Big news on a major prospect considering BBN

[RivalsFriedman]

Defensive back Marcus Lewis was scheduled to announce his commitment on Tuesday February 3 but some other schools have come into play. The Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga stand out had narrowed down his extensive offer sheet to Kentucky and Miami but now Florida State and Texas have become major players for the Rivals100 prospect. Lewis is tentatively scheduled to announce some time on Wednesday evening but there is a possibility he takes an official visit next weekend and announces a commitment next week. He could still use his last two official visits.

There are a number of bits of information to consider. IMO Kentucky was the favorite over Miami but Florida State poses the biggest threat. Florida State becomes a much bigger threat if the Noles miss on Iman Marshall and Minkah Fitzpatrick on Signing Day. He could possibly commit to Florida State without taking an official visit.

Texas just officially offered Lewis Monday night and some more research needs to be done by Lewis before the Longhorns are considered a serious option.

Going to an exciting few days.

 

[Smashcat]

I give up.

 

[AbsoluteCats]

Well this sucks!!

 

[point1zerorock]

Wonderful

 

[dorkmeister]

We need him. Been on him hard for a while. Need to push for this now

 

[DhuffUK]

It will never end. It is Groundhog Day after all. I keep waking up to this bad dream

 

[BigBluePhantom]

Thank goodness Stoops doesn't give up on these guys as quickly as you and Joker. Amazing that he has had us in on these guys that are going to the top 5 programs in the country. We are battling Bama, Ohio St, Auburn and Flordia St. Sure we are losing most of the battles but at least we are recruiting at that level. Something we have never done in my nearly 50 years as a UK Football fan.

 

[point1zerorock]

Thought by the thread title this might finally be some good news. Mercy! Uncle!

 

[StillBlue83]

His buddy Kai Locksley just flipped from FSU to Texas, not good if they really want him.

 

[Cat_Man_Blue]

Hey we (FSU) weren't considering you, but just in case the two guys that we thought were better than you don't come here, we would like to extend an offer to you. If I was a top level recruit, the fact that a school was only offering me because their plan A guys might not come aboard would be a big factor, in my decision.

 

[gobigblue812]

He may not be the only recruit out there that waits until after signing day, and I'm not talking about UK recruits. There seems to be a lot of kids who's decisions are up in the air. There's a lot of shuffling that's going to go around on signing day and after. We might end up signing somebody after signing day whether it's Lewis or somebody else. When the merry-go-round stops on NSD, there won't be enough seats at some schools.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I'm by no means a recruiting guru. But this is by far the most unstable recruiting period I can ever remember. Not just for UK. Just in general. Kids are flipping and delaying decisions at a rate I've never seen.

The next time we see Stoops, he'll have aged ten years.

 

[CharlestownCat]

Where would Lewis get more playing time? Where will he get the best coaching? The answer is here. So if this kid wants to play and get coached up by the best, he'll be a Wildcat. If he's looking for something else, he won't.
This post was edited on 2/2 10:48 PM by CharlestownCat

 

[Kooky Kats]

Stoops best change his mouthwash.

 

[Blue Decade]

Originally posted by DhuffUK:
It will never end. It is Groundhog Day after all. I keep waking up to this bad dream

Right. Competition in competitive sports will never end. Good to wake up to that.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

Originally posted by bigblueinsanity:
I'm by no means a recruiting guru. But this is by far the most unstable recruiting period I can ever remember. Not just for UK. Just in general. Kids are flipping and delaying decisions at a rate I've never seen.

The next time we see Stoops, he'll have aged ten years.

Feeling like you, I know UK has had several kids flip, more than a normal year. UGA has had 8 guys flip as of today in this class, 3 in the last 2 weeks and one of those this afternoon. And we are sweating 3-5 more before signing day. Of course some had good reason and I don't really blame them, a JUCO RB has no business committing to UGA if he wants to play and a couple of others wanted to EE buy couldn't at UGA because they lacked a core class. But we have been on the receiving end of 5 who have flipped and looking to add 3 more, 2 of them our former commits and 1 who just decommitted from Cal tonight. Its crazy, so much so I am thinking about just canceling my subscription and just reading the paper the day after signing day, because apparently committment means nothing to these kids.

 

[StillBlue83]

Think the recruits are using this new method to pick schools this year.



37m37 minutes ago
Arden Key claims he put names of the two schools in a hat and pulled them out to make his choice. I retire.

 

[madskilz]

That's what happens when you lose 6 straight. It s what it is.

 

[TransyCat09]

Why a kid of his talent level would let himself transparently be the second choice is beyond me. He has offers from schools that are on the exact same level as FSU and has turned them down to this point, but now he is willing to roll over and wait to see what other kids do.

