Saturday, January 30, 2010

Saturday Lunch Time Recruiting Update

Many UK fans are "freaking out" over the commitment of Farrington Huguenin (an unrated DE/TE) from South Carolina and rumors of a commitment to Vanderbilt by Rajaan Bennett (I still haven't found a solid source). I've heard grades were an issue for Huguenin and that is why many schools didn't get involved. As far as Bennett goes, I've never had a good feeling about him coming to UK. His recruitment was too hot and cold in my opinion.

Joker has brought some of this panic on due to his own comments. Joker told the media that UK would not take anyone just to fill the class. I think that is why a lot of people are scratching their heads after the Huguenin commitment. I'll say this, Raymond Sanders was unrated before he played on National Television by Rivals. Now he is 0.1 pts away from being a four star recruit.

Also, many people are speculating the staff extended an offer to Huguenin because Tim Patterson is likely off the board now. Once Charlie Strong was hired at Louisville, I never thought Patterson would become a Cat. Patterson has too many local ties and feeling the pressure to stay home.

In the end, I think this is just bad timing on UK's part. Charlie Strong continues to recruit higher profile players to Louisville and Vandy is putting together a nice recruiting class. Outside of Bennett (if he did commit to Vandy), the Commodores have commitments from several kids UK recruited. Just like UK did a few years ago, Vandy is selling the kids on being a part of something special.

Fans have to give Joker and his staff a full year to sell recruits on Kentucky. Joker immediately let two assistants go once he became the head coach. He understands the importance of recruiting. If UK can win at least 7 games next season, selling the program will be easier for Joker & Co. Not to mention, if the Cats land DJ Howard or Mike Thornton what happened yesterday will soon be forgotten.

2 comments:

  1. I understand there is a lot more that goes into evaluating a prospect, but Farrington is 6'3" 240 and runs a 4.6. This is essentially the same stats as Patterson. I think that the star ratings often come down to where a recruit plays and who sees him play. Aaron makes an excellent point about the Raymond Sanders example. Also a lot of schools held off of Farrington due to grades.

    Bottom line: Joker said he is not going to take people just to fill the class. He obviously knows the scholarship crunch for 2011. Have faith that he sees potential in Farrington.

    Thanks for all that you do, Aaron and Bill.

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  2. u must see this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjvYZTiTDS8

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