Aliquippa’s Devonshire making a name for himself at Kentucky

By: Greg Macafee
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 | 2:42 PM

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It looks like it didn’t take long for Aliquippa’s MJ Devonshire, the 2018-19 Trib HSSN Boys Athlete of the Year to make a name for himself at Kentucky.

Reports came out Tuesday afternoon that Kentucky’s associate head coach, recruiting coordinator and NFL liaison Vince Marrow said Devonshire, a true freshman at Kentucky this year, is already getting first team reps at defensive back.

News:

Vince Marrow has told us that former 4⭐️ and true freshman MJ Devonshire has been getting a ton of reps at DB with the 1st team and is making a great impression. Don’t be surprised at all to see him make an early impact this season ?? pic.twitter.com/ySbdOK1woW

— ᴮᴮᴺ ? (@KentuckyFB) August 13, 2019

A bit of a news nugget from UK TE Coach/recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow after practice today. One of his signees, defensive back MJ Devonshire, has been getting 1s reps. Marrow said Devonshire is a real player, could have gone anywhere.

— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) August 13, 2019

After his performance at Aliquippa during his junior and senior seasons, it should come as no surprise that Devonshire is already starting to make an impression in Lexington. His former high school teammates weren’t when they heard the news.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.. He’s been like that @Mjdevonshirejr https://t.co/EMOTmXy8ij

— Eli Kosanovich? (@Eliquip2) August 13, 2019

Oh yeah it’s go time‼️‼️‼️‼️ https://t.co/MI0GYznT1r

— Larry Walker Jr? (@Larry14WalkerJr) August 13, 2019

His high school coach wasn’t either.

“No sir,” Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield said when asked if he was surprised about Devonshire receiving first-team reps. “MJ is an impressive young man who continuously works to get better, both athletically and intellectually. I’m not surprised at all. I’m very proud of him.”

Devonshire helped the Quips capture WPIAL and PIAA championships on the football field. He caught 27 passes for 571 yards and also ran for 327 yards on 28 carries. He also racked up 24 touchdowns. But, his impact was even bigger on the defensive side of the ball and on special teams.

During his senior season, Devonshire had eight punt return touchdowns, picked off eight passes, and tallied 31 tackles for the Class 3A state champions.

To add to his success on the gridiron, Devonshire scored 17 points a game on the basketball court and also won state titles in the 200- and 100-meter races in track and field.

It’s important to note that Kentucky lost its entire secondary from last year’s team and four of them are currently signed with NFL teams.

Will Devonshire be one player to fill in those gaps? Only time will tell.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .