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So is Quinton Baker out of the question?

KY has players that may not be as fast but overall better players at his position already committed. It is now a numbers game and he is probably going to be left out. My guess is he put himself on the Plan B, C, or D list when he decommitted. I do not know how good of a player he really is, but to me, your an in-state kid, Dad played for KY, KY gave you a shot early on in the process, and you back off the second Brown left. I have to think that did not sit well with Stoops and in return he moved on to other players.

Wish the kid the best wherever he plays though. Just feel that he had a shot that so many in-state kids would beg for and blew it.
 
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Just wondering since I saw he ran a 10.79 100 meters yesterday...which is fast
I could be wrong. My interpretation is that Stoops pulled back, and is not recruiting Baker anymore. Maybe this was because Stoops likes other running backs on his board better. Maybe Neal's departure disappointed Baker. Maybe Dawson's arrival had something to do with it, since Dawson has his own ideas about fitting backs into his offense. Maybe Baker was upset when Stoops accepted Snell's commitment. Or maybe Baker just prefers other programs. It could be any of those things, or something else. Whatever the reason, it looks like Baker won't play for Kentucky, and I doubt this will be a problem. Stoops has shown that he knows how to recruit.
 
Maybe Stoops thinks when a Kentucky player and a UK legacy gives his commitment Stoops expects that player to keep his word. Maybe Stoops has a bad taste in his mouth after the Harris BS.
 
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Maybe Stoops thinks when a Kentucky player and a UK legacy gives his commitment Stoops expects that player to keep his word. Maybe Stoops has a bad taste in his mouth after the Harris BS.
All of that is bound to be true. But this is the reality of modern recruiting. If Stoops considered Baker an essential recruit, he would fight through all of that and stay on Baker. Kids do what Baker did all the time. Stoops took multiple recruits in the last class who originally committed to other programs. If this was a matter of principle with Stoops, he would not have signed Brown, Gosier, Westry in February. I suspect Stoops likes other players on his board better, and Dawson is influencing the decision. But it's also possible that Baker was indecisive and Stoops just decided to move on. If it was between Baker and Snell, I vote for Snell. If it was between Baker and Rose, I vote for Rose. There is a lot to be said for speed, but we already have a lot of speed in our backfield with Boom and King. Randall Cobb was 1 of the slowest receivers on our team in the 40.
 
Stoops and I talk all the time:rolleyes:
He'll take the player he thinks will help him post a W..... He's a man, and won't let teenagers and all the BS that comes with recruiting them, take his eye off the ball... Baker had a seat on the bus but decided to get off... Maybe there's room at some time maybe not... But for certain if the 10.79 IF a good time can't hurt his chances wherever he goes.... That's PDF... pretty damn fast :football:.
 
Don't know about the other backs we've recruited or how many backs UK plans to take, but Baker is plenty good enough to play at UK, and has the potential to excel. Have seen him play several times. Not only is he fast, he sees the field well, he's explosive, he rarely goes down with first contact, and he is a decent to good receiver.
 
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Stoops just came off a rough recruiting class experience and when Baker decommitted, I think Stoops wanted to eliminate the drama in this class.
 
Don't know about the other backs we've recruited or how many backs UK plans to take, but Baker is plenty good enough to play at UK, and has the potential to excel. Have seen him play several times. Not only is he fast, he sees the field well, he's explosive, he rarely goes down with first contact, and he is a decent to good receiver.
Rose and Snell are pretty good too. I see that you consider Baker a decent receiver. I have heard some concerns that his receiver skills are pretty raw, and might not translate very well in our offense. Also heard concerns about his durability playing against bigger college players. No doubt he is fast. But like several other posters said, Baker had a seat on the bus in Lexington and then apparently did something to give it up. Wish him well.
 
Loved Al Baker at UK and would like to see his son carry on the legacy, but in this day and time and the way that Stoops and Co. get it done on the recruiting trail, you can't call the shots unless a school feels they can't live without you. Baker must think a lot of himself to play that game with UK.

We are a big time D1 SEC school on the rise. The critics will negatively recruit against that statement but, Baker should not let someone like say UL jack leg bums influence him. For heavens sake. He is a UK bred athlete in the making. If he wants to be at UK, he should call them and explain his reason(s) that he backed off and plead for another shot to get back on said bus.

I don't think it will happen without him initiating the first steps. He's the one that pulled back. He needs to come forward, unless he is content with that decision. Maybe UL is his first love now. Can you imagine?!
 
Hard to imagine him being better than Rose or Snell. We just signed a smaller back who is lightning fast and knows how to play with the big boys in Georgia. I think the staff got who they wanted when we got him.
 
I think he was not quite a priority SEC level back to begin with who got an early offer partially as a legacy and then pulled back when the going got tough here and Brown left. I think his decommitment and then visit to UL left a bad taste in the staff's mouth and they moved on. Other guys seem to have taken his spot. It looks like Marshall is his best offer at present. This boat has probably sailed.
 
