Saturday, May 8, 2010

Could the Cats be a sleeper for Miller?

The Bleacher Report talks about QB commitments that could start a chain reaction. One in particular is Braxton Miller. While most feel he is Ohio State's to lose, could the Cats be a serious contender? Last season Miller visited Lexington and with Joker Phillips in charge, could the Cats be on option? The article makes a few interesting points, but never mentions Kentucky.

2 comments:

  1. Out-of-state recruiting is the primary key for UK to move up the SEC football pecking order. There are some interesting historical examples. Charlie Bradshaw signed Larry Seiple out of Pennsylvania. John Ray signed Tom Ranieri and Wally Pesuit out of New York. Fran Curci signed Art Still and Derrick Ramsey out of New Jersey and Warren Bryant out of Florida. Bill Curry signed Moe Williams out of Georgia. Hal Mumme signed Antonio Hall out of Ohio and Dewayne Robertson out of Tennessee. These examples prove that elite out-of-state prospects will consider playing for UK. However, elite out-of-state prospects have never been signed before in great enough numbers to keep UK near the top of the SEC football hierarchy for any significant period of time.

    The best QBs in modern UK football history (Norton, Ransdell, Couch, Lorenzen, Woodson) were instate prospects.

    I will be surprised if Braxton Miller signs anywhere but Ohio State. But it makes perfect sense for Joker's staff to recruit an elite prospect like Miller. Joker's goal is to win SEC Championships. Miller is probably the best D-1 QB prospect in the Mideast this year. You can't sign players like Miller if you don't try. In recent years, UK signed Morgan Newton and Ryan Mossakowski, so it isn't a leap to believe Joker will sign other QB prospects of that caliber from other states.

    Further, UK fans should understand that Miller is not the only high-upside QB prospect on UK's current recruiting board. Kevin Sousa, CJ Ozomah, and Justin Worley certainly fall into that category. Some may argue that current UL verbal DaMarcus Smith falls in this same category. And Joker hasn't given up on Smith, because Joker is a tenacious recruiter.

    Anyway, it's interesting to read some of the remarks that UK fans post on various internet websites. Some UK fans continually criticize UK's coaching staff over Rivals.com and Scout.com class ratings, with the implication being that UK's staff doesn't recruit as well as other SEC programs. Some fans criticize UK's staff for not recruiting hard enough in Ohio. Then we have other fans who insist UK will never recruit as well as SEC powers like Florida, Bama, Georgia, and LSU. Well, here is another example of Joker going after the very best athletes in our region. Nobody gets every prospect they want, but kudos to Joker for recruiting the best.

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  2. Messenger,

    Your right, the Cats must sign SEC talent (out of state)if necessary. I think Miller is likely Ohio State bound, but to your point, Newton could have signed with the Gators and Moss with the Tide so anything is possible.

    I think Sousa has a huge upside and the reports have been great. I can't get a good read on UK's recruitment. Based on my continued contact with him, the Cats aren't showing much interest. I think Joker really wants DaMarcus Smith (my opinion). It won't be long and the chips will start falling.

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