State of 2020 recruiting
- Thread starter Rembrandt90
- Start date
Drennen is probably the most likely to commit outside of Tisdale. I've been pretty confident on those 2 for awhile. The rest.....not so much.
Drennen (sp) is crucial for us, IMO, as a potential replacement for Bowden. We have plenty of RB's in the depth chart, but I could see Drennen being the all around player like Bowden in a couple of years.
Kentucky has now offered local 2020 Henry Clay kicker Graham Wald. I know they did not plan to use a scholarship on a kicker in this class, but when you can't count on XP to be made, much less FGA, you have to do something. Interesting in what this means for Chance Poore as he is only a Freshman, but obviously they have lost their faith in him. Louisville also offered him earlier today.
Joseph, a 6.0 from LSU, I think he is already enrolled at UK. He won't boost our recruiting standing, but should be a tremendous addition, and cause other recruits to take notice.
To edit this post, it has now been confirmed that bot UK and UofL offered Wald as a PWO.
Our FG kicking has been bad, we need to do whatever it takes to fix that problem.
What class is Joseph, a Sophomore? Is he a projected starter or 2 deep at least?
Joseph played freshman at LSU and sit out this year at UK. He will have three years eligiblity at UK. He played a lot as a true freshman at LSU so I expect him to be in the two deep at least if not starting. But our Defensive backfield played so well this year, he will have to earn it. What a problem to have?
I know I’m not alone on this, but I simply can’t believe how well the secondary played this season after such turnover. And now a guy like Joseph will be eligible and D. Robinson back. Oh yeah!
Agree on secondary. Had pretty low expectations for that group given all factors. Contextually speaking, great season for them with a lot to look forward to as well.
Sounds like an interesting few weeks ahead. Fun times all around.
Sounds like an interesting few weeks ahead. Fun times all around.
The final signing date is in February. The December date is not the final date, but it will be critical to players planning to enroll in January and practice with the team in the spring. Most of this class will sign this month.
My guess is that Stoops will sign 24-25 new players in this class. I now think UK will probably get Joey Gatewood as a transfer, then lose some current undergraduate players through winter and spring attrition. I could get into names of certain current players that are looking like they could leave, because several are looking that way. But I will save that part of the discussion for another time, since it isn’t directly pertinent to recruiting.
Current UK verbals-
Beau Allen, QB
Samuel Anaele, DL
Khalil Branham, WR
Deondre Buford, OL
Izayah Cummings, WR
Torrance Davis, RB
Rickey Hyatt, DB
D’Eryk Jackson, LB
Joshua Jones, OL
Jutahn McClain, RB
Andru Phillips, DB
Justin Rogers, DL
Tre’Vonn Rybka, DL
Earnest Sanders, WR
Carrington Valentine, DB
John Young, OL
I don’t have the clairvoyance skills to know whether any of these sixteen verbals will decommit. I can only say that they all appear to be solid to UK right now.
Nine of our sixteen current verbals are offensive prospects. This tells me that the majority of pending commitments will be defensive players.
I believe UK will sign RJ Adams, Damien Alford, Octavious Oxendine, and Joel Williams. I am not saying this because they are necessarily my favorite prospects, even though I would be very happy if UK signs them. I am saying it simply because what I have seen so far suggests they are coming to UK. Here is a list of some uncommitted prospects with UK offers. Any of these players could end up in Stoops’ class, and most (not necessarily all) of the remaining additions to the class are almost certainly on this list-
RJ Adams, OL
Damien Alford, WR
Tyler Baron, DL
Damarcus Beckwith, LB
Devyn Curtis, LB
Michael Drennen, RB
Jeremy Flax, OL
Josaih Hayes, DL
Vito Tisdale, DB
Joel Williams, DB
Ronald Williams, DB
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Treating this as a math problem. signing those 5 leaves
Baron
Beckwith
Curtis
Drennen
Hayes
Tisdale
R Williams
for 3-4 slots.
Add LSU commit Eric Taylor who takes his OV with Hayes this weekend. I'd probably remove Flax as I think the staff moved on. Not sure what is up with Devyn Curtis, but there hasn't really been anything linking him to UK in a really long time. Then again, his recruitment has been quiet. UT commit Jimmy Calloway and Ole Miss commit De'Rickey Wright are two other names to watch.
Gatewood is a transfer. If he comes to UK, you are right that he will count on the 85 man roster. I am not convinced he would reduce the number of commitments to the class, per se. Maybe. Most of the uncommitted players I named have been recruited by UK for months, so I don’t think Gatewood directly affects them. He would if they run out of scholarships on the roster, but I anticipate a fair amount of attrition again this offseason.
When discussing Baron, Drennen, and Tisdale, you can find a lot of posters who are firmly convinced they will sign with UK. I’m not quite there yet, but it’s certainly possible and would be nice. Beckwith recently named UK as one of his leaders. Hayes only has two campus visits (UK, Auburn) scheduled so far.
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I did not mention Taylor or Calloway because my list is of uncommitted prospects. Taylor is publicly committed to LSU, but we have a decent chance to flip him. Calloway is committed to UT but has taken several other visits recently. There are several other prospects committed to other schools who could flip to UK, although I think our coaches are targeting the more familiar names as their priorities if they can sign them. Curtis was formerly a Vandy lean, but looks wide open now. He is an interior LB with athleticism and a strong build. If UK’s staff has moved on from Flax, that would signal their confidence about Adams.
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Other than being an instate prospect... is Tisdale a take over either of the two Williams prospects? Same with Oxendine compared to Hayes and Taylor? If we can get Hayes, Taylor, Baron, both of the Williams prospects, Adams, a LB and 2 WRs from Hester, Drennen, Calloway, and Alford then why not?
