It’s that time of year, fall camp is in full swing and Kentucky football fans are hanging onto every tidbit that leaks out of Coach Phillips’ closed practices. Everyone wants to know who will start at quarterback.
They want to know how the youngsters are coming along and which freshmen might contribute this fall. The team hasn’t played a snap that counts yet but it’s never too early to look forward to next year. So here is this week’s recruiting update.
- Kentucky recently offered Pierce Junior College TE Beau Sandland, a 4* prospect and the top JUCO TE in the nation. Depending on the development of Ronnie Shields, Sandland could come in and start immediately next year. Florida, Nebraska, Ole Miss and Texas Tech , among others, under consideration.
- It seems that UK came away from Pierce quite impressed. So much so that they have now offered scholarships to teammates Marquel Combs (current Ole Miss commit), TE Beau Sandland and two former Kentuckians, LB Marcus Jenkins-Moore and CB Joshua Hayden. The former Louisville Eastern players have both expressed interest in returning to the Bluegrass state to finish their college careers.
- The staff is hard after defensive linemen this year, they recently offered 3* Maryland DT commit Kingsley Opara. His commitment to the Terps is admittedly “soft”. They are also in the top 3 for Florida DE Nate Crawford. Crawford plans on taking one of his official visits to Lexington. The coaches may also go back to the Lagrange (GA) pipeline for Troup County HS DL Maurice Swain. He feels comfortable with so many former LaGrange players going through Lexington. “That helps,” he said “I know I’d fit in up there.” South Carolina DL Jaylen Miller also got an offer this week.
- TE/LB Darren Dowdell did not make a visit to Kentucky last weekend as expected, he rescheduled for this upcoming weekend and still plans to bring his QB Kivon Taylor. Dowdell is the prize here, Taylor is unlikely to garner a scholarship offer.
- South Carolina ATH Mykal Moody has been a bit quiet on the Cats of late but he appears to still be interested. Moody scheduled on of his official visits for Kentucky. Like most gifted athletes, Moody is a quarterback in high school but is likely to move to receiver or defensive back in college.
- Last week it was reported that Kentucky also made the Top 3 for Bushnell, FL DE Darien Williston. He is also interested in Iowa State and Mizzou. Williston could play end or inside linebacker at the next level and could finally add a ‘backer to this class.
- Georgia DT Jay Woods is scheduled to announce his college choice tomorrow. The Wildcats made the final cut and are competing with Georgia, Vanderbilt and Missouri for his services. Most expect Woods to be a Dawg but their recruiting class is filling up.
- Kentucky OL Joey Bloomfield announced that he will sign with Charlie Weis and the Kansas Jayhawks. He didn’t hold an offer from UK or Louisville but many in the Commonwealth wanted Bloomfield to stay home.