3-2-1: An unprecedented finish
@RowlandRIVALS
Cats Illustrated's 3-2-1 follows a familiar format: Three things we've learned, two questions we're asking, one bold prediction about Kentucky's 2020 recruiting class.
There's still time for the Wildcats to add more help before the class is officially in the books but we have a pretty good idea of how things are going to play out.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Kentucky has several ace recruiters on the staff.
In the past, Kentucky has sometimes had a reputable recruiter or two even by the standards of other SEC programs. Tee Martin, from Joker Phillips' staff, was highly regarded and moved on quickly. And earlier in the Stoops era Kentucky's recruiting classes were largely the byproduct of Vince Marrow's efforts in Ohio.
Kentucky has needed to rely less on Ohio and has the luxury of splitting Marrow's duties between Ohio, Kentucky, and spot duty elsewhere, because it has several other assistants who are making serious inroads in their respective territories.
Steve Clinkscale's work in Michigan during the 2018 class received a lot of praise and rightfully so, as Marquan McCall and DeAndre Square were and are big-time talents. But this year's class of Justin Rogers, Earnest Sanders, Deondre Buford, and Jeremy Flax far exceeds anything UK has ever done in that Big Ten state before.
Michael Smith has made his mark with the transfer of Kelvin Joseph, in the recruitment of Joseph Williams, and in beating out Tennessee for defensive lineman Tre'Vonn Rybka of the Volunteer State. We're not talking enough about the stellar split-duty work he's doing in Louisiana and Tennessee.
Now there's Jon Sumrall bringing his connections and successful recruiting history from the Deep South to Kentucky's staff. He's the kind of assistant who could pull in a large number of four-stars to a place like Alabama or Auburn and pulled the surprise of the year in beating out Lane Kiffin for Josaih Hayes right at the end.
Never before at least in the modern era has Kentucky had several recruiters capable of dominating their areas, exceeding UK's historic recruiting results, or pulling those kinds of surprises spread out over the map.
2. UK has never seen this influx of OL/DL talent in the past.
This is really a game-changing class in the trenches for Kentucky. On the one hand, that's just UK doubling down on an existing strength and reinforcing what the 'Cats are already good at. But it has the potential to ensure a foundation for the next several years and could put Kentucky in truly elite company in the trenches nationally.
Simply put, there's so much talent in the trenches that it would be hard for a coaching staff to "mess it up". Even factoring inevitable attrition and the fact that not everyone pans out, there's so much talent up front that Kentucky is virtually guaranteed to have some quality line play moving forward.
UK has eight offensive or defensive linemen ranked four or five stars in this class. Only Clemson has more than that.
3. Almost everything went Kentucky's way at the end.
Back in the 2014 class, almost everything broke Kentucky's way. But most of that happened early in the cycle, before the end of the summer. The 'Cats had a very strong class going into the early signing period, but UK had an unprecedented finish measured against the history of the program.
Finishing with Octavious Oxendine, RJ Adams, Jeremy Flax, and Josaih Hayes exceeds what almost anyone would have expected a day or two before it all went down.
Flax had been trending towards Auburn and the Tigers had a legitimate need at tackle. He picked Kentucky anyways, even though the Wildcats return three tackles with starting experience.
NC State had aggressively (perhaps over-aggressively) pursued RJ Adams and appeared to be the late frontrunner, but defensive coordinator Brad White won that fight, too.
Oxendine was one of the more difficult prospects to forecast for the duration of the cycle because he didn't really talk to media like other recruits and because Tennessee was always looming as an option, but Vince Marrow locked him down.
And Hayes was widely-forecasted to Ole Miss until the very end when Jon Sumrall swooped in and sealed the deal.
Tyler Baron did pick Tennessee, but that only underscores that we should always err on the side of assuming family will win out, just as it did with Cade Cunningham on the basketball side.
