Instead of doing a bunch of posts, I'm going to do one for now. Here's your two minute drill. UK vs. UofL - will be televised by ABC regionally at 3:30pm. While I'm confident the Cats will take care of business, Papa John Stadium will be rockin' and the Cats better bring their "A" game. It's scary because it's the first game of the season. This game is huge for the state and especially recruiting.
Cody Robinson - finally received an offer from the Cats yesterday. He is a great young man and we've stayed in touch for a couple of months now. He really likes UK and if he commits to the Cats, it will be a huge. Cody could play either OL or DL, but he is probably better suited to play on the O-line. The guy is a beast! Remember his dad played with Randy Sanders at Tennessee and Cody has camped at UK several times now.
Alex Chisum - informed me he would be attending camp at UK on June 19th. Alex is up to 8 offers (including UK) and has visited Cincinnati and Louisville for spring games. He mentioned Auburn, Georgia Tech and USF as teams getting involved and specifically named Cincinnati as the team recruiting him the hardest. Tee Martin is handling is recruitment for UK. He would like to make a decision before his season starts and didn't rule out a possible commitment during a visit. Hopefully, the Cats can close the deal when he is on campus?
Lamar Dawson - may be the most coveted player to come out of Kentucky in a long time. He has recently received offers from Florida and Southern Cal. Dawson admits Charlie Strong is recruiting him hard, but don't count out Joker yet. The Cats need to sell Lamar on being the face of the program (bigger than Micah Johnson).
Zeke Pike - is one of the top players in Kentucky for the 2012 class. He will visit South Carolina this weekend and holds several offers already. UK fans need to remember his name as he will be another key recruiting target for the staff.
Freshman - will start reporting over the next couple of days. This should put a rest to rumors of academic issues as players report. I'm still hearing the Cats could have as many as five players not eligible from the 2010 signing class. Assuming everyone is qualified, the Cats are over committed and a few will likely have to greyshirt. Which will also impact the number of signees for the 2011 class.
Coaching Staff - Enough good things can't be said about the the UK coaching staff. While it starts at the top with Joker Phillips, everyone is doing a great job. The 2011 class is shaping up to the best since the Rich Brooks era began. What I'm most impressed about is there is no territory for a certain coach when it comes to recruiting. Joker is allowing coaches to work based on relationship and personality which is very smart. It also appears the staff is putting pressure on players to commit and not play musical chairs. In other words, they are likely letting players know their offer may get pulled if someone else commits.
We should have some more interviews over the next couple of days, so make sure your following on twitter or checking the site. GO CATS!
So the five guys that may not qualify are McAdoo, Patterson, Rumph, Huguenin, and Johnson.
ReplyDeleteAaron, I certainly agree with your complimentary remarks about Joker and his coaching staff. Joker and Mitch have made some very good decisions, and I hope UK fans can see the positive benefits already accruing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the UK-UL game is scary, because it is a road game. A stumble in that game could paint UK into a corner for the 2010 season and begin Joker's coaching tenure on a very sour note. It is important for Joker to seize the PR advantage over Charlie Strong at the outset. But if we look at the big picture, Joker is holding most of the cards in the game. Joker has the deeper, better roster. Joker has better QBs and receivers. Joker has the better defensive backfield. And even at the RB position, where UL is strong, Joker has the faster, better players (and more of them). Both teams are adjusting to new coaches, but the scheme adjustment for UL will be far more extensive. This is actually a year when UL might have benefitted from playing the game third, instead of the opener. The only thing Charlie Strong really has going for him in this game is the home field advantage. And judging by how surly UL's fans were last year, I would say Joker can quiet the PJS crowd with an early UK lead.
With regard to recruiting, I believe Cody Robinson projects as a OG, and I think UK's staff is also thinking along those lines. You have done a nice job of staying in touch with Cody. Undoubtedly, the timing of Cody's UK scholarship offer has a lot to do with his camp attendance in Lexington. But I think there is another factor as well. Recently, Trai Turner verballed to LSU and Mitch Smothers verballed to Arkansas. Both had UK scholarship offers. Cody's UK offer came shortly thereafter. I doubt that is a coincidence.
To say the least, I did not expect five UK verbals in May. Prior to last month, the last time UK received a verbal in the month of May was Kenny Ray Turner in 2004. It is interesting to speculate who might become UK's next commitment. Cody Robinson might be a candidate. But I'm hearing UK is getting close on Christian Coleman and Forisse Hardin, too.
I believe Christian Coleman will pick UK if he doesn't wait too long. This staff is wasting too much time. Flo told me tonight he hoped to decide in the next month or so. Remember his sister goes to UK and brother to IU.
ReplyDeleteYes, Cody projects as a Guard. Man he is strong too! I believe he is stronger than most on the team already.
To the first poster, the other name to watch is Mychal Bailey. My understanding is Jabari Johnson will be fine. We'll know soon!
I really believe Uk will end up getting Cody.
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