Friday Afternoon UK Football Notes

The UK Football team will practice tonight and be able to put 100% focus on Clemson now that the semester is over. The Cats need to prepare well as Clemson has lost three consecutive bowl games and hungry for a bowl victory.

Many people continue to believe that Derrick Locke is headed for the NFL. Everyone needs to remember that Locke has a family and must take them into consideration first and foremost in any decision. Locke also suffered a bad knee injury over a year ago and made a miraculous recovery. An injury during his senior season could end any hopes of playing in the NFL. Locke also witnessed first hand what returning for his senior season did for Trevard Lindley.

The Cats have a couple of recruits visiting this weekend including Nerman Delic (TE/DE) who has already given his verbal to UK. The other visitors are D.J Howard (Lincoln, AL) and Brandon Dunn (Louisville, KY). Howard has given his verbal to Auburn, but the Tigers want him to play safety. Howard has stated he wants to compete at running back. If the Cats offer him that opportunity, he could commit during his visit. Dunn is a defensive tackle from Louisville who the Cats recently offered. According to Rob Gidel, Dunn is expected to commit during his visit this weekend.

We also learned today that Maudrecus Humphrey (Hoover, AL) is scheduled to visit UK on January 8th. Based on other reports, Dyjuan Lewis (Indianapolis, IN) is scheduled to visit UK in January as well. Both are great wide receivers and would be huge commitments for the football program.

The Cats currently have 22 commitments and can sign 28 players based on the NCAA rules. The coaching staff has stated they expect to sign around 22 players. In my opinion, the coaching "Big Board" probably looks like this:

(1) Defensive Tackle- Brandon Dunn could commit this weekend. Other potential recruits would be Jared Morse and Tony Gillispie.

(2) Running Backs- D.J. Howard and Austin Collinsworth appear to be the top choices. Other potential recruits would be Miles Simpson, Rajaan Bennett and Joseph Byrd

(1) Wide Receiver - Dyjuan Lewis and Maudrecus Humphrey appear to be the two preferred choices. Other potential recruits would be Duncan McGriff (Juco) and Jerrell Priester.

(1) Offensive Lineman- Kenarious Gates appears to be the main target. The Cats have stiff competition for Gates as he will be taking visits to other SEC schools soon. Other potential recruits would be Brandon Clark and Devin Smith.