Dom Black Trusted the Process and Put Tri-Village on the Recruiting Map
By Jesse Swafford
The four-star Kentucky commit could have chased bigger programs and brighter spotlights. Instead, Black stayed home, trusted his teammates and proved that if you’re good enough, they’ll find you.
Long before the stars, scholarship offers and SEC commitment, Dom Black was simply another kid playing football at Tri-Village.
In fact, Black doesn’t hesitate when describing the player he remembers being as a freshman.
“Mediocre at best.”
That’s what makes everything that has happened since even more meaningful.
Today, Black is a four-star prospect committed to Kentucky, preparing for an opportunity to play football in the SEC. But when he was younger, football wasn’t necessarily the sport he envisioned opening those doors.
“At first I didn’t realize what football could do for me,” Black said. “I was lost in the process my sophomore year up until camp season when I first started getting offers. Up until that point, football was just another sport I played.”
Then the offers started arriving.
The attention followed. Recruiting rankings appeared next to his name. Eventually, Black went from an excited three-star prospect to one of the more highly regarded players in his class.
That recognition showed Black what might be possible, but he says it never changed what needed to happen next.
“At the end of the day, rankings don’t matter,” Black said. “I continue to put in work and not let that stuff get to my head. But it’s also a testimony to the work I have put in. I try to continue being the same Dom no matter what happens.”
(Photo by Jesse Swafford / CSwaff Media)
Staying Home
As Black’s recruitment grew, he faced a decision familiar to talented athletes from smaller schools.
Leave for a larger program and potentially gain more exposure — or stay home.
Black chose Tri-Village.
For him, the decision wasn’t complicated.
“I have grown up with these guys my whole life and trust them,” Black said. “I trusted the process at the end of the day. If you are good enough, coaches will find you. I believed in that, and it ended up working out.”
teammates and friends he grew up with at Tri-Village. (Photo Provided by Dom Black)
It’s a message that carries weight coming from someone whose recruiting journey ultimately led to the SEC.
Black didn’t need to leave New Madison to be discovered. Instead, he continued working and waited for his opportunity.
Patience, he says, may be one of the most misunderstood parts of recruiting.
“It’s a very long process and you just have to wait your turn,” Black said. “Everybody’s process is different and all recruits need to know that. God has a plan for everybody, and they need to continue to put in work and be the best version of themselves.”
Black understands why younger athletes might look at his recruitment differently.
They see Kentucky.
They see four stars.
They see scholarship offers and recruiting attention.
What they didn’t necessarily see was the freshman who wasn’t yet sure whether playing college football was even realistic.
“People see all the fancy stuff at the end but don’t realize I was just a normal freshman,” Black said. “Mediocre at best. I was a normal kid who trusted the process and put in work to get myself here today. Just having patience and trusting that my time would come.”
Why Kentucky
Eventually, patience presented Black with another challenge.
After spending years hoping for opportunities, he had enough of them that he needed to choose.
Black narrowed his recruitment to a handful of schools before Kentucky separated itself from the others.
The deciding factor wasn’t a ranking, conference logo or recruiting pitch.
It was relationships.
“What made UK stand out was my relationship with all the coaches,” Black said. “I was myself around them, and I think that’s huge. They did a fantastic job winning me over in my recruitment. Also, building relationships with my entire family stood out.”
With his college decision made, Black still has another chapter to finish.
He’s back on the field at Tri-Village with many of the same teammates he grew up alongside.
Only now, every opponent knows exactly who he is.
There are expectations that come with being a Kentucky commit playing high school football in a small community. Black acknowledges the pressure, but he’s trying not to let it interfere with what remains of his final season.
“I’m out there with my guys one last time having fun and playing ball,” Black said. “It’s one of those things you have to embrace because time goes fast. But obviously my job on the field remains the same.”
(Photo by Jesse Swafford / CSwaff Media)
Still Dom
Recruiting websites know the prospect.
College coaches know the player.
People scrolling through social media see the offers, rankings and highlights.
Black’s teammates see something else.
“I’m a very competitive guy,” he said. “Doesn’t matter what it is. I think that is a great thing to have when it comes to working hard and pushing others to get better — having a competitive edge.”
It’s part of the identity Black says he has tried to maintain throughout a process that can quickly change how a young athlete is perceived.
Asked what the younger version of himself would think if he could see where football has taken him today, Black returned to the same idea that has defined much of his journey.
Trust the process.
“I think he would be most proud of me for trusting the process and continuing to get better even when it felt like playing at the next level was impossible,” Black said. “Also for continuing to be myself throughout this whole process.”
Someday, Black’s Tri-Village career may be summarized with a few easy descriptions.
Four-star recruit.
Kentucky commit.
SEC football player.
But those aren’t necessarily the things he hopes people in New Madison remember.
“I hope they remember me as a very outgoing guy who tried to have an impact on everybody,” Black said. “Also just trying to make others better around me.”
The stars and offers came later.
Before all of it, there was a kid at a small school who kept working, stayed with the teammates he’d known his entire life and believed that if he became good enough, someone would eventually find him.
They did.
And through everything that followed, Black’s goal has remained remarkably simple:
Keep working. Keep competing. And keep being Dom.
About Context
Context is a CSwaff Media original series that goes beyond the highlights, statistics and headlines to tell more of the story behind the athletes, coaches and personalities who shape sports.
