Quick observation about the freshman class

[UKani]

You guys remember when UK lost all of those guys from the 2015 recruiting class. We had guy after guy decommit from UK. UK slipped in the recruiting rankings as well. UK picked up all these guys towards the end to make up for the decommits. We had a melt down on this board and other UK boards. I'm not reporting that we are out of the woods or anything like that. But so far the guys that we picked up late in the process because of those decommitments have played really well in camp...

Chris Westry was one of those guys, so was Derrick Baity was the other guy.... Guess what both of those guys were running with the #1 defense yesterday. Baity rotated time with Quinn at CB. Sihiem King was another late pickup because of the decommits and from what I've heard he's prime to make some big plays this year and will no doubt play. I heard that he was carrying the ball and made a move and cut across the field on a run that left everyone behind. Josh Allen was another late pickup because of decommits and he's probably the best freshman that nobody is mentioning. The dude is impressing the coaches a lot at LB spot.

Now we still have to see how these guys play in live games and see how they develop. We still don't know what's becoming of the other guys that went to other schools. So I won't say UK got the better end of the stick because a lot is left to be seen. But what I will say is that the impression right now from coaches is that UK didn't take any lesser talented guys because of those decommits.

 

[Mud Till May]

It still hurt to lose Harris and the other guys from the class. Damien is running with the ones at Alabama right now.

 

[UKani]

mannn.... we never had Damien Harris.

 

[SeveCat]

If you remember, Marrow commented on signing day that we added player late that were better than the decommitments. I thought he was blowing smoke. Obviously not. These guys are prepared for anything.

 

[DACats86]

It still hurt to lose Harris and the other guys from the class. Damien is running with the ones at Alabama right now.

I don't recall Harris having ever committed to UK. And, he's running with the ones because Bama is very thin on RBs because of injuries and transfers.

 

[UKani]

I didn't know Damien Harris was running with the number ones though.... last I heard from his family he was running with the 3rd string.

 

[UKWinsAgainYep]

harris did us wrong. He led us along the whole time....Was really not a good thing to do....He made a mistake and should have stayed at UK.

 

[Brock28]

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2015/08/why_damien_harris_got_more_opp.htmlhtml

He's practicing with the 1st team because he needs the work. He's running 3rd string as of now.

 

[Ky grandpa]

I personally don't give a big rats' behind about a kid that chose to go somewhere else. I don't follow any other team but UK. Nothing else matters to me, and if you want to keep crying about what have been's that's your own problem.
Thanks for the info UKani, you are always spot on on most things.
Go BB

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

Yeah there was a bit of hand wringing on signing day but it appears once again that the staff has come through signing kids who can play from day 1. I thought our final ranking was total crap, we signed a top 30 class. It wasn't a flashy class but it filled a lot of needs. King is gonna add another electric element to offense and special teams. Allen may end up playing.

You add in that 2014 class starting to shine as well and we've got a pretty depth chart. Still a couple holes but with a little luck we can withstand it. Just want us to get out of camp healthy and get this thing going!!

 

[hmt5000]

Strowbridge is the only one that hurts... and provitt not being eligible. Other than that.. I'll take walker over the twin. I'll take Westry and baity over anyone else on that list. And it's starting to look like Allen is gonna be the real deal.

 

[Onomatopoeia]

What about the rumors that Harris was homesick?

 

[jnewc2]

Michigan State has been raving about Andrew Dowell talking about how he's going to be one of the best players on their team in the future..Dantonio was praising him saying he could start this year at linebacker (which is saying quite a bit considering they're #6 in the nation preseason and are known for their defense)

I love the guys we got to replace the de-commits, but lets not get carried away..we sound like Louisville fans downplaying recruiting rankings when we act like the guys the coaches pursued first weren't any good and the guys we got to replace them are ten times better..there's a reason the coaches went after who they went after first..they're really, really good players..next thing you know we'll be saying we didn't give Damien Harris a committable offer and the coaches were secretly pursuing Sihiem all along..let's just be happy with what we have..we don't have to blow things out of proportion, all it does is make us look silly...losing those commits was a hit last year, but the coaches know what they're doing so they had guys ready to replace them, but like I said, if you truly trust the coaches' abilities as talent evaluators, you have to think there's a reason they pursued the guys they did first ..losing multiple highly-rated guys is never good for your program..if nothing else the optics of it are just terrible, and people were well within their right to be disappointed when we lost those guys

Bad things happen, but let's just be honest with ourself..we don't have to be like Louisville fans ..Stoops would be the first one to say that losing those commits last year was a hit..we had good players to replace those guys, but still on the whole it was a hit..sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade (and I think Westry would've been here regardless of who committed/decommitted..we flipped him from Auburn & he was one of the highest players on our board)

 

[jauk11]

I always appreciate your inputs, Ukani, come back soon. Are you still on another website? Link?

