Are the Wildcats poised to ignite some blue and white recruiting fireworks?

With the 4th of July holiday upon us, UK seems on the verge of landing a few key recruits both in football and basketball. Let’s start with football today and see what we can expect from Brooks and company.

The Cats did tap the LaGrange, GA pipeline yet again and came up with kicker Joe Mansour. Mansour seems more adept as a punter, put has a strong enough leg to have about 78% of his kickoffs result in touchbacks. He also has hit a few 50 yard +FG’s in HS as well. Not sure if he will be the FG kicker next year but may be forced into that role since standout kicker Drew Basil committed to Ohio State yesterday. Mansour chose UK over the Gators.

Right now, the class stands at two, but UK is in position to make some good news soon. UK is currently the leader for big (6’2, 300) OG O.C Brown. Brown is a big kid with a lot of potential and would fill a huge need on the line next year. UK is also battling most of the SEC and other top programs for Georgia WR Markeith Ambles. Ambles is a solid Top 150 player and is considered to be one of the premier WR prospects for next year. A few years ago, UK would not have been in the mix for this kid, so Brooks and company keep taking small steps up the ladder. Georgia RB Rajaan Bennett apparently has UK pretty high on his list as well. Kentucky is also battling pretty much the entire Big 10 for safety Isaiah Lewis and are letting him know he is a top priority.

The Cats are also in the mix for the top rated player in Kentucky, DE Timothy Patterson and are hoping to make more inroads into the Louisville market. UK is also going back into Big 10 territory for CJ Olaniyan. If UK can land both these prospects, this would fill a huge hole on the D-Line for the next few years.

Now onto hoops, UK recently lost out on a couple of “two-fer deals” (The Barton’s, the Henry’s)
but things are looking up for UK getting some future “2 for 1’s”. Kyrie Irving, the number 4 PG for 2010, has UK among the teams he is looking at. He is HS teammates with the consensus number 1 player in 2011, Michael Gilchrist. According to Irving, the pair have discussed taking their act to college together and UK and Calipari have been mentioned as a destination. Gilchrist’s mom negates the thought of an early commit by Gilchrist, saying they are really not focusing on recruiting right now.

CJ Leslie, John Wall’s HS teammate at Word of God in NC is also planning a visit to UK soon. Wall has been talking up UK to Leslie and one wonders if being reunited with his old teammate is enough to keep Wall (currently predicted to be the number 1 draft pick in next years NBA Draft) around another year. Word is Wall is loving UK this far and sharing his stories with CJ. Leslie would fill a big hole at PF if Patterson and Cousins go pro after this year.

That’s about it for today. The Big Blue Nation is on Doron Lamb watch still. Lamb apparently still has UK on the top of the list and is expected to decide this month. Perry Ellis, a top 5 recruit in the 2012 class is scheduled to visit UK today. It’s interesting as Ellis holds two offers from Calipari, one of those at Memphis which he visited yesterday.

Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans