Woodson Earns Degree
One of the key pieces in the rebirth of UK football was quarterback Andre Woodson. During his time at UK from 2004-07, he passed for 9,360 yards and 79 touchdowns, led Kentucky to consecutive Music City Bowl wins, was instrumental in leading the Cats to victory against eventual National Champion LSU, earned All-SEC honors, and was a sixth-round draft pick of the New York Giants in the 2008 NFL Draft. His accomplishments will grow on Friday, when Woodson will receive his bachelor’s degree in community communications and leadership development. Woodson returned to UK this year to serve as a student assistant coach on the football team while finishing his degree. He worked mostly with the quarterbacks, and was instrumental in the development of true freshman Max Smith, who will most likely enter next season as UK’s starting QB. Here’s what Woodson had to say on finally earning his degree:
“It’s going to be an enormous accomplishment to finally finish my college experience and my degree. I was in school five years and I left for the NFL. It’s been a long road, but for UK to put me on scholarship and give me a chance to finish my degree, it means the world to me. I’m very excited and thrilled to have the opportunity to walk across the stage and know that I came back and finished something that no one in my family has ever done.”
Cats Lead Freshman of Year Race
CBS released their weekly the Player of the Year rankings, and still ranking as the #1 player in the nation was UK freshman Anthony Davis. He’s currently second among freshman in rebounds, first in blocked shots, and is shooting a ridiculous 68% from the field, which is ninth overall in the nation. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist climbed to third overall in the rankings. Against Indiana last week, Gilchrist shot 9/12 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds while blocking two shots and snagging two steals. He’s the definition of a stat stuffer, and at least one of these two gifted freshman should be in the Player of the Year race until the very end.
Signing Day Next Week for JUCOs
The National Signing Day for JUCO players that are graduating in December is now six days away, and the Cats have been recruiting here very hard. They’ve already secured commitments from offensive guard Darone Bailey and safety Kory Brown, and several other JUCO players are strongly considering signing with the Cats next week. Make no mistake about it, Joker Phillips knows its do-or-die time next year, and while there are very rarely an instant fixes in football, the JUCO route can often provide a temporary fix, especially if the players are able to enroll in the spring semester and participate in spring football and learn their teams’ system. UK has had success in the JUCO route with players such as Chris Matthews and Stevie Johnson, so lets hope Joker finds the right guys who he thinks can come in and make an impact next year, as UK football will be a crossroads. Does the program fall back into mediocrity and miss the postseason regularly, or do they continue to win enough to play football into December and even January?