Weekly Recruiting Roundup: January 13th-19th
By Justin Rowland
It’s been another eventful week in Kentucky recruiting. Let’s take a look at the biggest happenings in recent days.
The commitment of Leesburg, Fla. linebacker Danny Trevathan is huge news for the Big Blue. Trevathan has really flown under the radar this season but he holds offers from Ole Miss, Arkansas, Central Florida, Purdue, Indiana and others. At 6-2, 215, Trevathan will bring a lot of speed to the position and I expect we might have found a real gem.
More good news came when Randall Cobb reaffirmed his commitment to Kentucky. He has cancelled his visit to Tennessee, according to Jeff Drummond at CatsPause.com. If you have the opportunity, watch some of the film on Cobb that’s out there. He’s an impressive athlete. Don’t automatically assume he’ll be making a position switch, either. He’s an intriguing quarterback prospect and reminds me a bit of Joe Hamilton, the former Georgia Tech signal-caller.
Offensive lineman Trevino Woods also said he is now a solid verbal for the Cats. I never expected him to go anywhere else, but it’s always nice to know these guys are in the bag.
Gavin Hardin, the Tennessee native and linebacker who is currently a soft verbal to Ole Miss, did not make his scheduled trip to Lexington. All is not lost. I’ve said for a while now that if Miami offers Hardin it’s over. Miami is preoccupied with making sure they don’t lose several of their highly touted verbals to schools like LSU and North Carolina, so they won’t be aggressively pursuing him. My gut instinct is that Kentucky is not as big a player as we would like to believe, and that it will be either Ole Miss or Miami.
Tenarius Wright did make the trip this past weekend. He had a good time. Make no mistake about it, Wright is a big-time talent. We don’t normally see defensive players with his kind of ability in Lexington. It looks like a four-horse race between Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ole Miss, and I couldn’t begin to tell you where I think he’ll go.
I was interested to see if Kentucky would extend an offer to wide receiver Marcus Rucker while he was on his official this weekend. They did not. At some point Rucker is going to have to make a decision regardless of what UK does. I do not understand why we have not offered Rucker, despite our limited scholarships, because receiver is such a position of need. I don’t think Roark is substantially better, and I don’t want this kid to slip through the cracks. He wants to be a Wildcat.
Jamal Mosley enjoyed his official to UK as well. North Carolina, Oklahoma State and Southern Miss are still in the picture and he’ll visit those schools. Unless he waits too long and we fill our class, Mosley could very well be a Cat.
I haven’t done this before, but I’ll put together a little “wish list” for the rest of this class. It’s based on talent and need, so here we go.
1.
Aaron Boyd – A big-time in-state recruit at a position of need. What more is there to say? I feel better about him now than I did two months ago, but a little worse than I did two weeks ago. He’s higher on Kentucky than he was last year, but several new schools have gotten involved recently. UK has been one of his few constants, so that may bode well.
2.Arterio Arnold – A defensive tackle from South Carolina that has flown under the radar this year. I’ve talked to several folks from the Palmetto State that say he’s the real deal. He runs a 4.9-second 40-yard dash and he has an SEC-ready build. We’re good at defensive tackle for at least a couple of years, but can you ever have too many in this league?
3.Michael McAdoo – A Tennessee linebacker that’s very high on Kentucky and North Carolina. I think it’s a toss-up at this point. He’s deciding soon, and we need the help at defensive end.
4.Matt Roark – The athlete from Georgia. He’s versatile and rangy, and he could be an early impact player.
5.Marcus Rucker – Maybe the staff knows something I don’t. But in a year where receiver is a huge priority, I don’t see how you pass on a guy that loves UK and appears to be an SEC-caliber player.
6.Jacquies Smith – A defensive end from Texas that recently received an offer from Kentucky. He may set up a visit to Lexington in the near future, but there really aren’t that many open dates left. We may luck up and bring him in just before Signing Day. Some other schools like Missouri and Michigan State have been recruiting him longer than we have, so they may have the edge.
7.Corey Heard – Another nice receiver prospect that would look good in Kentucky blue. I like our chances here, if he has a committable offer.
8.Justin Rogers – Alabama running back who, at 5-11, 180, runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. He’s taking a visit to Kentucky in early February.
9.Gerald Rivers – Rivals reported that he’s a Kentucky-lean, and he has offers from Ole Miss and Arkansas among others. He has a good build and he moves well as a defensive end. Unless he commits on his visit to Ole Miss at the end of January, I think he’s ours.
10.Ricky Holloway – Big-time linebacker from Tennessee who says UK and Colorado are his two favorites. Normally he would be higher, but I think there are positions of greater need. We’ve already lost Mohler to the Buffs … sure would be nice to get a guy of this caliber.
