Analyzing Kentucky’s relationship with Anthony Wales
By Kyle
Anthony “Ace” Wales – RB – 5’9 / 175 – Louisville, KY (Central H.S.)
Rivals: 3-Star recruit, #14 ranked all-purpose back
Scout: 3-Star recruit, #71 ranked running back
ESPN 3-Star recruit, #67 ranked running back
24/7 Sports: 3-Star recruit, #49 ranked running back
Trying to figure out college football recruiting can be more confusing than putting together cabinets from IKEA, but it’s something we (as fans) all do.
There are all kinds of head-scratching cases, and some that pertain to Kentucky specifically. For example, who would have thought that Jon Davis would have been committed to the Wildcats for over a year before ultimately reneging to sign with Illinois on national signing day last year? Or what about the case of Riyahd Jones? He was considered a major sleeper last season when he committed to Kentuckyand performed very well in the camps he attended. After being committed for most of the season, the Wildcats backed off and he’s currently headed for junior college. Then there are the cases like 4-star tight end Alex Smith. He admittedly grew up as a UK fan, but cooled on the Cats early in his recruitment. After committing to Cincinnati and North Carolina, he finally signed with the Cats on national signing day. Despite being expected to compete for a starting job as a freshman, his talent was not able to overcome other issues and he transferred to Georgia State without ever playing a down for UK. In a nutshell, college football recruiting all boils down to what is essentially a guessing game.
Since his sophomore season, it was well known that Central High School running back Anthony Wales was going to be one of the top players in the state of Kentucky in the 2012 class and he hasn’t disappointed in the time since. For his career, he has piled up 849 carries for 6,327 yards and 115 touchdowns on the ground (per the KHSAA website). That’s pretty impressive; but as impressive as all of this is, it could have been even better had he been able to finish the state championship game this year. That leads us to his injury. After only two carries in the Kentucky 3A State Championship, Wales was hit out of bounds and separated his shoulder. This injury has muddied his recruitment and made things much more complicated as some schools have backed off.
Originally, Wales had stated that he would wait until national signing day to make a decision on which college he would be attending. Then during the football season he said that he was nearing a decision. After visiting Louisville and leaving without committing, he visited UK and the staff told him that there is now only a grayshirt offer on the table. Then he promptly gave the Cardinals a verbal commitment after returning home from Lexingtonon January 16th. On January 17th, Charlie Strong backed off and told Wales to continue taking his visits and Louisville will see if they have room for him later in the process. He has a visit scheduled for this coming weekend with Western Kentucky. It’s still unclear exactly what Louisville plans to do with him and now all of the sudden, it appears things may come back around to a National Signing Day spectacle for Wales.
Here is what we know about Wales today (in regards to Kentucky football);
1.Waleshas/had scholarship offers from Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana, Western Kentucky, Illinois, Cincinnati, Northwestern, and Central Florida at some point or anther over the past year, so you know he can play.
2. He is a slightly undersized running back with good speed and the shiftiness needed to make defenders miss.
3. He was a workhorse in high school and stayed relatively healthy for the high number of touches he received.
4. He will be coming off of a shoulder surgery during his freshman year..
5. His reported “Final 3” are UK, U of L, and WKU.
6. He visited Louisville on 12/16/12, UK on 1/14, and WKU on 1/20/12. He has not scheduled any other visits.
7. He now appears to only have a grayshirt offer to Kentucky.
Here’s what we can safely assume about Wales:
1. His injury may be worse than originally made out to be.
2. There may now be some concerns about his ability to stay healthy in BCS conference football at his size.
3. Indiana, Illinois, Cincinnati, Northwestern, and Central Florida have likely gone in another direction, hence him not visiting them or listing them in his top 3.
4. Kentucky may not be set on taking a second back after all and likely feels good about retaining Mobley and/or getting another running back that is higher than Wales on their board.
5. The staff probably does not anticipate a current running back transferring.
6. Central coach Ty Scroggins can’t like U of L backing off and publicly embarrassing one of his players.
It’s certainly been a whirlwind so far for Wales and things will have to wrap up soon for him. With less than two weeks before National Signing day, it’s getting down to the nitty-gritty for Wales. He will likely have to decide whether he wants to grayshirt at either UK or U of L and rehab his shoulder while preparing for 2013, or see if he can enroll at WKU and heal up in time for 2012. I’m still a little torn onWales…
Reasons to move on:
– The Wildcats don’t really need another running back at this time and have other positions that are more pressing concerns.
– The extensive injury list toKentucky’s smaller backs over the past couple of seasons has raised some legitimate concerns of whether an ‘all-purpose back’ type of player can stay healthy throughout a full SEC schedule (see Raymond Sanders).
– The Cats are still in on Imani Cross, and I’Tavius Mathers and/or Shadrach Thorton might also be options as well.
-Waleswas used HEAVILY for three of his four years in high school. He may not have much tread left on the tires.
– I’m not sure how wellWalesfits intoUK’s pro-style offense.
But on the flip side…
-Kentuckyhas to keep the state’s best players, andWalesis extremely talented.
– It is unlikely that any running back (except maybe Cross) will contribute very much in the next two seasons anyway considering the Wildcat’s depth at the position. Walescould redshirt or grayshirt, heal up, and be ready to contribute in 2014.
– The pipeline toCentralHigh Schoolhas been very good toKentuckyin the past.
-Walesis a playmaker and you can never have enough of those. He can run the ball, catch it out of the backfield, line up in the slot, and return kicks and punts.
– In-state players are historically less likely to transfer. OnceWalesfinishes his rehab and adds some weight, he will be a very good college player. Being closer to home during the process will likely keep his inevitable frustrations down.
Ideally,Walesaccepts a grayshirt offer toUK, enrolls next January, and then can participate in spring practice and summer workouts while coming back from his injury. This allowsKentuckyto get a dynamic player without reaching above other positions of need to get him in this class. Regardless of what ends up happening, Anthony Wales will eventually be a great college football player.