Adding four players rated four-stars late, with more likely to come, is unlike anything Kentucky has ever done in the past. It gives Kentucky one of the best finishes for any school in the country and makes the 'Cats one of the nation's stories at the finish line.
TWO THINGS WE'RE ASKING
1. Is the receiver talent enough to change the equation on offense?
As strong as the line talent is, one could wonder if Kentucky added enough at receiver to transform the passing game. The best hope there has to be the influx of talent in the quarterback room, with Terry Wilson returning to health by next summer, Joey Gatewood making his transfer final, Beau Allen signing his paperwork, and both Nik Scalzo and Sawyer Smith on the mend. No question, Kentucky will have more talent in the quarterback room than the 'Cats have usually had. That doesn't guarantee on player will stand out next year, but it helps.
But what about receiver? Earnest Sanders' junior film was outstanding but a hamstring issue kept us from seeing what he's really capable of this year. Kalil Branham and Izayah Cummings are two of the better playmakers from their respective states, but the strength of this class is clearly in the trenches. It's tough to recruit receiver talent with a receiver at quarterback and when your program has a run-first identity. Developing these players is very important for the future balance of Kentucky's offense. Landing Mike Drennen would help a lot, too.
2. What happens with Torrance Davis?
The one UK commitment who did not sign a letter of intent on Wednesday was Ohio three-star back Torrance Davis.
Sources have told Cats Illustrated that he is still expected to be a part of the class, but a cryptic social media post from Davis and the lack of a signature leaves his status up in the air.
Running back is not a dire need for Kentucky with so many young backs already in the program and with Jutahn McClain signing on Wednesday, but Davis is the kind of slasher and big-play threat in a big frame and Kentucky has wanted him badly since before the spring.
Whatever the delay, Davis has a few weeks to get everything squared away before the traditional signing period.
BOLD PREDICTION
Kentucky will close the class with four-star athlete Mike Drennen II, three-star Bowling Green safety Vito Tisdale, and four-star Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep Academy defensive back Joel Williams, beginning with Williams on Thursday.
@RowlandRIVALS
Cats Illustrated's 3-2-1 follows a familiar format: Three things we've learned, two questions we're asking, one bold prediction about Kentucky's 2020 recruiting class.
There's still time for the Wildcats to add more help before the class is officially in the books but we have a pretty good idea of how things are going to play out.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Kentucky has several ace recruiters on the staff.
In the past, Kentucky has sometimes had a reputable recruiter or two even by the standards of other SEC programs. Tee Martin, from Joker Phillips' staff, was highly regarded and moved on quickly. And earlier in the Stoops era Kentucky's recruiting classes were largely the byproduct of Vince Marrow's efforts in Ohio.
Kentucky has needed to rely less on Ohio and has the luxury of splitting Marrow's duties between Ohio, Kentucky, and spot duty elsewhere, because it has several other assistants who are making serious inroads in their respective territories.
Steve Clinkscale's work in Michigan during the 2018 class received a lot of praise and rightfully so, as Marquan McCall and DeAndre Square were and are big-time talents. But this year's class of Justin Rogers, Earnest Sanders, Deondre Buford, and Jeremy Flax far exceeds anything UK has ever done in that Big Ten state before.
Michael Smith has made his mark with the transfer of Kelvin Joseph, in the recruitment of Joseph Williams, and in beating out Tennessee for defensive lineman Tre'Vonn Rybka of the Volunteer State. We're not talking enough about the stellar split-duty work he's doing in Louisiana and Tennessee.
Now there's Jon Sumrall bringing his connections and successful recruiting history from the Deep South to Kentucky's staff. He's the kind of assistant who could pull in a large number of four-stars to a place like Alabama or Auburn and pulled the surprise of the year in beating out Lane Kiffin for Josaih Hayes right at the end.
Never before at least in the modern era has Kentucky had several recruiters capable of dominating their areas, exceeding UK's historic recruiting results, or pulling those kinds of surprises spread out over the map.