I don't care much what Bama's RBs do, but they have some good ones. They had FOUR in the one class that were sophs last year, three back from last years depth chart behind Yeldon who went pro, all of them were 6.0 four stars, a small step from a five star. Kamara was in that list, but went to a JC and now signed with TU.

All are big backs, Henry a beast at 242# that runs a 4.5 forty, but the one that will take over the next opening IMO is Scarborough, a spring (and greyshirt) under his belt and a five star 232# monster in his own right that runs a 4.5 forty that is out temporarily with an injury.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

I always appreciate your inputs, Ukani, come back soon. Are you still on another website? Link?

I don't care much what Bama's RBs do, but they have some good ones. They had FOUR in the one class that were sophs last year, three back from last years depth chart behind Yeldon who went pro, all of them were 6.0 four stars, a small step from a five star. Kamara was in that list, but went to a JC and now signed with TU.

All are big backs, Henry a beast at 242# that runs a 4.5 forty, but the one that will take over the next opening IMO is Scarborough, a spring (and greyshirt) under his belt and a five star 232# monster in his own right that runs a 4.5 forty that is out temporarily with an injury.

That class with the 4 backs, 2 of them are gone, Kamara left for JUCO and now at UT and a kid from Arkansas, Tennpenny left, don't know where he transferred to but he is gone. Scarborough I think tore an ACL and out for the year. I could be wrong about him but I think I saw that. I think Bama is down to 4 scholarshipped RB. Henry the starter, Drake returning from an injury, Jones part of that 4 back class and Harris.

 

[Calsarmy]

harris did us wrong. He led us along the whole time....Was really not a good thing to do....He made a mistake and should have stayed at UK.

I wanted Harris. We put many resources into his recruitment. Incl time, and a huge effort. Harris on the other hand decided probably back this time last year that he was going to AL. Ok, fair enough, but he lied to Stoops. He lied to the team. He lied to the fans. He even lied to his HS classmates. He spent many weekends in Lexington having a bang up good time with the team socially. My beef with Harris and his family was simply not saying to Stoops back this time last year he was going to AL. It would have been a huge boost to Coach. He could have used his finite resources much more productive way.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

I wanted Harris. We put many resources into his recruitment. Incl time, and a huge effort. Harris on the other hand decided probably back this time last year that he was going to AL. Ok, fair enough, but he lied to Stoops. He lied to the team. He lied to the fans. He even lied to his HS classmates. He spent many weekends in Lexington having a bang up good time with the team socially. My beef with Harris and his family was simply not saying to Stoops back this time last year he was going to AL. It would have been a huge boost to Coach. He could have used his finite resources much more productive way.

I agree with you, I don't know if these kids being young and not knowing much about the real world understand how much time, effort and resources these schools spend on them during recruitment or they just don't care. I guess maybe they feel like it's owed to them in some way or maybe they have earned all the attention. But official visits for kids and their group add up. It's really frustrating for a fan when all that time and resources have been wasted on someone who decides to go elsewhere.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

If you trust the coaches abilities to assess talent, you must expect the guys that decommitted to be special players. The point here is that we landed special players to take their place. And, the ones we landed are CATS!

 

[greginky1957]

I am happy with the late additions we got, only time will tell for sure but with Westry, Baity, Allen and King we got a very solid group of players. I think that the coaching staff did a great job recovering from the defections. If we can make a bowl game this year then watch out, our recruiting will get even better, which is hard to fathom since it is better right now than it has ever been. It is nice to now have enough personnel to run the type of offense that we want to run. I see a team that is on it's way up, how far up? The sky is the limit I think. It is only going to get better in the next couple of years, and I fully expect coach Stoops to be here for a long time, he is building something special I think, and the big boys will come calling, but my money is on him being here for at least 7 years and I hope a whole lot longer. GO BIG BLUE

 

[BoulderCat]

Stoops and staff made a good recovery, but there's no denying it was a hit to the program. These things happen when one starts recruiting against the better programs. Like Stoops, I 'd like to see the signing date moved up, but who knows, we might have lost some of them anyway. Hopefully it was just growing pains of a program trying to move up, and this year the Cat's will seal on the deal on early commits.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Short term hit in perception. Nothing more.

