Bleacher Report - Kentucky Wildcats Football

Kentucky Football: Wildcats' Historic Recruiting Is Just Getting Silly Now

Vinny Hardy — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 01:33:23 -0400

For longtime, long-suffering Kentucky football fans, you know exactly what I mean by the title of this article.

Down through the years, there have been brief snippets of positive moments.

I wasn't born when Bear Bryant called Lexington home. I was too young to remember the Derrick Ramsey and Art Still era in the 1970s that won UK's last SEC football title.

It was fun watching fellow Eastern Kentuckians Tim Couch and George Massey do good things in the 1990s.

Who can forget the three consecutive bowl wins during the Rich Brooks era? Joker Phillips won at Auburn and Georgia and snapped the Cats' ridiculous losing steak to Tennessee.

All of these things are something to be proud of. That's all most UK football fans want, a team that can consistently make them feel proud.

Mark Stoops and his staff are doing their best to do just that. Although they have yet to coach a game, the roll these guys are on with recruiting is something that has never been seen at Kentucky.

The way they jumped in, rolled up their sleeves and went to work on the 2013 class was definitely an impressive start.

They have picked up where they left off and then some when it comes to the 2014 class.

Now, to be honest, the staff offering a scholarship to seventh grade defensive back Jairus Brents is actually silly. But with all of the positive momentum going on right now, the staff gets a pass for that.

Rank	School	Total	5-starCommits	4-starCommits	3-starCommits	Avg	Points
#1	Texas A&M	14	0	8	5	3.5	1659
#2	Texas	18	0	5	12	3.29	1613
#3	Kentucky	17	0	5	11	3.31	1601
#4	Tennessee	15	0	6	9	3.4	1570
#5	Notre Dame	11	2	6	3	3.91	1433
#6	Michigan	11	1	4	6	3.55	1366
#7	Florida State	15	0	5	8	3.38	1350
#7	Alabama	11	0	7	3	3.55	1350
#9	Clemson	11	1	5	4	3.7	1290
#10	Baylor	19	0	3	7	2.68	1249

It is still very early in the game and a long way until National Signing Day in February.

That said, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is Kentucky that you see in the top three in the nation in football recruiting.

It's been a total team effort among the coaches and players. Drew Barker, the top QB in the state, committed to UK over South Carolina and has been like another recruiter ever since. Barker is also enlightening everyone about what's going on with him through his diary.

I told you all this would be the best class in UK history! We are turning dreams into REALITY!!! #UK2014 #TurnUp
— Drew Barker (@D_Barker7), June 13, 2013

Coach Stoops is, of course, leading the charge and setting the tone.

Yahtzee !!! BBN. Can I get a Yahtzee
— Mark Stoops (@UKCoachStoops), June 13, 2013

The "Yahtzees"—the catchphrase that's uttered or tweeted with each new commitment—have been flowing freely for some time now.

The biggest surprise thus far came when Stanley "Boom" Williams, the No. 1 all-purpose back in the nation, made up his mind and said UK was the place for him.

#BBN #Yahtzee!!!
— Stanley Williams (@boom_that_guy), June 13, 2013

WR Tyre Brady didn't hold back on letting us know how he felt once he committed either.

I cried tears of joy today after telling my mom I committed to the university of Kentucky. #ProudCommit #BBN #StoopsTroops
— Tyre Brady (@Tyre_Brady), June 14, 2013

Lastly, DL Adrian Middleton chose Kentucky over Louisville just like fellow commit LB Nico Firios did.

Just COMMITTED to UK #BBN Time to start liking a new color.
— Adrian Middleton (@59OnMyChest), June 15, 2013

The newness of all of this and the excitement it has created is what's overwhelming. Watching all of these 4-star players commit is just silly—silly in a good way.

We hadn't even mentioned Darius West, Denzel Ware, Thaddeus Snodgrass or any of the rest of the talented members of this 2014 class.

Kentucky is always tops in the nation in basketball recruiting, much the same way Texas and Alabama are in football.

I'm not saying excitement about recruiting is lacking for those programs. Consistent high-level recruiting never gets old.

However, the schoolgirl giddiness for football that has swept through the Commonwealth and beyond is something no one will soon forget.

If Coach Stoops keeps this up, there will be a time when the giddiness subsides and everyone is just coolly excited about each incoming recruiting class.

Until then, Yahtzee!

Follow @VinnyHardy

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Now Kentucky Lowers the Age Bar and Offers Scholarship to 7th-Grader

Barrett Sallee — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:53:58 -0400

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops has been on fire lately, securing the commitments of seven players in the class of 2014 just in June.

The most recent splash was the commitment of Stanley Williams from George Walton Academy in Monroe, Ga.—the No. 5 all-purpose running back in the class of 2014, according to 247Sports.com.

The immediate future looks great for the Wildcats, but the distant future doesn't look too bad either.

According to ESPN.com, Kentucky lowered the bar and offered a scholarship to class of 2018 cornerback Jairus Brents after the seventh-grader—yes, seventh-grader—attended a camp in Lexington.

