Julius Randle to make his college decision on March 20

As we have mentioned numerous times, Mark Stoops is redrawing the recruiting maps for Kentucky and is not afraid to go into Big 10 strongholds in Ohio or even Illinois. Justin Rowland has news of another new prospect for the 2014 class:

"Brian Allen is evidence of just how strong the SEC’s national profile is right now. Because of the conference’s recent history Kentucky may well have a chance with the Hindsale (Ill.) Central lineman. Were Allen a few years older he would have been coming out of high school when the college football playing field were a little more balanced, so to speak. Though he comes from a Big Ten family, Brian Allen admires the SEC. And that would have almost certainly meant Allen would end up at a Big Ten school. “My brother plays in the Big Ten now,” he said, referring to his brother, Jack Allen, who plays at Michigan State. “My uncle played in the Big Ten. My grandpa played at Wisconsin.” So it’s a given that’s where he will end up, right? Not necessarily. Kentucky recently became the first school to offer the 6-foot-2, 270-pound center, and conference affliation could give the Wildcats a boost. “I’m not scared to say the SEC is the best football conference in the country right now. I want to play the best football I can, the most competitive football that I can. So it doesn’t bother me that they aren’t in the Big Ten,” he said of Kentucky. Brian Allen is evidence of just how strong the SEC’s national profile is right now. Because of the conference’s recent history Kentucky may well have a chance with the Hindsale (Ill.) Central lineman. Were Allen a few years older he would have been coming out of high school when the college football playing field were a little more balanced, so to speak. Though he comes from a Big Ten family, Brian Allen admires the SEC. And that would have almost certainly meant Allen would end up at a Big Ten school. “My brother plays in the Big Ten now,” he said, referring to his brother, Jack Allen, who plays at Michigan State. “My uncle played in the Big Ten. My grandpa played at Wisconsin.” So it’s a given that’s where he will end up, right? Not necessarily. Kentucky recently became the first school to offer the 6-foot-2, 270-pound center, and conference affliation could give the Wildcats a boost. “I’m not scared to say the SEC is the best football conference in the country right now. I want to play the best football I can, the most competitive football that I can. So it doesn’t bother me that they aren’t in the Big Ten,” he said of Kentucky."

Stoops is also recruiting the state of Florida hard as well.  Florida LB Nico Firios is from the Orlando hotbed that Mark Stoops recruited so well in the 2013 period.  He recently picked up an offer from Kentucky:

"Longwood (Fla.) Lyman linebacker Nico Firios picked up a huge offer this week: Kentucky. Has the offer from the Wildcats shaken up the entire process for him? It’s probably too early to answer that question but it’s clear that the 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker has a lot of interest in UK. “That was a huge one for me,” Firios said shortly after receiving word of the offer. “It just came out of the blue honestly. I called them up and they ended up saying they want to offer me a scholarship. I wasn’t expecting it at all. Especially being from the SEC, that’s a pretty big one.” Rutgers and South Florida offered Firios before Kentucky and he will consider both of those schools as well. He insisted he doesn’t have any favorites yet. “No, not yet,” he said. “I’m just keeping my options open and really trying to focus on school and this spring first before I start to really focus on recruiting this summer. “I’m not going to rush the recruiting process. I want my verbal commitment to be a solid one and to feel 100-percent comfortable in that decsiion. But I’m not waiting on a certain date or anything. Just when I feel like it’s time.” While he doesn’t have any favorites yet, Firios does have a good idea of what he’s looking for in a school. His choice will come down to the best balance of every consideration for a student-athlete. “How well I fit into the scheme of that defense, academics and if they offer what I want and if I feel like I’m needed at that school,” Firios said."