Six former Kentucky Wildcats to participate in NBA All Star Festivities

Dec 2, 2012; Lexington , KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops spoke to reporters during a press conference at the Nutter Field House. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of cosmic buttkickings, you can not underestimate the job that Mark Stoops has done of cleansing the negative out of the Kentucky football program. You can pretty much say that Mark Stoops and offensive Coordinator Neal Brown have given Kentucky a winning argument:

"With Stoops and his fellow ex-FSU assistant D.J. Eliot in charge of the Kentucky defense and with Brown and two of his fellow former Texas Tech assistants in charge of the UK offense, Wildcats football now has a credible argument for why Kentucky can succeed in the brutal SEC. Last season, his third running the FSU defense, Stoops directed a Seminoles defensive unit to the No. 2 ranking nationally, a transformation from No. 108 in the country in total defense in the season (2009) before he arrived. Down in Lubbock last year, Brown’s version of the Air Raid offense was second in the nation in passing. “You take the coaches who had Texas Tech’s offense and Florida State’s defense and put them together, you can build a (winning) team at Kentucky,” said Hytchye, the cornerback from La Salle High School in Cincinnati who did so much via Twitter to promote Stoops’ message."

As we know, Ryan Timmons was one of the “big gets” for Stoops’s signing class and due to his status as a Kentucky boy, will be a fan favorite.  There is more however.  Kentucky coaches Chad Scott and Neal Brown see the potential for him to be something like a Percy Harvin addition to the offense: 

"“He will play some in the backfield. We will motion him back there just to get the ball in his hands,” said Scott. “That’s the good thing about this offense. You can be so multiple in a variety of ways to get different guys involved in the offense and get certain guys the ball in space and let them make plays. So he will be in the backfield.” “He’s a guy that’s been running this offense since the seventh grade. He knew the offense. He knew that he could come in here and have a chance to compete early,” UK offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. “He’s a guy that’s versatile. We’re going to move him around. We’ll play him some in the slot, some at outside receiver, and then we’ll hand him the ball from the backfield some also. And at kick returner, too. He’s a guy that’s going to bring a lot to the table early in this program.” Brown says he would love to see Timmons turn out like former Florida star Percy Harvin, a player Timmons says he admires. “He likes Percy a whole lot. He better gain some weight. Percy’s about 215, so he better gain some weight. But he’s a guy that, sort of like how Florida used Percy, he can do a lot of things. So we have to put him in position where we can get a lot out of him — as a true freshman, hopefully,” Brown said. Timmons will have a big advantage over high school signees Alex Montgomery and Jeff Badet of Florida as well as junior college transfer Javess Blue because he has played in a system similar to what Brown uses for five years. “The good thing with him is that is this is really a unique situation. We are installing our offense and quarterbacks are learning off video now and others will learn it in the spring. Other guys will have 15 practices in it (during the spring),” Brown said. “When he gets here in June, he will have had five years in it. It is really unique situation.   “He will play some in the backfield. We will motion him back there just to get the ball in his hands,” said Scott. “That’s the good thing about this offense. You can be so multiple in a variety of ways to get different guys involved in the offense and get certain guys the ball in space and let them make plays. So he will be in the backfield.” “He’s a guy that’s been running this offense since the seventh grade. He knew the offense. He knew that he could come in here and have a chance to compete early,” UK offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. “He’s a guy that’s versatile. We’re going to move him around. We’ll play him some in the slot, some at outside receiver, and then we’ll hand him the ball from the backfield some also. And at kick returner, too. He’s a guy that’s going to bring a lot to the table early in this program.” Brown says he would love to see Timmons turn out like former Florida star Percy Harvin, a player Timmons says he admires. “He likes Percy a whole lot. He better gain some weight. Percy’s about 215, so he better gain some weight. But he’s a guy that, sort of like how Florida used Percy, he can do a lot of things. So we have to put him in position where we can get a lot out of him — as a true freshman, hopefully,” Brown said. Timmons will have a big advantage over high school signees Alex Montgomery and Jeff Badet of Florida as well as junior college transfer Javess Blue because he has played in a system similar to what Brown uses for five years. “The good thing with him is that is this is really a unique situation. We are installing our offense and quarterbacks are learning off video now and others will learn it in the spring. Other guys will have 15 practices in it (during the spring),” Brown said. “When he gets here in June, he will have had five years in it. It is really unique situation."