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I think he was not quite a priority SEC level back to begin with who got an early offer partially as a legacy and then pulled back when the going got tough here and Brown left. I think his decommitment and then visit to UL left a bad taste in the staff's mouth and they moved on. Other guys seem to have taken his spot. It looks like Marshall is his best offer at present. This boat has probably sailed.
 
He has certainly been lighting up the camps here lately. Finished 3rd overall at the Nike "the opening" camp in Columbus I believe in overall results. He finished first out of the running backs. The camps are getting him a lot of attention and interest from major d1 schools. He won't end up at Marshall unless he just wants to stay close to home. I don't think he will end up at UK, but I wish he would, he's been bulking up but not losing any speed. Once he makes it into a college nutrition and weight program the kid could really turn out to be a steal for whatever school he attends.
 
I'll take Rose and Snell all day over him. Neither are as fast, but both are fast enough, and very, very good at running the football. Against better competition as well.
 
Baker put up crazy numbers against Ft. Thomas Highlands last season in the postseason. Rose and Snell are great but Baker has more overall potential in my opinion, he just needs to keep adding weight.
 
Gonna have to trust the staff here. They offered and he backed out. We can understand it if the staff wants to minimize the potential for a repeat of last year's drama.

And, it may be safe to assume be he does not want to go to UK. He reopened his recruitment.
 
He sealed his fate when he decommitted right after the Louisville game. He lost his only chance to be on a Power 5 roster. I could care less about him
 
Just wondering since I saw he ran a 10.79 100 meters yesterday...which is fast
Plenty of fast high school players do not become good college players. It takes more. Marvin Love, Draak Davis, John Logan all sub 4.4, could not handle SEC football. Stoops already has commitments from 2 Ohio running backs, Snell and Rose. Stoops and Dawson like Snell and Rose better than Baker. I don't know whether Baker ever had a committable Kentucky offer, but he doesn't have 1 now.
 
Baker did have a committable offer, before Snell and Rose I believe. Obviously the staff must have seen something in him or they wouldn't have offered a full ride so early. It is what it is, he probably won't end up at Kentucky, but to say he isn't sec caliber because we didn't land him is a bit of a stretch, after all we did offer him a full ride. My guess is he ends up at Tennessee.
 
I have no idea whether he is SEC caliber, but being a legacy recruit probably helped him land the offer.
 
We are on a trajectory to be competitive and a player in the SEC. I trust our coaching staff to build this program from the proverbial bottom feeder to a contender. If Mr. Baker fits the requirements of the program and deemed suitable as a successful back in the SEC, I'm sure the staff will further evaluate his potential. Otherwise, the young man has the opportunity to take his skills elsewhere.
 
I have no idea whether he is SEC caliber, but being a legacy recruit probably helped him land the offer.

In one post you said to trust the staff, which I do. Now you say that you have no idea whether he is sec caliber and may have been offered due to his father's legacy at UK. I don't personally know him, but I do know Al, Quinton is sec caliber and is garnering attention from other sec schools. It would be a shame to let someone of his caliber get away due to petty nonsense.

I trust our staff in evaluating recruits, but they did offer him early, so the idea that he isn't sec caliber goes away from the idea of trusting our staff, considering UK was one of his first offers. He reopened his recruitment when Neil Brown left, once he did that it seems the coaching staff has forgot about him. Unfortunately other sec schools (amoung others) are showing major interest.
 
I'll tell you one thing. Michigan State, UL, WVU, and a few others trust our staff since every time we offer someone those guys are right behind us.
 
I have complete trust in our staff. We don't always get what we want but our staff is great in evaluating talent, IMO.

The only reason I responded to this thread is due to the people acting like Baker is chopped liver because he is no longer on our radar it seems. The truth is we offered him so he must have had some potential and currently he is tearing up the camps, gaining a lot of interest from big name football schools.

I live in Ashland and can tell you the kid is the real deal. He's a bit small for the sec but has been adding weight at a rapid pace this past year, however he hasn't lost any speed.
 
In one post you said to trust the staff, which I do. Now you say that you have no idea whether he is sec caliber and may have been offered due to his father's legacy at UK. I don't personally know him, but I do know Al, Quinton is sec caliber and is garnering attention from other sec schools. It would be a shame to let someone of his caliber get away due to petty nonsense.

I trust our staff in evaluating recruits, but they did offer him early, so the idea that he isn't sec caliber goes away from the idea of trusting our staff, considering UK was one of his first offers. He reopened his recruitment when Neil Brown left, once he did that it seems the coaching staff has forgot about him. Unfortunately other sec schools (amoung others) are showing major interest.

