LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ohio has proven a fertile recruiting ground for Kentucky football in the Mark Stoops era, but the staff might have nabbed its best player from the Buckeye State yet Sunday with the commitment of four-star wide receiver JaVonte Richardson for its 2017 class.

Rivals.com ranks Richardson, from Maple Heights, as the No. 84 recruit in the entire class of 2017 and the No. 2 recruit in Ohio. He picked Kentucky over offers from Michigan, Illinois, Purdue and others.

He is rated as the 31st best wide receiver in the class of 2017 by 247Sports. Rivals rates Richardson as an athlete, but Kentucky is recruiting him as a wide receiver.

With Richardson’s commitment, Kentucky’s 2017 class is ranked 10th nationally by the 247Sports Composite. He is the third commitment in the class rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals. Five of the 11 pledges in the class are from Ohio.

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Stoops signed 30 high school recruits from Ohio in his first four classes, but just four were ranked as top-10 prospects in the state by Rivals. Running back Mikel Horton previously held the distinction as the highest-rated Kentucky recruit from the state as the No. 4 Ohio prospect in the 2014 class.