I just don't get it, as a matter of personal pride

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

Originally posted by TransyCat09:
Why a kid of his talent level would let himself transparently be the second choice is beyond me. He has offers from schools that are on the exact same level as FSU and has turned them down to this point, but now he is willing to roll over and wait to see what other kids do.

I just don't get it, as a matter of personal pride

FSU could be out because it looks like they are about to flip the DB from Bama, but they have lost 3 today I think. All this flipping is just damn crazy. I know and understand they have to make the best decision for themself, but it looks like between 30 and 35% of the kids are flipping this year. Strong at Texas seems to be benefiting nicely from all of it. UT likely has flipped a 5*OT from OM, at least he decommitted from OM tonight. We need a draft.

 

[O C-A-T-S 06]

I don't know what it is with this years class, but some people don't understand the value of their word that's for sure.

 

[TransyCat09]

Originally posted by Grumpyolddawg:

Originally posted by TransyCat09:
Why a kid of his talent level would let himself transparently be the second choice is beyond me. He has offers from schools that are on the exact same level as FSU and has turned them down to this point, but now he is willing to roll over and wait to see what other kids do.

I just don't get it, as a matter of personal pride

FSU could be out because it looks like they are about to flip the DB from Bama, but they have lost 3 today I think. All this flipping is just damn crazy. I know and understand they have to make the best decision for themself, but it looks like between 30 and 35% of the kids are flipping this year. Strong at Texas seems to be benefiting nicely from all of it. UT likely has flipped a 5*OT from OM, at least he decommitted from OM tonight. We need a draft.

If FSU is out I feel better. I hope they can flip Fitzpatrick from Bama. That would give them 3 5* DBs and 3 more 4*s. Would like our chances against Tejas and Miami.

 

[O C-A-T-S 06]

Texas signed 2 4* corners last week, Kris Boyd and Holton Hill. Both right around top 100. Not to mention what they already have committed. This ones really gonna hurt if we lose Lewis. Thought he could ease the pain of losing a quarter of our class.

 

[mrschwump]

Problem is Lewis is a highly rated option for these other schools. FSU for instance will get a 4 or 5* DB whether it's Lewis or somebody else. For UK the fallback is a much lower rated option. Huge problem.

You can be sure Lewis is hearing about 6 game losing streaks, conference doormat, massive decommits the last week, etc. Stoops has his hands full trying to pull this one off.

 

[Crankdatmustard]

Go ahead and mark Lewis off the list. He is looking for every reason NOT to come to KY.

Pretty easy to ready between the lines he isn't coming folks.

 

[dorkmeister]

Originally posted by Crankdatmustard:
Go ahead and mark Lewis off the list. He is looking for every reason NOT to come to KY.

Pretty easy to ready between the lines he isn't coming folks.

Oh ye of little faith. If we don't get him Coach has another player on his list. It is so late in the game now we just have to have faith. Tomorrow is going to be a great day in the end and we will end with a great class.

 

[Crankdatmustard]

There are some very good players in the class, but if UK isn't able to sign a full allotment of players it will be extremely disappointing.

Calling the class great is a stretch beyond imagination.

 

[Blue Decade]

Originally posted by madskilz:
That's what happens when you lose 6 straight. It s what it is.

This is a misperception. Georgia did not lose 6 straight games, but you have a Georgia fan telling you on this thread that 8 commitments have already flipped away from Georgia. Flipping has been getting more common everywhere for years, and is exploding this year all over the country. Hatcher, McWilson, Krok, Tubman, Ware, Brown, and Westry are Wildcats because they flipped to Kentucky from other schools. We might be about to get another flip tomorrow.

 

[AbsoluteCats]

Originally posted by Crankdatmustard:
There are some very good players in the class, but if UK isn't able to sign a full allotment of players it will be extremely disappointing.

Calling the class great is a stretch beyond imagination.

This is what a lot of people fail to understand...Not only do you need to add quality players...but you need a FULL class of quality players to build depth. We have enough talent to win in the first unit...but we need WAY much more depth

 

[maysvilleky]

Originally posted by AbsoluteCats:

Originally posted by Crankdatmustard:
There are some very good players in the class, but if UK isn't able to sign a full allotment of players it will be extremely disappointing.

Calling the class great is a stretch beyond imagination.

This is what a lot of people fail to understand...Not only do you need to add quality players...but you need a FULL class of quality players to build depth. We have enough talent to win in the first unit...but we need WAY much more depth

+1...It's our 2nd and 3rd string that don't allow UK to compete consistently.

 

[Blue Decade]

Originally posted by AbsoluteCats:

Originally posted by Crankdatmustard:
There are some very good players in the class, but if UK isn't able to sign a full allotment of players it will be extremely disappointing.

