Cats Illustrated has learned that Kentucky has parted ways with junior college defensive line commit Taures Payne. I have heard that UK recently went through a "reevaluation phase" with Payne and one factor is they are waiting on some grades.
Recently I had a conversation that led me to believe this was a distinct possibility. You will note in the War Room that I was not in a position to say much about the situation because at the time it didn't seem like anything had been decided.
Then this afternoon @Russell Johnson, who does great work here on the Rivals.com/Yahoo! Sports network, sent me a message asking if UK was moving on from Payne. Apparently someone at the school told him that Kentucky was out and that he will end up at either Florida or UCF. Johnson was astute enough to assume that it might have been something related to Kentucky's preference.
I confirmed with someone else not close to UK's end but with knowledge from another angle that he had played "OK" this season but not at the highest level.
Payne is teammates with cornerback Brandin Echols, who is also committed to Kentucky. He remains committed to Kentucky.
This opens up another spot for Kentucky in the 2019 class. Prior to this news Kentucky's biggest areas of need were offensive tackle and corner. I still believe that to be the case but this might make some of the defensive linemen on the radar a little more attractive.
Recently I had a conversation that led me to believe this was a distinct possibility. You will note in the War Room that I was not in a position to say much about the situation because at the time it didn't seem like anything had been decided.
Then this afternoon @Russell Johnson, who does great work here on the Rivals.com/Yahoo! Sports network, sent me a message asking if UK was moving on from Payne. Apparently someone at the school told him that Kentucky was out and that he will end up at either Florida or UCF. Johnson was astute enough to assume that it might have been something related to Kentucky's preference.
I confirmed with someone else not close to UK's end but with knowledge from another angle that he had played "OK" this season but not at the highest level.
Payne is teammates with cornerback Brandin Echols, who is also committed to Kentucky. He remains committed to Kentucky.
This opens up another spot for Kentucky in the 2019 class. Prior to this news Kentucky's biggest areas of need were offensive tackle and corner. I still believe that to be the case but this might make some of the defensive linemen on the radar a little more attractive.
