Kentucky Banner Boys spark viral recruiting movement
A simple fraternity idea turned into a viral, campus-wide recruiting movement fueled by the passion of Kentucky fans.
What started as a joke between two Kentucky students who are fans of the basketball program has quickly become one of the most talked-about recruiting storylines this spring. Sigma Chi sophomores Theo Timmerding and Gabe Mingus detailed how the now-viral “Kentucky Banner Boys” movement came together. Theo said the idea began Saturday when they saw news that five-star recruit Tyran Stokes would be visiting Kentucky on Monday.
By Sunday, Gabe and Theo were ready to make it happen. At first, they were struggling to find cheap bed sheets, as they debated whether it was worth the cost, but ultimately decided to go through with it anyway. They quickly got to work and put the first banner up for Stokes that said “Welcome Home Tyran” as it started to get attention across social media.
As more recruiting news followed, they added two more banners, including one for BYU transfer guard Rob Wright and Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman, helping the movement gain even more traction across Big Blue Nation. The inspiration behind the message came from their connection to the program. “So me and Gabe have been die-hard Kentucky fans our whole life, and we think of Kentucky, as I mean, home,” Timmerding tells A Sea of Blue.
“We’re both from here, and I think of the school and the program as home. So we’re like, come home to the program, like we got the best fans in the world. Like we’re BBN’s family.