Calling the class great is a stretch beyond imagination.

This is what a lot of people fail to understand...Not only do you need to add quality players...but you need a FULL class of quality players to build depth. We have enough talent to win in the first unit...but we need WAY much more depth

You say a lot of people fail to understand this. Who are they? LOL! I haven't seen a soul here that doesn't understand it. Some have pointed out that the 1st 20 commitments go into the class ranking, but that is a completely different subject. What some people here fail to understand is that our coaches also know this, and are working their butts off to address it. They did a great job addressing it in 2013 and 2014. Some of you have already passed judgment on 2015. Over the next couple of years, we will see if you can defend that.

 

[Wildcats4EverandEver]

No other way to spin it....it is so easy to negative recruit against UK right now.....2 out of 14 teams in SEC didnt make a bowl game this year, and one team started 5-1 yet cratered in the last 6 games and regressed terribly with on field play.

 

[C1180]

IMO the players that it looks like UK will sign tomorrow are good players but that does not eliminate that signing a short class is not a good thing. I see the spins and agree that the players that are staying with UK seem to be solid players but they need 10 more solid players.

They will have a chance to back sign some players in December if they do not fill their quota but it would be better if they could fill their quota now. I however do not advocate that they fill their quota with questionable recruits just to have warm bodies.

 

[blubo]

this is why i don't pay much attention to fball recruiting. it's like this every year, some years more or less. commits mean nothing unless it's in ink on the dotted line. i think it seems worse this year because most of us are following it more closely than in the past because of our optimism with the new coaching staff.

 

[gobigblue812]

Re: Big news on a major prospect considering BBN[/URL]C1180 posted on 2/3/2015...


IMO the players that it looks like UK will sign tomorrow are good players but that does not eliminate that signing a short class is not a good thing. I see the spins and agree that the players that are staying with UK seem to be solid players but they need 10 more solid players.

They will have a chance to back sign some players in December if they do not fill their quota but it would be better if they could fill their quota now. I however do not advocate that they fill their quota with questionable recruits just to have warm bodies.





You guys do realize they can sign guys AFTER NSD? They don't have to wait for the 2016 signing period. There will be guys that will transfer from other schools, late qualifiers, etc that will be available all of the way through the summer.

 

[GridCats]

Top twenty recruiting schools have good bagmen I guess. Maybe they just flip to where the $$$ is.

 

[JHB4UK]

Originally posted by madskilz:
That's what happens when you lose 6 straight. It s what it is.

False

if it was all about 6 straight then the decommits would have started 4:00 PM Nov 29th, after we had indeed lost 6 straight. All this chit started in January, when other coaches cranked up the negative selling putting down UK, convincing committed kids who KNEW what our situation was and KNEW what they were signing up for to go elsewhere.

And Stoops bares some responsibility as well, as I said in another thread he should have hired the new OC and special teams coaches faster to have additional hands to recruit in january. we have been playing this last critical month down 2 contributors.

 

[mtn cat1]

I don't get it, some posters acknowledging that we have 15 quality commits, but we need to get an additional 10 quality recruits. And just where are we supposed to get "10 quality recruits"? I'm certain that Coach&staff have scoured any and all
possible "quality recruits". I'M hopeful that the staff will reserve some 6 /7 scollys be used after nsd or carried forward to the '16 recruiting season.

 

[TBCat]

Originally posted by mtn cat1:

I don't get it, some posters acknowledging that we have 15 quality commits, but we need to get an additional 10 quality recruits. And just where are we supposed to get "10 quality recruits"? I'm certain that Coach&staff have scoured any and all
possible "quality recruits". I'M hopeful that the staff will reserve some 6 /7 scollys be used after nsd or carried forward to the '16 recruiting season.

Because you need 25 for it to matter. Joker was good at getting 10 to 15 recruits that were worth getting. Remember Towles, Williamson, and Dupree were Joker's recruits. Still that's not enough. You get 10 to 15 solid recruits and all of the sudden a couple don't pan out to be what you thought(Priester, Chapman, Alex Smith), a couple more get into trouble(Caffey, Gainer) a couple more transfer and all of the sudden you have the vacuum that you now see. 10 to 15 just won't cut it. You need 25 to compete in this league. No matter what happens at this point this class won't cut it. We got some good ones but not nearly enough. We will pay a price for this class 2 to 3 years down the road. There's really no avoiding that now. This class now puts Stoops in a situation that he has to be winning in advance of that point. We can't afford fewer than 7 wins now.

 

[JHB4UK]

Well, take it easy on the 7 win requirements. 6 wins, a bowl game, plus the completed facility improvements recruits can actually walk around and touch rather than just viewing video animation simulations will help next years class immensely.