 

[shutzhund]

After college Harris may as well stay in Alabama or play of Sundays. There won't be many good employment opportunities waiting for him back in Kentucky. Probably not many in Alabama either. He'll just be another Yankee who played football for a couple of years and never was never really one of them. Kentucky is the far North to most people in Alabama. Lord love them.

Better be as good or better than Joe Namath if he wants to be accepted with open arms by Bama folks.

Guess he and his family never thought of that.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Obviously he plans to be in an NFL town. And, that is what we thought about him when the fans were kissing his arse.

 

[Houstonwildcat]

It still hurt to lose Harris and the other guys from the class. Damien is running with the ones at Alabama right now.

Folks,
All I can say is that I remember Elam and Harris both saying that had CJP still been here, no chance either of them would have even considered UK. KUDOs to CMS for getting Elam and coming close to Harris!

 

[C1180]

Obviously he plans to be in an NFL town. And, that is what we thought about him when the fans were kissing his arse.

Most college football players hope and have some expectations of playing in the NFL. Especially if they are highly rated coming out of high school. Most do not make it and it is nice to have a fall back plan.

 

[Blue Decade]

It still hurt to lose Harris and the other guys from the class. Damien is running with the ones at Alabama right now.

He was talking about the fact that Westry, Baity, King were good signings for us. And he is right. It's time to get over Harris and focus on our team.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Most college football players hope and have some expectations of playing in the NFL. Especially if they are highly rated coming out of high school. Most do not make it and it is nice to have a fall back plan.

UK fans need to let it go. Going to UK for a backup plan is something I would never counsel one of my sons to consider when choosing the right school.

 

[C1180]

UK fans need to let it go. Going to UK for a backup plan is something I would never counsel one of my sons to consider when choosing the right school.

The fall back plan I was referring to is the opportunities that are available for ex UK Athletes here in state for players that are loyal to UK. I have no idea what you are talking about.

Than again I doubt you are a UK fan and you likely would steer your kid to the school you support.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

The fall back plan I was referring to is the opportunities that are available for ex UK Athletes here in state for players that are loyal to UK. I have no idea what you are talking about.

Than again I doubt you are a UK fan and you likely would steer your kid to the school you support.

(1) I got your point. Dumb reason for any top athlete to pick UK.
(2) What is up with you telling people they are not UK fans?

 

[fromthe25ydline]

Like anything else where a group of people have to be on the same page to accomplish a task, "buy in" is everything. DH gave every appearance that he had done so. That is why I admonished his behavior and hope that future recruits do not disrespect our staff. We are getting ready to see a serious uptick in Kentucky football and I welcome all of those young men who chose to be a part of it. DH the football player is dead to me.

 

[Parabolicsecan]

(1) I got your point. Dumb reason for any top athlete to pick UK.
(2) What is up with you telling people they are not UK fans?

Actually the head of the medical school at UK was part of my son's official visit and spoke to us about the loyalty of UK alumni in the field and the opportunities to land a nice job out of college as a former student athlete. It was one of the reasons he decided to come here as opposed to falling for the 'let me show you how not to lose 23 million dollars' pitch from Saban.

Odds of NFL are very low, a lot of athletes know this and look for a solid plan B.

 

[habes213]

Actually the head of the medical school at UK was part of my son's official visit and spoke to us about the loyalty of UK alumni in the field and the opportunities to land a nice job out of college as a former student athlete. It was one of the reasons he decided to come here as opposed to falling for the 'let me show you how not to lose 23 million dollars' pitch from Saban.

Odds of NFL are very low, a lot of athletes know this and look for a solid plan B.

Just like to say how pleasant it is to see something like this. Props to you Mr. Daniel. Seems you all have raised a kid with a level head and a good future. The state is lucky to have your son as a football player, and more importantly, beyond the playing field.

