One of the Joker Phillips' commitments retained by Mark Stoops in his first Kentucky recruiting class, MacGinnis redshirted in 2013 but burst onto the scene in 2014 to earn first-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press as a redshirt freshman. As a redshirt freshman MacGinnis set the school records for made field goals (21), longest field goal (54 yards) and points scored in a season (104). He tied for the SEC lead in points per game (8.7). Of MacGinnis' 21 field goals, eight came from 40 yards or longer.
