All due respect, I think we have to move beyond this way of thinking. Chris Rodriguez, Will Levis, Jamin Davis, Luke Fortner, Josh Allen, Bennie Snell, and Bunchy Stallings are/were All American or All SEC type players. although not 4 or 5 star recruits. I would not trade Deandre Square for any other SEC LB. Conversely, we have some 4 stars sitting on our bench, and some of them aren't even in the playing rotations. Maybe they will be, but you can't measure work ethic and football IQ with stars. To be clear, I am not suggesting that I don't want 4 and 5 star signings. I do. But, by now, we know that our coaching staff's evaluation of prospects is more important than stars. Almost all of Stoops' recruiting classes have turned out to be underrated from a class rankings standpoint, and that explains a lot of what Stoops has been able to accomplish here.
State of 2023 Recruiting
- Thread starter Canned Heat
- Start date
I have not brought this up until now, but I am not surprised Moorman decommitted. Although Moorman says he is still considering UK, and although I am sure Coach Marrow will stay in touch, Moorman's recruitment is effectively a thing of the past. I don't want to make a big thing out of this, because Moorman is by all accounts a good kid and a good player. But a parent of a former UK player told me in August that Moorman would not last in our class through December because the Moorman family was still debating what he should do. This is a smart kid with a bright future outside of football, but he seems to be injured most of the time. There is nothing wrong with this. I was also told that our coaches' continuing pursuit of Wilcox and Keyes during the summer had more to do with doubts about Moorman's intentions than the fan base realized at the time. I chose not to bring it up at the time, because I do not consider myself an insider, but it doesn't hurt to mention it now.
Wilcox just visited Lexington, and our coaches are recruiting him hard. Anwar Stewart is the primary recruiter but Coach Settle is also directly involved. Unless another major southeastern school offers, this might come down to UK, Clemson, and NC State. So far, UK has been his only official visit although he has been to Raleigh unofficially. The Clemson offer was recent, so keep an eye on that.
Don't know but hope so. He would've been a major contributor, rotten luck he got hurt.
I don't think anyone knows that at this point. Maybe not even Jefferson himself. It is a major knee injury. There is sufficient time for the recovery and rehab, but the mental part of it is an individual issue. If Jefferson believes he might have an NFL future, then he has to try to come back. But who knows what he might be thinking?
The key question here is whether Stoops and Settle believe Jefferson will try to come back.
McClain
Drennen
Wright
Keith
These are good players, but still a dropoff from Rodriguez. In this room, Wilcox (if he signs) is good enough to see the field a fair amount. Although I don't like predicting outbound transfers, I could see one of these four possibly leaving in the offseason. I feel like Jefferson or a new transfer (or both) really needs to be added.
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4 & 5 star players in 2022 go to the highest NIL bidders. Probably the reality of CFB recruiting going forward unless some changes to the rules happen.
JR said that Wilcox has a written offer from UK and so far only the verbal from Clemson. That of course could change anytime, so hopefully they can get him on board soon
Someone at the game this weekend mentioned RLewis earning a scholarship for this year as well, but I can't recall if this is his last year of eligibility.
Jamarion Wilcox and TJ Webb (UF commit) are the guys I like at RB in this class (outside of current commits of course) that look like they can replace CRod. Both have great balance and low pad level, can and do use their free arm well for stiff arms and a "third leg," as my coach used to say. Both seem to have an extra gear as well.
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He is an interesting 23 rb option
Keith is gonna be tough to hold off some other SEC interest, hope we do
I think so as well. I'm not discounting him. Just wondering about other prospects to complement him in our class and next year. I also don't believe Keith is automatically just a LB.
Def don't want to lose him from this class. I like what I've seen from his highlights. Looks like he has good vision and patience, makes good cuts and has good acceleration. No reason to think he couldn't be a RB at this level.
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Some were saying on (edit- other schools) recruiting sites that he is a LB at the next level (because of his size) rather than a RB. I think they are wrong. I think the young man could be an exceptional RB for us ... (I hate my phone) he's the kind of RB I've been looking for at UK for decades, but we haven't landed (outside of Drennen, who I thought would be one, and a couple others).
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Right. Clemson just made the verbal offer to Wilcox on September 18. If Wilcox decides that he is interested in visiting Clemson, then Dabo will have to fish or cut bait. I can't predict what hs athletes will do, but Clemson does not yet have any RB prospects committed to their 2023 class. Wilcox and Christopher Johnson are reportedly the only two currently-uncommitted RBs with offers from Clemson. Johnson is from Ft. Lauderdale. Reportedly, Johnson likes Miami. Maybe Dabo can flip Jeremiah Cobb from Auburn, but Cobb is from Montgomery. So there is a pretty good chance that Dabo may be serious about recruiting Wilcox. That doesn't necessarily mean Wilcox will choose Clemson over UK, but Clemson is a lot closer than Lexington to Douglasville.