 

[hmt5000]

Michigan State has been raving about Andrew Dowell talking about how he's going to be one of the best players on their team in the future..Dantonio was praising him saying he could start this year at linebacker (which is saying quite a bit considering they're #6 in the nation preseason and are known for their defense)

I love the guys we got to replace the de-commits, but lets not get carried away..we sound like Louisville fans downplaying recruiting rankings when we act like the guys the coaches pursued first weren't any good and the guys we got to replace them are ten times better..there's a reason the coaches went after who they went after first..they're really, really good players..next thing you know we'll be saying we didn't give Damien Harris a committable offer and the coaches were secretly pursuing Sihiem all along..let's just be happy with what we have..we don't have to blow things out of proportion, all it does is make us look silly...losing those commits was a hit last year, but the coaches know what they're doing so they had guys ready to replace them, but like I said, if you truly trust the coaches' abilities as talent evaluators, you have to think there's a reason they pursued the guys they did first ..losing multiple highly-rated guys is never good for your program..if nothing else the optics of it are just terrible, and people were well within their right to be disappointed when we lost those guys

Bad things happen, but let's just be honest with ourself..we don't have to be like Louisville fans ..Stoops would be the first one to say that losing those commits last year was a hit..we had good players to replace those guys, but still on the whole it was a hit..sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade (and I think Westry would've been here regardless of who committed/decommitted..we flipped him from Auburn & he was one of the highest players on our board)

I would of liked to had the twin that's playing lber but it's not sour grapes that I like walker better than the other safety and we are loaded with young S types. Provitt wad better than Hamilton he just was much less likely to pass. Allen is also looking more and more like a steal over the other guy.

 

[DACats86]

Actually the head of the medical school at UK was part of my son's official visit and spoke to us about the loyalty of UK alumni in the field and the opportunities to land a nice job out of college as a former student athlete. It was one of the reasons he decided to come here as opposed to falling for the 'let me show you how not to lose 23 million dollars' pitch from Saban.

Odds of NFL are very low, a lot of athletes know this and look for a solid plan B.

Wish I could give this about 10 more likes!!!

 

[Bigblueforever]

mannn.... we never had Damien Harris.

But I don,t like the way he lead us on.

 

[jauk11]

Just like to say how pleasant it is to see something like this. Props to you Mr. Daniel. Seems you all have raised a kid with a level head and a good future. The state is lucky to have your son as a football player, and more importantly, beyond the playing field.

From reading some of his other posts on other threads I am in complete agreement. It is a shame that all athletes don't have the same home front support.

 

[UKWinsAgainYep]

I wanted Harris. We put many resources into his recruitment. Incl time, and a huge effort. Harris on the other hand decided probably back this time last year that he was going to AL. Ok, fair enough, but he lied to Stoops. He lied to the team. He lied to the fans. He even lied to his HS classmates. He spent many weekends in Lexington having a bang up good time with the team socially. My beef with Harris and his family was simply not saying to Stoops back this time last year he was going to AL. It would have been a huge boost to Coach. He could have used his finite resources much more productive way.

Totally agree...The Harris episode really irked me....It was just totally bad taste on his part.

I watched his announcement at his High School and if you watch, his mom looks disappointed. I really believe she wanted him to go to UK. I still say he made a mistake and should have gone to UK.

 

[C1180]

The RB from Madison Southern saw himself as big time and his plan all along was to go to a big time school. He never had any intention of going to UK which he did not see as big time. He was just toying with UK to get the perks he could out of them. I just do not think this is something you should do to your home state school.

I think he has burned a bunch of bridges that he might need later in life. I would not have though badly of him for going to Alabama if not for his game playing with UK. I would have not like it and would have understood. The part I did not like is his stupid game playing . My advise to that kid is show some class.

 

[Parabolicsecan]

Totally agree...The Harris episode really irked me....It was just totally bad taste on his part.

I watched his announcement at his High School and if you watch, his mom looks disappointed. I really believe she wanted him to go to UK. I still say he made a mistake and should have gone to UK.

I thought the same thing, it looked as if his Mom was expecting him to attend UK, that's a long ride to Tuscaloosa! With that being said, when I saw the footage of King during our Signing Day broadcast, I told KG that Harris would be an afterthought.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Actually the head of the medical school at UK was part of my son's official visit and spoke to us about the loyalty of UK alumni in the field and the opportunities to land a nice job out of college as a former student athlete. It was one of the reasons he decided to come here as opposed to falling for the 'let me show you how not to lose 23 million dollars' pitch from Saban.

Odds of NFL are very low, a lot of athletes know this and look for a solid plan B.

I did not say other pitches were good pitches. If your son believes UK alums are more loyal than other sports crazed schools, more power to him, but 30 years in the industry suggests otherwise. If that was his primary reason for picking UK, I believe it was not wise.