Kentucky Wildcats Football: Building From Within

Yesterday saw Kentucky land a verbal commitment from Drake Jackson, the nation’s top center in the class of 2016, over Ohio State, Alabama, and Tennessee. The offers were legitimate for the four-star who just wanted to stay home and play for his state. It was a big day for the 2016 class because they now have their Drew Barker, that player who has an infectious personality and actively wants to recruit the best players to join him. Much like Barker, and to some extent Matt Elam, Jackson has been in recruits ears about Kentucky for months before pledging to the Cats.

He could be the catalyst to the new highest finish for a Kentucky singing class in the modern era. Barker was able to collect like-minded players that wanted to help turn the Kentucky program around. Now Jackson wants to continue that trend. UK is already off to a good start for the 2016 class but the talet isn’t coming from the new Ohio pipeline. It’s coming from right here in the bluegrass. UK has six verbals in the 2016 class, four of them are Kentuckians. The highest-rated prospects are Jackson and Lafayette’s Landon Young, a nice duo for a team that struggles to sign top shelf linemen. They also have commitments from McCracken County ATH Zy’Aire Hughes and Henry Clay DB Davonte Robinson. Both are three-star prospects. The Cats are likely to add RB Quinton Baker of Ashland back into the fold after he decommitted last month and are the current favorites for WR Keion Wakefield out of Louisville. Bell County OL Nathan Murray seems on the verge of blowing up and should warrant a UK offer.They are also a pair of three star DBs in-state, Jacob Long and Dee Cain, who could earn a Kentucky offer when camp season rolls around.

By comparison there are only five players ranked three stars or better by Rivals.com in Kentucky this year. Assuming the Cats sign Damien Harris, and I think they do, UK will have again owned the state. They already have very solid commitments from four-star linebacker Eli Brown and three star OL Mason Wolfe. They missed on QB Elijah Sindelar, whom they really wanted, and DB Grayson Miller. Both are from out of state and did not grow up rooting for the Cats. Next year they look poised to land every in-state player that they want with the possible exception of Wakefield, who covets an Oregon offer.

Now if you told me that Mark Stoops was going to come in and sign half of a signing class from the state of Kentucky in a crucial year three, I would have ranted. But the level of talent in Kentucky is undoubtedly improving. The population hasn’t really changed much in the last five years but people in this state are starting to love football and it is trickling down to their kids. Think about it. These players were in middle school when Rich Brooks was taking UK to bowl games. I’ve always said that UK playing good football is the best catalyst to improve talent in Kentucky and we are seeing the fruits of that. These are kids that saw a Top 10 ranked Kentucky team. A Kentucky team that won four straight against Louisville. A Kentucky team that went to five straight bowls and beat LSU and Auburn in the process. They KNOW Kentucky can win, maybe moreso than some of their elders.

I know that everyone is disappointed with how the season ended, even if it was a great game, but if you keep things in perspective Kentucky is right on schedule. There are no quick fixes for the state that this program was in when Mark Stoop took this job. Like Buzz Baker said, they didn’t leave the cupboards bare, they ripped the cupboards off the wall. Things are heading in the right direction and fans will start seeing even more improvement starting next season when the Cats get back to bowling. Exciting times to be a UK fan!