Okay, back to business here. I have felt for a long, long time that Kentucky would sign 23 members to its 2020 recruiting class. The transfer addition of Joey Gatewood will count towards this class, hence I think that makes the number of initial counters 24 for 2020.
Kentucky currently has 16 verbal commitments and I expect all 16 to sign ten days from now. Therefore, I expect up to seven new members added to this class. By 12/18, I expect UK to add DT Octavious Oxendine, DE Tyler Baron, DB Joel Williams and OG RJ Adams. Those four would bring the number to 20.
Whether it ends up being next week, or early February, I fully expect UK to add S Vito Tisdale and ATH Michael Drennen, bringing the number to 22.
That leaves one more name and the main two worth following at this time, are the two that took official visits this weekend. Of course, those two are UT commit, WR Jimmy Calloway and DT Josaih Hayes from Mississippi. Both are four star prospects ranked in the Rivals 250 and at this time, it is too early to make any prediction on either since their official visits are still ongoing. Calloway visits UT officially next weekend and then will sign the following Wednesday. I think Kentucky faces an uphill battle to flip his commitment with what is currently known. If Hayes signs in December, I definitely like UK's chances. If he does not, I feel Kentucky's chances go way down.
The only other prospect that is on the radar for an OV is Alabama ATH Dee Beckwith in mid January. Kentucky currently has ground to make up there as Florida has promised him a ride for football and basketball. If Kentucky were to somehow land Drennen and Calloway before Beckwith's OV, I imagine that would end the recruitment of Beckwith.
All in all, still a lot to be hashed out, but I feel we will all know much on 12/18, which could be a historic signing day for Kentucky football.
I believe Stoops will take 24 plus Gatewood. So we are close.
At this point, I think Beckwith will probably sign with UF. He still hasn’t scheduled an official visit to UK, and hasn’t been to Lexington since the camps in June.
I haven’t seen any news out of Josaih Hayes since he visited UK last week. Actually, I don’t think that means much. He could commit to UK anytime. But the recent hire of Lane Kiffin by Ole Miss will probably convince Hayes to wait and talk with Kiffin’s new staff. My uneducated guess is that Hayes may eventually re-commit to Ole Miss, especially if UK gets Octavious Oxendine.
I don’t have the feel for what Tyler Baron will do that Rock Cat has. Rock Cat has been all over this. We know Baron’s dad works at UT and Baron has also been talking with Vince Marrow. Such a heavily-recruited defensive lineman always receives an enormous amount of recruiting pressure from all directions this time of year. So, for me, this is a wait-and-see.
I think Stoops will hang onto all 16 current commits. So this is how the class looks to me-
Beau Allen, QB
Samuel Anaele, DL
Kalil 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
Also probably signing with UK in December-
RJ Adams, OL
Octavious Oxendine, DL
Joel Williams, DB
Other possibilities for UK’s class-
Tyler Baron, DL- Has already been discussed at length. UK or UT.
Damarcus Beckwith, LB- I am predicting FL, but could be UT.
Jimmy Calloway, WR- UK, UT, or Va Tech.
Devyn Curtis, LB- Probably Vandy.
Michael Drennen, RB- If he waits until Feb., it’s wide open. Can go anywhere he wants. Who knows?
Jeremy Flax, OL- Auburn or UK.
Josaih Hayes, DL- Probably Ole Miss.
Vito Tisdale, DB- All signs still pointing to UK.
Ronald Williams, DB- TX A&M or Bama.
The math tells me Stoops will save a couple of scholarships for Feb. By then, a new name could pop up.
One other thought. Art Green, the UT decommit, once held a UK offer. But I have seen no evidence that UK is currently involved, and I don’t think UK has room for Green anyway because of Tisdale and Joel Williams.