Damien Harris to make decision on Friday

The week can only get better for the Kentucky Wildcats. Yesterday, reports leaked out that Vince Marrow will turn down the Michigan Wolverines and Jim Harbaugh and remain on the Kentucky staff. Now, we have a time for Damien Harris’ announcement on Friday.

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Damien Harris will make his college announcement at 1:15PM on Friday at Madison Southern High School. Harris is down to final three of Kentucky, Ohio State and Alabama. The on-school announcement has typically been a good sign for Kentucky as you would want to imagine it will be more of a celebration if the home state Wildcats are picked.

Most recruiting services have Damien Harris a five star recruit and Rivals has him as the #11 commit in the class. ESPN is the outlier and has him as a four star commit and the #31st overall. Here is how ESPN evaluates Damien Harris:

"OVERALL TRAITSSize-Strength-SpeedStrong, sturdy, well-built runner with a lower center of gravity. Has college ready, compact body structure at the position. Shows very good running strength and durability. Has great top-end speed and the ability to switch on a homerun second gear and separate.Vision/PatienceDisplays very good vision, both in-line to find the cutback and outside to bounce the stretch play. Shows good patience in letting his blocks set up and finding the opening daylight. This is a back who looks to get North and find the downhill crease without a lot of wasted cuts.Agility/AccelerationNot overly sudden in his movements but flashes natural burst and explosiveness to get through a tight crease or to get the corner on outside runs and go. Quick feet and very good lateral agility and body control. Can jump-cut effectively and make defenders miss in small areas; elusive in the open field as well not gearing down much to cut.Power/BalanceStrong, well-balanced runner who gets low behind his pads and is very difficult to knock off his feet. Not a high-knee action back who powers and drives through first and second contact but does not give defenders a clean shot and can break arm tackles and bounce off contact when he gains momentum.Bottom LineHarris is one of the more complete and well-rounded backs in this class. He has shown strong load-carrier production along with a game-breaker speed element. Has a college ready decisive style that should make him a very coveted national prospect. Only question mark is his current level of competition.Underclassman EvalSTRENGTHS: Strong, balanced runner with quick feet and well-rounded skill-set. Flashes very good top-end speed and upper and lower body strength. Displays good vision finding the hole and the ability to get through tight creases for big gainers. Possesses the lateral stretch ability and edge speed to get outside and move the chains. Good hands out of the backfield … AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT: Not overly powerful at this stage. Lacks the ability to consistently break tackles and produce strong yards after contact. Elusiveness and suddenness are not elite. We question his current level of competition but he does dominate it. … BOTTOM LINE: Harris is an explosive player with natural feet and vision. Has good size and will only get stronger as a downhill runner with time. Big-play skill set that should make him a coveted prospect."

Just that fact that Mark Stoops could take a recruit from two of the four teams that are in the College Football Playoff is amazing. Let’s finish this and keep Damien in state.

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