2. UK has never seen this influx of OL/DL talent in the past.
This is really a game-changing class in the trenches for Kentucky. On the one hand, that's just UK doubling down on an existing strength and reinforcing what the 'Cats are already good at. But it has the potential to ensure a foundation for the next several years and could put Kentucky in truly elite company in the trenches nationally.
Simply put, there's so much talent in the trenches that it would be hard for a coaching staff to "mess it up". Even factoring inevitable attrition and the fact that not everyone pans out, there's so much talent up front that Kentucky is virtually guaranteed to have some quality line play moving forward.
UK has eight offensive or defensive linemen ranked four or five stars in this class. Only Clemson has more than that.
3. Almost everything went Kentucky's way at the end.
Back in the 2014 class, almost everything broke Kentucky's way. But most of that happened early in the cycle, before the end of the summer. The 'Cats had a very strong class going into the early signing period, but UK had an unprecedented finish measured against the history of the program.
Finishing with Octavious Oxendine, RJ Adams, Jeremy Flax, and Josaih Hayes exceeds what almost anyone would have expected a day or two before it all went down.
Flax had been trending towards Auburn and the Tigers had a legitimate need at tackle. He picked Kentucky anyways, even though the Wildcats return three tackles with starting experience.
NC State had aggressively (perhaps over-aggressively) pursued RJ Adams and appeared to be the late frontrunner, but defensive coordinator Brad White won that fight, too.
Oxendine was one of the more difficult prospects to forecast for the duration of the cycle because he didn't really talk to media like other recruits and because Tennessee was always looming as an option, but Vince Marrow locked him down.
And Hayes was widely-forecasted to Ole Miss until the very end when Jon Sumrall swooped in and sealed the deal.
Tyler Baron did pick Tennessee, but that only underscores that we should always err on the side of assuming family will win out, just as it did with Cade Cunningham on the basketball side.
Adding four players rated four-stars late, with more likely to come, is unlike anything Kentucky has ever done in the past. It gives Kentucky one of the best finishes for any school in the country and makes the 'Cats one of the nation's stories at the finish line.
TWO THINGS WE'RE ASKING
1. Is the receiver talent enough to change the equation on offense?
As strong as the line talent is, one could wonder if Kentucky added enough at receiver to transform the passing game. The best hope there has to be the influx of talent in the quarterback room, with Terry Wilson returning to health by next summer, Joey Gatewood making his transfer final, Beau Allen signing his paperwork, and both Nik Scalzo and Sawyer Smith on the mend. No question, Kentucky will have more talent in the quarterback room than the 'Cats have usually had. That doesn't guarantee on player will stand out next year, but it helps.
But what about receiver? Earnest Sanders' junior film was outstanding but a hamstring issue kept us from seeing what he's really capable of this year. Kalil Branham and Izayah Cummings are two of the better playmakers from their respective states, but the strength of this class is clearly in the trenches. It's tough to recruit receiver talent with a receiver at quarterback and when your program has a run-first identity. Developing these players is very important for the future balance of Kentucky's offense. Landing Mike Drennen would help a lot, too.
2. What happens with Torrance Davis?
The one UK commitment who did not sign a letter of intent on Wednesday was Ohio three-star back Torrance Davis.
Sources have told Cats Illustrated that he is still expected to be a part of the class, but a cryptic social media post from Davis and the lack of a signature leaves his status up in the air.
Running back is not a dire need for Kentucky with so many young backs already in the program and with Jutahn McClain signing on Wednesday, but Davis is the kind of slasher and big-play threat in a big frame and Kentucky has wanted him badly since before the spring.
Whatever the delay, Davis has a few weeks to get everything squared away before the traditional signing period.
BOLD PREDICTION
Kentucky will close the class with four-star athlete Mike Drennen II, three-star Bowling Green safety Vito Tisdale, and four-star Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep Academy defensive back Joel Williams, beginning with Williams on Thursday.