Still, Wilcox's only official visit so far has been to Lexington. So UK's chances are good. But all these considerations are reasons why I only gave UK's chance to sign Wilcox a score of 4 out of 10.
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UK is recruiting Keith as a RB. But he is also projectable as a LB. He has played both positions at Parker hs. Some schools have recruited him as a LB.
Dee Beckwith is being developed in the same role Jordan Dingle and Izayah Cummings have been playing in Coach Scan's offense. It is a hybrid H-back/FB/flex receiver role. IMHO, we will never see Beckwith play a pure RB role. UK's official roster lists Beckwith at 6'5" 230#. He has a TE body, and he will get bigger with more conditioning. He is not a RB.
I hadn't heard that but I see it. Probably similar to Trevin Wallace. I think can definitely play RB at UK
I chalked it up as people trying to minimize or disparage what they don't have.
Of course I've seen that, but he clearly can play as just a RB as well. If he couldn't, he's not really a hybrid. I don't see him as just a RB, but to other RBs he might be seen differently. I'm wondering how that can affect our 2023 class.
If he's going to play in the NFL it's always better to be able to play multiple positions instead of one, even if you only play one. He's here for development and to show what that development can do. I get it
Wish Beckwith was being looked at As an OLB candidate. Great measurables and we appear relatively thin at that spot. Jmo
It was said he doesn't want to play there. He looks like he could play Sundays as an edge rusher though
We aren’t going to make that next step with these recruiting classes. Occasionally you’ll find a diamond in the rough, but typically 3 star recruits play to that level. Need the high 4 star recruits to star and 3 stars to fill it out.
Simply put, UK needs 12-15 4*/5*s a year to have a realistic chance of moving up the ladder. Look at the results in recent years of UK's 3*s vs GA's 4*-5*s. Portal has changed things to a degree but UK's recruiting needs to step it up.
Saw where Tennessee just offered and South Carolina is getting a visit. Don’t know which position they are projecting though.
Did UT offer? He has been ona visit or 2 there but they hadn't offered yet. They were supposed to go see him, so that def could have changed
I went and checked and they offered yesterday. I also seen that it looks like SC is recruiting him as a RB. Not sure about UT
Of course 15 would be better, but if we could just match last year's class that had 11 every year we could get there.
We would be excited with this class back in 2013 / 2014. My personal opinion is that while it's not a terrible class, it's just kind of "meh". Still an opportunity to finish strong, and as others have pointed out, Stoops and staff know how to identify and recruit underrated talent.
Then UK has zero chance of moving up the ladder. We are not going to be allowed to have the NIL payout & operation necessary for acquiring 12-15 4 & 5 stars.
But that was the reality before NIL. Operating at its best, smartest good coaching and talent development it is possible to make UK a top 20 team, but not a top 10.
But that was the reality before NIL. Operating at its best, smartest good coaching and talent development it is possible to make UK a top 20 team, but not a top 10.
Just looked back at the last 3 completed recruiting classes, 4 schools signed 12+ 4 or 5 stars each year, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio St, and Texas A&M - yeah, we arent getting there on a yearly basis and it has nothing to do with NIL. Some of you need more realistic expectations of what to expect in recruiting.
Yep, guess we should just load up on 2 and 3 star recruits! While they’ve found some diamonds in the rough, I’ll take my chances with a 4 or 5 star over a 3 star anyday.
My gosh . Jimbo sure can do less with more , lol .
Recruiting mostly 4 and 5 Star players does not guarantee a spot in the play offs.
But only one team since 1998 has made a BCS/Playoff game with less than half of their recruits having been 4/5 Stars . . . Cincy last year.
With enough transfer portal landings, it might be possible to move up.
So Kentucky is ranked 45th in recruiting heading into November. That uh, ain’t good…why isn’t this getting more talk in the media? I seem to be one of the very few that’s concerned about it. You can say what you want about developing diamonds in the rough, but at the end of the day really good players matter, look at Barion Brown and Dane Key. They’re difference makers. With the East on an upswing and virtually all the teams recruiting well (along with Louisville) things have to get improved drastically in recruiting or this will get ugly quickly. 45th ain’t going to cut it. Not even close. That’s embarrassing man.
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