He may be SEC caliber, but Marshall will never play in the SEC and the only SEC team to offer was his dad's alma mater. I trust the staff. They gave him a shot. If he is SEC caliber, he will NEVER choose Marshall. But, he needs an offer first.
 
You keep saying you trust the staff.. The staff offered him a full ride. He accepted, then reopened his recruitment once Brown left. For whatever reason you seem to think he's not good enough to play in the sec since he no longer has an offer listed on the internet from sec schools.

Like I said he's been tearing up the camps and has bulked up a bit since the cats originally offered him. I know Tennessee and ole miss both have interest in him. So apparently a few people think he is sec caliber.
 
He would be worst case scenario for UT. He's been down there and camped and didn't get an offer. He will be a good group of 5 conference player.
 
i think they were gonna use him as a slot receiver, return guy, and utility player until he gained weight to contribute at rb. the staff wants to keep the best in state players in state and if they feel a guy can play in the sec then they recruit them. obviously they thought he could play but the fact that they are not jumping back in after the decommit and we are still recruiting at least 2 more rb's for this cycle tells me the ship has sailed. i would say the only way he ends up at UK is if he has a huge senior year and has a serious sit down with stoops and dawson and we dont get another rb in this class.

i think the staff was done recruiting rb but rose may play D now from a couple different post i've read. i guess we'll find out for sure in the next month but they did offer 2 more '16 rb's from what i've seen.
 
You keep saying you trust the staff.. The staff offered him a full ride. He accepted, then reopened his recruitment once Brown left. For whatever reason you seem to think he's not good enough to play in the sec since he no longer has an offer listed on the internet from sec schools.

Like I said he's been tearing up the camps and has bulked up a bit since the cats originally offered him. I know Tennessee and ole miss both have interest in him. So apparently a few people think he is sec caliber.

i have no problem with the staff taking a chance on a legacy recruit. If the kid gets no other P5 offer, he screwed up. But, I really do not care.
 
So in a sense your saying that he may not have been good enough to play at UK to begin with, but since his father played here its ok to offer him a full ride anyway?

I'm sorry if I sound like a donkey, but the kid is great already and has a ton of potential if he keeps putting on weight, which I believe he will. To say he isn't sec caliber just because we lost interest in him is absurd though.

He finished 3rd overall in scoring results at the Nike "the opening" combine. Imagine he's capable of playing sec ball.
 
It's not like he decommitted and his list of suitors grew I think that tells you all you need to know about him. He's fast and has good hands but he isn't SEC caliber when it comes to running between the tackles or picking up blitzes he's just too small. We now have two backs committed that can do anything you need them to do. Baker will likely land at WKU,Marshall, or somewhere like that and have a good career there
 
Baker did have a committable offer, before Snell and Rose I believe. Obviously the staff must have seen something in him or they wouldn't have offered a full ride so early. It is what it is, he probably won't end up at Kentucky, but to say he isn't sec caliber because we didn't land him is a bit of a stretch, after all we did offer him a full ride. My guess is he ends up at Tennessee.
Nobody is saying Baker isn't SEC caliber, but I suspect your Tennessee prediction probably won't pan out. Stoops apparently likes Snell and Rose better than Baker. You can't get away with saying fans turned on Baker because we didn't land him, when the evidence suggests the opposite. Baker verbally committed to Kentucky, but de-committed around the time Snell committed. This suggests either Stoops decided to go with Snell and Rose, or else Baker changed his mind around that time, maybe because of Snell. I haven't seen any Kentucky fans turn on Baker. But it is true that speed alone does not make an SEC football player. Doesn't mean Baker is or isn't an SEC level talent. But it takes more than speed.
 
Don't know about the other backs we've recruited or how many backs UK plans to take, but Baker is plenty good enough to play at UK, and has the potential to excel. Have seen him play several times. Not only is he fast, he sees the field well, he's explosive, he rarely goes down with first contact, and he is a decent to good receiver.

Honestly I don't think Stoops plays any of those games, like has been mentioned. He's been in or around coaching all of his life and has seen these situations thousands of times in his life. He is all about hopefully getting the right kid who is talented but also wants to be a part of his team no matter what state he is from. And we have to understand, Baker may not want to be at Kentucky which is another possible reason why he decommitted. I hope he does well wherever he goes but like with the Harris kid, the staff won't quell on it, they will move on and say next.
 
Honestly I don't think Stoops plays any of those games, like has been mentioned. He's been in or around coaching all of his life and has seen these situations thousands of times in his life. He is all about hopefully getting the right kid who is talented but also wants to be a part of his team no matter what state he is from. And we have to understand, Baker may not want to be at Kentucky which is another possible reason why he decommitted. I hope he does well wherever he goes but like with the Harris kid, the staff won't quell on it, they will move on and say next.

The interest in baker from UK's petspective went out the door the same day Neil Brown did.
 
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