's most highly touted prospects. Coming out of Charlestown (Ind.) High last year, Goodwin was a five-star recruit ranked the No. 2 offensive tackle prospect in the country and 13th overall player in the 2022 signing class by
247Sports.com.
Goodwin chose Florida over Louisville, the school located in Goodwin's hometown that first offered him a scholarship when
he was a 6-foot-7, 370-pound eighth-grader.
Goodwin played his first two seasons at local Louisville high schools before playing his final two prep seasons at Charlestown High across the Ohio River. He was the highest-rated prospect in Kentucky's 2022 signing class but played primarily as a blocker on special teams. He appeared in a pair of games on the offensive line.
Goodwin signed with Kentucky and was a mid-year enrollee last spring, choosing the Wildcats over offers from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State and others.
"It's very gratifying," Kentucky coach Mark Stoops told reporters on National Signing Day. "It's a lot of hard work, a lot of years. Coach [Vince] Marrow has spent so much time with him, along with all of our staff, and so that's really a big get for our program because here's a young man that could truly play anywhere in the United States, any college in the country would take his signature today, and so for us to land him, again, it says a lot about him and staying committed to us."
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The match seemed a good fit from both sides.
"Going somewhere where I'm wanted, and somewhere where I can be a game-changer and a difference-maker,"Â
Goodwin said at the time. "That's always something that I wanted to do."
But in the world of college football, change can happen fast. A year later, Goodwin gets a second chance to make an impact, this time with the Gators, who enter 2023 without four starting offensive lineman from last year's team.
Goodwin joins a UF offensive line that has been rebuilt since the end of last season. Goodwin is the third offensive lineman to join the program via the transfer portal, joining Micah Mazzccua from Baylor and Damieon George Jr. from Alabama.
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