Kentucky Wildcat Football : National Signing Day Live Thread

UK entered the day needing a solid recruiting class to not only add much needed depth to next year’s team, but to rejuvenate their fanbase, which after a 5-win season, had lost hope that Joker Phillips and his staff weren’t capable of bringing in enough SEC-level talent to compete in the toughest conference in the nation. Looking at who UK was able to get today, they got nearly every prospect they wanted. They added a highly touted running-back in Jordan Taylor, who was committed to Alabama and held several other SEC offers. Joker was also able to nab 4-star linebacker Khalid Henderson, who was originally committed to Tennessee, and was ranked a top-20 linebacker by most recruiting services, and has potential to step in and get significant playing time his freshman year. The only real miss on the day was WR Raph Andrades, who Florida snuck in and got at the last minute. Still, Joker was able to haul in one of the best recruiting classes ever at UK. As of now, Scout.com has UK at #32, which is ahead of Louisville, Vanderbilt, and Missouri, all of whom UK will play this year.

Here is a recap of all of today’s action: 

7:00AM

College Football’s annual signing day is here, and the University of Kentucky could see the future of its football program greatly affected today. After two solid recruiting classes in  his first two season as UK Head Coach, Joker Phillips is looking to lock up one of the most successful recruiting classes in program history, which includes the top in-state talent in Highlands QB Patrick Towles, Manual DT Thomas Chapman, and Central Hardin DT Patrick Graffree.

The Cats have also dipped back into the state of Georgia to reel in the talented Blaylock trio of Daron, Shawn, and Zach. There are several recruits still on UK’s recruiting board who are either uncommitted or committed to other schools.

Update: Jordan Watson Signs

Also coming in are the twin brothers, LB Daron Blaylock and DB Zack Blaylock, as well as OT Jon Toth.

Update: Towles Officially a Cat

The most successful Kentucky high school QB to commit to UK since Tim Coach just faxed his LOI. Most major recruiting services have Towel rated as a 4-star prospect and the top prospect from the state of Kentucky. This is clearly the biggest commitment for Joker and his staff.

Update:

DB Johnathan Reed, DB Fred Tiller and, DT Patrick Graffree just faxed their LOI’s. This gives UK some much needed depth in the secondary, where they graduated 3 starters last season.

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8:30
Update: Add Thomas Chapman, Zach Myers, Dy’Shawn Mobley, and Josh Harris to the list. Chapman and Harris were the first commitments to this class last spring. Myer is a legacy Kentucky recruit on the OL. Mobley is the most prolific running back in Tennessee statistically. It’s good to see his LOI, as there were late rumors he might be wavering

-Darren

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8:56

Three more LOIs have come in. WR AJ Legree, DL Langston Newton, and DB Cody Quinn. Legree is a 3* from Florida with good hands & great leaping ability. Newton is the younger brother of Morgan Newton, he could play as a big DE or grow into a DT. Tyren “Cody” Quinn is a corner from Ohio who was recently invited to play in theBig 33 all-star event.

-Darren

***********************************UPDATE******

Nothing is official until the fax shows up, but rumors are running rampant that Running back Justin Taylor has committed to Kentucky. Taylor is famous for committing to Alabama early but being asked to greyshirt very late by Nick Saban. He has been looking around since and apparently visited Lexington without anyone being the wiser this week. He is set to announce at 10 am between Ole Miss , UK, and Bama. If true this should more than make up for the loss of Imani Cross and give the Cats a nice bump in the rankings.

-Darren

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The Blaylock Twins, Zack and Daron, went with the vintage Kentucky helmet at their announcement

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9:21

Update: OT Jordan Swindle and WR Demarcus Sweat are offficially Cats. Swindle is a 3* OT and could possible be pushed into starting duty due to depth this year. Sweat is a playmaker who had 6 touchdowns in the return game this season and has a seriously impressive highlight tape. Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows how highly I regard Sweat. He has the build and athletic ability similar to Justin Blackmon at Oklahoma State.

-Darren

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Update: Harding Harper to Vandy. UK was in pursuit and he was said to be the backup plan if Khalid Henderson signs elsewhere…Also notable is that Scout.com is now reporting Justin Taylor as a Kentucky commit. Stay tuned….

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9:56

Update: Justin Taylor is officially a Wildcat! Huge pickup for Joker Phillips and Tee Martin especially. For the second straight year, Kentucky sneaks in and steals a commit from Alabama right before signing day. Taylor is a bruising RB who will bowl people over.  As stated earlier he more than makes up for the loss of Imani Cross to Nebraska that so many fans were upset with.

Also officially committed is P/K Landon Foster from Tennessee. He could come in and take over the punting job as a freshman.

**Former Wildcat Andre Woodson just tweeted that Khalid Henderson has committed to Kentucky. Not official from UK yet, I’ll keep you posted..

-Darren

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10:16

Update: He kept everybody guessing and had us all wondering what he was going to do but 4* Linebacker Khalid Henderson is officially a Wildcat  now. Joker Phillips tweeted about Henderson’s LOI coming in and he immediately improves the defense. He also has reason to hate Tennessee already, as his relationship with them ended poorly.

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10:32

Update: LOIs from CB Shawn Blaylock and ATH Jalen Whitlow are in. Blaylock is another product of Stephenson HS in Georgia, which is turning into a nice UK pipeline. A 3* corner he has the opportunity to make the 2-deep in the fall. Jalen Whitlow is a QB/WR/ATH from powerhouse Prattville, Alabama. This appears to be another offer where the coaches will let him try out as a quarterback but will likely move Whitlow to another position later on, similar to Randall Cobb and Bookie Cobbins. If Cobbins sticks at QB or doesn’t fare well in the role, expect Whitlow to get a look in the Wildcat. I think the coaches will bring the package back into the offense.

That puts Kentucky at 22 commitments. The SEC limit is 25. The only known verbals left are OL TJ Jones and LB Kadeem “Pancho” Thomas. Assuming that they do not flip elsewhere that leaves Kentucky with one spot left for 2012. Could be anyone with these coaches but likely names are safeties Devonta Staples or Sterling Wright.

-Darren

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10:51AM:  Getting word that S Sterling Wright is faxing his LOI in to UK soon.  When that happens, UK will be at 23 LOI’s plus Kory Brown (counts toward 2011).  Still waiting for current commitments TJ Jones (OL) and Kadeem Thomas (LB).  That would bring us to 25.  Stay tuned

-Paul

11:23AM:  Officially add  Kadeem Thomas and TJ Jones to the received LOI’s.  That is 24.  The BBN waits for Sterling Wright to fax his in and complete this class.

-Paul

Update: Cats add Sterling Wright to Finish Epic Recruiting Class

12:20PM: UK officially announces addition of safety Sterling Wright to signing class. Wright is a safety out of Miami, Florida, and he becomes the 25th and final commitment for UK. Here’s a link to some of his highlights.

Here is a list of the current commitments (except for Thomas) from the UKAA