Playing the Football Recruiting Game

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

One of the more frustrating aspects to college football recruiting is that every recruit seems like they could flip their commitment at any moment, up until they sign their letter of intent on signing day. And when the level you’ve been recruiting goes up, so does the possibility that an even bigger school will snatch one of your guys away. Ben Roberts writes:

"“The past three weeks have served as a recruiting reminder: Kentucky football might be on the rise, but the Cats aren’t “there” just yet.Two of UK’s most-celebrated commitments for the class of 2015 — wide receiver Alex Stump and defensive end Darius Fullwood — recently backed out of their pledges in favor of more-established programs.Stump landed the Ohio State scholarship offer he had been waiting for and flipped to the homestate Buckeyes.Fullwood ended up at Virginia Tech, a program that has had ample success recruiting his Maryland high school.”"

Kentucky’s 2015 football schedule was released Tuesday evening, and with 8 home games the schedule is loaded. Kyle Tucker writes:

"“The University of Kentucky plans to unveil its completed $120 million football stadium renovation in 2015, and the Wildcats will have an impressive, eight-game home schedule to showcase it. All the program’s rivals are coming to town, plus the first Thursday game in Commonwealth Stadium history against Auburn on Oct. 15.Florida (Sept. 19), Missouri (Sept. 26), Tennessee (Oct. 31) and Louisville (Nov. 28) also highlight the home schedule. Non-conference opponents Louisiana-Lafayette (Sept. 5), Eastern Kentucky (Oct. 3) and Charlotte (Nov. 21) will come to Commonwealth as well.”"

As many as 9 Kentucky players could find themselves selected in the 2015 NBA Draft, with up to 7 in the first round. But who, among them, is the best NBA prospect? Adam Zagoria writes:

"“Karl Anthony-Towns is Kentucky’s best NBA prospect by far and Andrew and Aaron Harrison look like borderline first-round draft picks, one veteran NBA scout who was at Kentucky’s combine over the weekend told SNY.tv.”"

With 6 games in the Bahamas and a combine under their belt, observers have plenty of things to discuss about the 2014-2015 Kentucky basketball team even before Big Blue Madness on Friday. What are the top 5 takeaways? Bobby Reagan writes:

"“Despite the fact Kentucky football is off to a 5-1 start, the Commonwealth is still all ears when it comes to Kentucky basketball. Thanks to a couple early practices, football might be left in the rearview mirror as Big Blue Madness is set for this Saturday.Kentucky has been on national television a handful of times already this year, despite the season not even getting started thanks to a trip to the Bahamas and a well-crafted idea by head coach John Calipari. With a team full of future pros, there are plenty of reasons to be excited for this Saturday when the season officially kicks off.”"

On Tuesday, Mike Slive announced his retirement as SEC Commissioner. Perhaps no college athletic conference commissioner has the legacy, or ever will have the legacy, of Slive. His impact on college athletics will continue to be felt for years. Dennis Dodd writes:

"“And that’s what it has been since he took office in 2002. Fun. Before Slive we didn’t evaluate each season by first ascertaining who was going to win the SEC. Before Slive, we didn’t consider the conference championship game a de facto national semifinal.Before Slive, there wasn’t jealously and flat-out hate at what the SEC had become — a giant. Before Slive, no conference had even come close to dominating the game. Eight straight BCS title games (seven championships) and counting.Before Slive, the SEC didn’t build the biggest and best and pay coaches the highest. Before Slive, we didn’t consider how far diversity could go. Five SEC schools have hired African-American head football coaches during his time.Before Slive we didn’t consider everything in college sports through the lens of the Southeastern Conference.”"