Kentucky Wildcats Football: Long Overdue Recruiting Update

Nov 9, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Jalen Whitlow (2) runs the ball against the Missouri Tigers at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Amid the depths of a disappointing football season, Kentucky fans are once again forced to look to the future for hope. It’s a familiar feeling for a team that hasn’t won an SEC title since the 1970’s

and is better known for The Bluegrass Miracle loss than the corresponding victory in 2007. But this time maybe it’s different. Many temporary fans have already given up hope and written Kentucky football off again after getting excited for the Spring Game and the early season. But if you have watched this team for a long time, you can see something has changed. The box scores are the same, but the effort has increased. The Commonwealth Stadium renovations will be announced next week, to be finished in 2015. And recruiting is still flying to new heights, the Wildcats are currently at #8 according to Rivals.com and look to finish now lower than the Top 15. Especially once all of UK’s commitments go public.

It’s been a while since a recruiting update fill this Wednesday slot, mostly because there isn’t a ton of news with only three spots left for the 2014 class. One of those is surely reserved for Matt Elam. Another is being held for an offensive lineman, namely a JUCO player or Ohio State commit Marcelys Jones. The final spot is supposedly being held for a “defensive athlete” and may already be filled. Hope that is. Just do it. That doesn’t mean that the coaches aren’t still keeping in touch with other 2014 prospects. It’s rare for a recruiting class to see no defections and/or no academic casualties. It’s practically unheard of at Kentucky. That doesn’t mean to expect a lot of flips, the commits have all formed a tight bond and it will be tough for anyone to break loose of that. If one were to guess, the potential for a flip lies in the JUCO ranks. As far as academic risks go, I wouldn’t worry about them too much. The staff knows that they need players who can make an impact in 2014 and don’t want to waste a single ride. There are only a couple of recruits thought to be on shaky ground from a grades standpoint this year and they shall remain nameless out of respect. Kentucky is going to have a Top 15 class after consecutive losing seasons, let that sink in for a moment. And you thought what Ole Miss did last year was impressive.

As good as the 2013 class has been and the 2014 class appears like it will be, the statement has been made more than once that the 2015 class will likely be the best. It might not rank as highly because it figures to be a smaller group, but people around the program expect it to be packed with talent. It’s off to a good start with DB Montrell Custis. Florida teammates Luke Hiers and Marcus Walker may not be far behind. Kentucky is in great position with Elijah Sindelar, one of two great looking QB prospects in the Bluegrass State next year, the other being Lexington’s own Reese Ryan. In-state linebackers Eli Brown and Emmit Smith figure to get a lot of attention. Ohio RB Darrin Hall has a strong relationship with Vince Marrow, as does Missouri WR Alex Ofadile. The Cats really want TE Jackson Harris. An interesting player to watch will be Florida ATH Chandler Cox, he is being recruited as a fullback/H-back/tight end. Cox plays quarterback for his high school team. Sorry folks, the running game isn’t going anywhere.

Keep your chins up folks, keep the faith because better days are coming. Better talent than you’ve seen is headed to Lexington. But you have to stay the course. So many recruits talk about how awesome Kentucky fans are, the funny thing is that they haven’t seen the full force that you can be. It takes a commitment from everyone involved to incite a culture change, like Coach Curci said, down to the janitor at the university. So no more of this “show me first, then I’ll come” nonsense. If you aren’t there for the struggle, don’t try to join in the celebration. #PackCommonwealth against UT?