Kentucky Wildcats Football Target Matt Elam Announcing College Choice Thursday

The Kentucky Wildcats are approaching National Signing Day with the potential to finish with one of the best recruiting classes in 2014.

As of now, ESPN has the Cats' current haul of blue-chippers ranked as the No. 19 class in the nation. 247Sports has it ranked as the No. 22 class.

The highest ranking a recruiting service has given UK is the No. 13 ranking by Rivals. However, the Cats know there are still players to add that could help them rise even further by National Signing Day.

The best prospect left on the board is Elizabethtown's Matt Elam. The 6'5", 375-pound defensive tackle is rated as the No. 21 overall prospect by 247Sports and is 64 percent likely to choose Kentucky, according to Josh Edwards of the CatsPause.

Elam announced Sunday night on Twitter that he will make his commitment Thursday, moving it up from his previously scheduled date of February 5 on National Signing Day:

"

I Will Be Making My College Decision On Thursday At 12pm !!! #BBN #Bama ##UK #RollTide

— Matt Elam™6⃣9⃣ (@FballIsLife69) January 27, 2014"

Ed Reinke/Associated Press

Kentucky is going up against the likes of Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide for Elam's commitment but needs him so bad that he could actually see significant playing time with them next year.

UK saw starting defensive tackles Mister Cobble and Donte Rumph graduate this year and also lost Tristan Johnson, the first backup off the bench, to graduation.

If the Cats get a commitment from Elam, 2014 could go down as one of the best recruiting hauls the program has ever gotten, and it could lead to a brighter future for a program that has won only nine games in the previous three seasons combined. 

Jason Marcum is a student in the B/R advanced sports media program. You can find more of his work at Stripe Hype and follow him on Twitter @UK_Fans