UK’s coaches have been recruiting Tisdale and Oxendine for a long time. Tisdale is a true strong safety. There is not another true strong safety in our class so far. Joel and Ronald Williams are not strong safeties. I think UK will sign Joel Williams, and he will initially get a shot as a field corner. All three DBs have excellent offer sheets.
Oxendine is a true nose player. There is not another true nose defender in the class so far, although Justin Rogers could possibly end up there.
They “why not” part of your question is conditioned on actually being able to sign all those prospects. Most of them have very strong offer sheets, and the competition is formidable. But we will soon see.
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Look at these names, offer sheets, and who is getting visits with us, late.
It is a new day in Kentucky football!
It is a new day in Kentucky football!
Except that, when you go Christmas shopping, you don’t have 15-20 other shoppers trying to purchase the same item you want, faster than you can get it to the register.
You've never gone shopping with women at the beginning of a Christmas sale then.
I’m afraid I have. Do you have daughters? Mine are master shoppers.
Here are some offers already turned down by our commits-
Beau Allen- GA, MI
Samuel Anaele- 5 SEC schools, OR, MI
Kalil Branham- OH St, MI, Southern Cal, TN, VA Tech
Deondre Buford- Auburn, TN, PA St, Minnesota, IA
Izayah Cummings- 3 SEC schools, VA, Wake For
Torrance Davis- PA St, VA, TN
Rickey Hyatt- Minnesota, Wake For, MI St
D’Eryk Jackson- 3 SEC schools
Joshua Jones- 6 SEC schools
Jutahn McClain- OH St, PA St, Minnesota, ND
Andru Phillips- TN, Wake For, VA Tech
Justin Rogers- 10 SEC schools, OH St, MI
Tre’Vonn Rybka- 8 SEC schools, OK, OR, VA, VA Tech
Earnest Sanders- PA St, Minnesota, MI St
Carrington Valentine- Minnesota, MI St, Wake For
John Young- 7 SEC schools, OH St, PA St, MI, OR, VA
Rogers and Rybka turned down Bama. Apparent UK-leaners RJ Adams, Vito Tisdale, and Joel Williams also hold offers from Bama. FWIW, so do Tyler Baron and Michael Drennen. I can’t say whether all these offers are still committable, but they have been reported this year by multiple credible outlets.
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BTT. A continued great thread. Don’t know when I have seen a better one in all my years on here. Thanks again to those providing the great info. This is truly fun to read.
Is he better than the Boyle Co. kicker? I know that kid was nailing 50 yarders as an 8th grader. Or is he committed elsewhere already?
Jackson Smith is a sophomore, and will be legit D1.
There is no disputing the narrative that Chance Poore has been inconsistent and unreliable this season. He has been.
Whether that means Stoops should spend a 2020 scholarship on a placekicker is a completely different question. Poore is only a freshman. He has a strong leg. And while Stoops has been known to change his mind and withdraw support quickly when he didn’t think he could count on a punter or placekicker, this decision would depend on whether he believes the problem with Poore (whatever that may be) is correctable. In other words, is it technique, or is it mental? It doesn’t matter what we think. It only matters what Stoops and Dean Hood think about it.
Also, Matt Ruffolo is a junior and should be back. Under the circumstances, Ruffolo had a fairly good season. He kicked a 45 yard FG on Saturday.
Lance Butler is a freshman. From what little I know about Butler, he has some leg talent.
I don’t know a lot about Graham Wald. But this is another PWO offer. A lot of Power 5 placekickers start as WOs.
Under these circumstances, I doubt Stoops invests a scholarship on a placekicker in his 2020 class. But it won’t surprise me if he brings in a grad transfer placekicker this spring or summer, and then looks at hs placekickers in his 2021 class.
Whether that means Stoops should spend a 2020 scholarship on a placekicker is a completely different question. Poore is only a freshman. He has a strong leg. And while Stoops has been known to change his mind and withdraw support quickly when he didn’t think he could count on a punter or placekicker, this decision would depend on whether he believes the problem with Poore (whatever that may be) is correctable. In other words, is it technique, or is it mental? It doesn’t matter what we think. It only matters what Stoops and Dean Hood think about it.
Also, Matt Ruffolo is a junior and should be back. Under the circumstances, Ruffolo had a fairly good season. He kicked a 45 yard FG on Saturday.
Lance Butler is a freshman. From what little I know about Butler, he has some leg talent.
I don’t know a lot about Graham Wald. But this is another PWO offer. A lot of Power 5 placekickers start as WOs.
Under these circumstances, I doubt Stoops invests a scholarship on a placekicker in his 2020 class. But it won’t surprise me if he brings in a grad transfer placekicker this spring or summer, and then looks at hs placekickers in his 2021 class.
Well great recruits help make recruiting threads great. But yes, topnotch.
Josiah Hays is a name I had not searched much in detail. He’s coming 12-6 for a visit and is another highly rated and recruited D-line prospect from Mississippi.
Rembrandt mentions his visit to Auburn: ours is last!?!?! I think we have a good shot with him.
We are building a top 10 (nationally) line on both sides of the ball!!!
And the SEC is a line of scrimmage league!
Rembrandt mentions his visit to Auburn: ours is last!?!?! I think we have a good shot with him.
We are building a top 10 (nationally) line on both sides of the ball!!!
And the SEC is a line of scrimmage league!
It isn’t question of holding out. It is a question competition and performance. All college teams have multiple kickers, most or all of whom are WOs. The more established the program becomes, the less pressure to offer a four-year scholarship to a placekicker. The most reliable kicker gets the game role. That’s why Ruffolo has won the job. Within the rules, WOs can be placed on scholarship when appropriate.
Who will kick in 2020 remains to be seen. Ruffolo and Poore are scheduled to return, but don’t be surprised if Dean Hood finds a grad transfer placekicker.
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