The 5'8", 158-pounder was put into a group of receivers in the class of 2014, and came away with three interceptions and several breakups, according to ESPN's report.

Not bad, but should there be an age limit for making verbal scholarship offers?

If a program thinks a player is good enough and wants to make an impression, of course not.

Brents went up against the big boys, and came away with a big day. That's impressive whether he's in seventh grade, ninth grade or a senior in high school.

As my colleague over at the Signed, Sealed and Delivered blog Andrew Kulha points out, several big-time programs including Alabama, LSU, Florida, Florida State, Nebraska and UCLA have made offers to eighth-grade phenom Dylan Moses.

The 6'1", 215-pound linebacker/running back runs a 4.46 40-yard dash according to Nola.com. That isn't just potential, that's legitimate Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) talent.

Should programs worry about the character of kids changing between middle school and the time they graduate?

Sure, but that's a concern for every prospect, regardless of age.

When young kids like Brents, Moses or USC quarterback commit David Sills get offers in middle school, neither party actually believes this is a set-in-stone offer. No offer before a prospect's senior season is. Alabama head coach Nick Saban even went on the record recently detailing how no offer to a quarterback is "committable" until he personally sees the prospect at camp.

There's always work to be done.

Semantics don't mean a thing in the recruiting game.

Commitments aren't really commitments until national signing day, and offers aren't really offers the prospect's senior year of high school.

Before that, offers and commitments mean about as much as the promise ring you gave your eighth-grade girlfriend. You like each other, and maybe some day you will get married. But do you REALLY think that you'll stay together forever?

Nope.

That doesn't mean that verbal offers to middle-schoolers won't be addressed by the NCAA. It probably will. But how do you define a "verbal offer"?

Is a coach saying "we want to offer you a scholarship" different than "we'd love to see you on campus"? Where will that line be drawn?

Recruiting is a contact sport, and semantics will always play a part. There will be loopholes and grey areas no matter what, especially when coaches are always looking to make that first big impression on what they feel could be a potential superstar.

But above all else, be happy for the kid. Getting offers from big-time college football programs in middle school is pretty sweet, and gives the prospect plenty of incentive to stay focused.

Follow @BarrettSallee

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Why Kentucky is Suddenly Making a Big Push with its Football Program

Barrett Sallee — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:56:37 -0400

Kentucky recruiting well is nothing new.

After all John Calipari routinely signs top classes filled with players who exploit the NBA's one-and-done rule, leaving a quick but lasting mark on the football program.

Wait, what? Kentucky is in the top 10 in the 247Sports.com composite for the class of 2014 in football too?

FOOTBALL?

As Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops—and brother of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops—would say, "hello!"

The program currently ranks seventh in the current composite index and has been on fire lately. Six of the Wildcats' 15 commitments in the class have come in the month of June.

Before we get into the specifics, you did read that correctly. Mark Stoops has received commitments from six prospects in 12 days.

Stew on that for a moment.

The group of recent commitments is headlined by 6'3", 220-pound defensive end Denzel Ware.

The 4-star prospect from Crestview, Fla., re-committed to the Wildcats over offers from several big-time schools, including Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Florida, Georgia and others. The nation's 91st-ranked player was initially a Seminole commitment but flipped to Kentucky when Stoops took the helm before taking a step back to evaluate.

Safety Darius West also made the pledge to join Big Blue Nation this month. The 6'0", 195-pounder from Lima, Ohio is a 4-star prospect who chose the Wildcats over a plethora of major offers—including Notre Dame and Louisville.

Eight of Kentucky's commitments in the class of 2014 hail from the state of Ohio, which has been a primary focus for Stoops' staff. Those efforts in Ohio have paid off due in large part to tight ends coach Vince Marrow, who's listed as the primary recruiter for all eight of those players.

See a pattern?

Kentucky is playing with the big boys on the recruiting trail. That doesn't always translate to success on the gridiron, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

Not only is it recruiting well—it's pouring the appropriate amount of resources into the football program to be competitive.

The athletics department is budgeting $12,587,627 into the football program this season, a 33 percent increase from last year according to Kentucky.com. That number includes an increase of $2.4 million in the budget for salaries for the football staff. For perspective, the coaching staff earned a total of $5,642,909 last season according to the USA Today coaching database.

That's a step in the right direction, but it's not enough to compete just yet.

According to Forbes, LSU spent $59 million over a three-year span between 2009-11, for an average of $19.6 million per year. Arkansas' was $24.5 million in 2011 and Auburn's was $39.5 million, according to USA Today.

This comes on the heels of major renovation projects to Commonwealth Stadium including a room specifically dedicated to recruiting.

Kentucky is recruiting with the big boys and clearly making an effort from a resources standpoint to eat at the big boy table.

It takes time to build a program, and everything Kentucky has done since Stoops took the job in December 2012 indicates that he intends to make Kentucky more than just a basketball school.

Can he do it? We shall see. But so far, so good.

Follow @BarrettSallee

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