Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
Is Urban Meyer starting to see the writing on the wall concerning Damien Harris? It certainly seems that way as Ohio State is now offering another 2015 running back and it is starting to look like Harris to UK is trending.
"Now comes the Ohio State offer for Vaughn, who gave 247Sports an interesting quote Tuesday night about the timing of the increase in interest. “They didn’t really tell me about the running back situation but they were late to offer to see what another running back was going to do,” Vaughn told 247. “They kept it real with me about why they hadn’t (offered).” Harris has long been Ohio State’s top target at running back. If the Buckeyes are looking at other options, that’s a great sign for UK."
As a matter of fact, some recruiting analysts are coming out and saying that UK is now the leader for Harris:
"It’s gotten to the point where Kentucky might actually be considered the favorite in his recruitment, over fellow finalists and traditional powerhouses Ohio State, Alabama, Texas A&M and Florida. Count Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell among those who think Stoops is in the driver’s seat for the biggest in-state recruit in years. “I think they’re going to get him. I really do,” Farrell told the Herald-Leader. “I feel confident with the ties he has to the program. Last year, I hunched that Matt Elam wouldn’t leave (Kentucky). … It was just a feeling that there’s really no way he’s going to spurn his home-state program after all the efforts they’d put into him. And I think it’s the same thing for Damien. “If Damien was a guy who had said, ‘I want to get out of state,’ or if he was sort of a stargazer that had to go to a major program, then I would think differently. But I don’t think he’s that type of kid. I think he’s really interested in staying home and playing for Kentucky and trying to take that to a different level.”"
Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
For those of you concerned about Mark Stoops leaving prematurely early from UK, don’t be. He was heavily involved in the new practice facility planning and it’s just my opinion that UK Football is his baby and he will want to enjoy the ride and the fruits of his labor for a while. The plans for that new practice facility sound amazing, by the way.
"Imagine everything a football player might need or want and it’s probably in Kentucky’s new, $45 million practice facility. The new place might even include a few things a football player didn’t know he wanted. The plans for the more than 90,000-square-foot facility, released to the Herald-Leader on Tuesday night, show a lavish building that will serve as a one-stop shop for UK football. There’s a full-service kitchen, a juice and smoothie bar, a high performance weight room with its own cardio mezzanine and a turf-floored area for specialized training. There’s a massage therapy room, a space for sports science, team doctor’s offices with in-house X-ray machines. There’s even a little barbershop just off the players’ locker room, which has hot and cold tub pools where they can soak while they watch SportsCenter on televisions just above them. The entire facility, for which $26.3 million already has been privately raised, was a vision of Coach Mark Stoops, who said this summer that he tried to be involved in every aspect. “Our facility, the football facility and what we’re designing right now, I’ve been heavily involved with that,” he said."