Joshua Paschal to Kentucky: Wildcats Land 4-Star DE

The Kentucky Wildcats landed a big-time recruit Tuesday, as highly touted defensive end Joshua Paschal committed to UK. 

Brian Dohn of Scout reported that Paschal informed him of the decision.

Per Scout, the Olney, Maryland, native is a 4-star prospect who ranks as the No. 293 overall player, No. 28 defensive end and No. 2 defensive end from the state of Maryland in the 2017 class.

According to Scout, Paschal chose Kentucky despite having offers from several major programs, including Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Clemson, Ohio State and USC.

Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports paid Paschal a huge compliment following his commitment:

After reaching five consecutive bowl games from 2006 through 2010, Kentucky football fell off in a significant way, finishing below .500 in five straight seasons.

The team finally broke that string in 2016, as head coach Mark Stoops led the Wildcats to a 7-5 record and a berth in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

Kentucky appears to be a program on the rise after going a respectable 4-4 in the SEC and upsetting rival Louisville and Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.

Adding Paschal to the mix promises to accelerate the process of Kentucky becoming a potential SEC contender in the coming years thanks to his athleticism; he posted a 40-yard-dash time of 4.75 seconds at nearly 6'3" and 253 pounds, per Scout.

The SEC is home to some of the most dominant defenses in the country, and the Wildcats need to make strides on that side of the ball to reach the same level as teams such as Alabama and LSU.

Kentucky still has a long way to go in that regard, but Paschal is a big piece of the puzzle, and the fact that he chose the Wildcats could create a domino effect with other big-name recruits following suit.

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