The Hurry-Up: Dane Key is Kentucky’s No. 1 junior and is receiving interest from the Bucks, versatile Te'Sean Smoot building relationships with OSU, and IMG hires Pepper Johnson. https://t.co/RqYVgYqh3X— Eleven Warriors (@11W) July 7, 2020 KEY, KENTUCKY'S NO. 1 RISING JUNIOR, IS RECEIVING The chorus of Nelly’s 2004 hit “Heart of a Champion” echoes throughout Frederick Douglass High School’s football stadium in Lexington, Kentucky on Monday morning – an early 8 a.m. wakeup call and throwback pump-up song serving as the background to kickstart the Broncos’ second week of summer workouts. The song is an appropriate tone-setter because at the same time as the words “ain’t no way they can stop me now” kick in, Fredrick Douglass head coach Nathan McPeek is detailing one of the most impressive single plays from his squad’s 2019 season – one in which it fell a touchdown short of a state championship in the state’s second-highest level of competition (Class 5A). That play? A leaping one-handed catch in the end zone by Dane Key – the Broncos’ 6-3, 170-pound star outside receiver who has potential to become a highly sought after prospect in the class of 2022. “As a sophomore last year, he was on SportsCenter Top 10 with this one-handed catch – an amazing one-handed catch,” McPeek told Eleven Warriors. That play wound up No. 3 on that September night’s Top 10, and it was indicative of the traits the young receiver possesses. “Dane is really long. He’s a prototypical outside receiver at the college level,” McPeek said. “He’s about 6-3, has big hands and runs really good routes. He’ll go up and get the football. “We didn’t throw it as well as we normally do last year, so he got a lot of double teams his way. But, as he would say, if you’re gonna double me, then we’ve got numbers in the box to run the football. He’s a team guy. He’s a guy that wants to win, and he obviously wants to make plays for his team.” Key is the teammate of one of Ohio State’s top-tier targets in the 2021 class, offensive lineman Jager Burton, and the two of them had plans to visit Columbus together in the last weekend of April – with Key telling Eleven Warriors ahead of that scheduled visit how much he was looking forward to meeting Brian Hartline for the first time in person. That trip was obviously canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recruiting dead period put in place, but that hasn’t stopped the Buckeyes from showing interest in Key. “He’s been offered by 14 or 15 D-I teams – Oregon, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Maryland. There’s been a lot of talk from the Ohio States and Clemsons of the world about him as well,” McPeek said. “Obviously, not being able to go to those camps and showcases this summer where those coaches can see him might hurt, but at the end of the day, he’s got the ability to play at those schools.” The Buckeyes have not yet offered, but McPeek says “they’ve asked a lot of questions about him. They’ve shown a lot of interest in him. Obviously, that’s up to them and their recruiting staff on if they wanna do it or not.” There’s a long way to go in the recruiting process for Key, who is bound to see a host of offers eventually come his way – though with the loss of the spring evaluation period, those offers may not come until he’s in the middle of his junior season.
Check out Dane Key Sophomore season by Dane Key on @hudl https://t.co/PNlVrsGOBR #hudl— OSUBasketballJunkie (@ScarletBuckeye2) July 8, 2020
Another No. 1 prospect anxious to check out Ohio State https://t.co/f0UiwY1q6e via @247sports— OSUBasketballJunkie (@ScarletBuckeye2) July 8, 2020
Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass 2022 four-star WR Dane Key having a big junior season, talking a lot with #Kentucky #Oregon and #Texas among others: https://t.co/K1fT0a03oD— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong_) November 21, 2020
Four-star 2022 WR Dane Key had his first call with #Kentucky's new offensive coordinator yesterday."We just wanted to reach out to each other and start a relationship."ARTICLE: https://t.co/u3GWzjBgs9 pic.twitter.com/vuPtlTkmtN— Josh Helmholdt (@JoshHelmholdt) January 28, 2021
Four-star WR Dane Key dropped his Top 10 last week. Wisconsin and South Carolina were Key's most recent offers, and both made the cut: https://t.co/p0TFcYY5xe pic.twitter.com/4IEL5062At— Josh Helmholdt (@JoshHelmholdt) April 6, 2021