Kentucky Wildcats Recruit Elijah Sindelar Commits to Purdue Boilermakers

The Kentucky Wildcats football program has just completed one of the greatest recruiting classes it's ever had in 2014. As of now, the highest ranking a recruiting service has given UK is the No. 17 ranking by Rivals, and many expect head coach Mark Stoops to have a better class in 2015.

That's because he will have been the head coach at UK for two full seasons by the time national signing day comes in 2015, and he will have had more time to recruit and build relationships with prospects since coming to UK in December of 2012. 

One major recruit he won't likely be getting is Caldwell County (Princeton, Ky.) quarterback Elijah Sindelar, who has just committed to the Purdue Boilermakers, according to Scout.com recruiting analyst Brian Eldridge: 

This means one of UK's top QB targets for the 2015 class is now committed to another school.

Sindelar is one of the best prospects in the state of Kentucky for the 2015 class, and is the No. 20 QB prospect on Rivals.com. He completed 196-of-303 passes for 3,374 yards and 44 touchdowns with eight interceptions last season and rushed 61 times for 424 yards and seven touchdowns, according to Larry Vaught of Centeralkynews.com.

It is worth pointing out that Eldridge reports the Cats may show interest in another in-state prospect in Lexington Catholic's Reese Ryan: 

This is a bit of a setback for UK, as Sindelar was someone they'd shown a lot of interest in the past year, but given their recruiting success as of late, they should be able to draw interest from other quality QB recruits. 

It also doesn't hurt that the Cats got a commitment from 2014 QB Drew Barker, who's already enrolled at UK and will participate in spring practices, according to Jennifer Smith of Kentucky.com. 

The UK coaching staff believes Barker can compete for the starting QB job as a true freshman, and if he wins it, he could be the starter for the next 3-4 years, meaning it is not imperative that UK adds a QB in the 2015 class.

Still, losing Sindelar hurts given the program's success in keeping great in-state talent to stay at home and play for UK.

Hopefully, this is a blip on the radar and not a trend going forward. 

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