Thanks for passing along. That’s really interesting. Thankfully, they have a lot of good options, including UK. I wonder what would have changed Harbaugh’s mind.
State of 2024 Recruiting
- Thread starter Rembrandt90
- Start date
Most annoying “journalist”, too. He interrupts & talks over everyone who shares air time with him. His writing & grammar is just embarrassing. I actually like & respect Freddie Maggard’s opinions a lot & it’s maddening to me when the one guy at KSR, who truly knows what he’s talking about, is continuously cut off by an incompetent, fraudulent clown, who has no idea what he’s talking about.
Like anyone is watching/listening for his cringe takes. But, he’s too eaten up with arrogance via ignorance to consider that. He’s the poster boy for, “it’s all about who you know”. Sorry for that rant & don’t mean to derail the thread. That guy just gets on my last nerve & I can’t help myself.
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Roush and Luckett together form a clueless diad of uninformed bloggers who act like they have advanced football knowledge. I have listened to them enough to know more than half the time they have no idea what they are talking about.
I think anyone who generally understands football feels the same way. Roush tries so hard to be a football expert yet falls tremendously short of that title.
Luckett isn't much better. His scouting takes are cringeworthy. And don't get me started on his "Lucketts Locks". Embarrassing track record.
Alot of what you say is true,but the UGAs and Alabamas,even Tennessee manage to recruit 9or 10 players like Goodwin EVERY year while we might get one or 2 a year. The attrition you talk about doesnt affect them nearly as much as it does us. We lose the numbers game to the conference powers and then we lose on the field. If we EVER want to be anything more than a middle of the pack SEC team we have got to start recruiting and signing the better players
Harbaugh's 2024 class already has 27 commits and he is still recruiting Ryan Wingo out of St. Louis, Gatlin Bair out of ID, and Zaquan Patterson out of FL. He has no flexibility for recruiting in the fall. Something has to give. The Smith twins are nice prospects but not unique in MI's class. If Harbaugh feels Jacob is not all the way on board at this point, he could have decided to use the two scholarships differently. IDK, just spitballing based on circumstantial evidence. But I think MI may have backed off Brian Robinson for similar reasons.
Have you ever heard Roush ask a question at a press conference? The guy is truly clueless.
I have disclosed this here before. This is a true story about a column Roush posted about the status of UK's 2019 recruiting class. He didn't mention anything about Eli Cox. I couldn't tell if it was an oversight or a deliberate omission. So I asked him. His response was condescending. He said Cox wasn't even worth discussing because he was not a significant player. This is the same Eli Cox who will soon be a three year SEC starter.
So when you hear me stubbornly stress that performance always trumps star ratings and player rankings, this comes from my experiences with unqualified buffoons like Roush who talk down prospects like Cox, Luke Fortner, Carrington Valentine, Bunchy Stallings, and Josh Allen without giving them a chance because of low star ratings. And it should also be mentioned that Roush and his colleagues troll this website looking for material and ambushing posters who express skepticism about KSR. I know this is true.
What is a "player like Goodwin"? Based on what I have seen, that isn't exactly an advantage. In fact, Goodwin is the poster boy for what is wrong with star ratings.
Roush and Luckett are nice guys, but they are fan boys. Neither has the backbone to write/speak about a single objective observation on UK football or UK football recruiting because they’re scared Vince won’t be their buddy anymore. It’s pretty sad, actually.
A 4 or 5 star recruit. The " star" system is basically a ratings of potential which is routinely unfullfilled hence the need to recruit more than the 1 or 2 a year that Kentucky does to be competative at the highest level of SEC. UGA currently has 21 4 or 5 star recruits, we have 3. There is a reason we havent beaten them in over a decade. This talent shortfall will be readily apparent when we play them ,Bama and UT this year. TEN has 13, Bama 10 ,Lsu 14 Florida12. I am not saying you cant win without them but if we dont figure a way to start getting our fair share of such players we will never win the East or SEC.
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I find most everything done by ksr and most everyone associated with them absolutely abhorrent. But as a UK football fans many time we are thirsty & have to drink from dirty sources.
Since the theme of this thread is about the status of UK's 2024 recruiting class, let's take a moment to discuss that.
Stoops already has 15 commitments. Let's keep in mind that there are 17 scholarship seniors on UK's 2023 roster and several of those still have the option of taking a COVID season to return in 2024. Not to mention that Stoops will hold back some scholarships for the transfer portal. So we still don't know how large Stoops' 2024 signing class will be, but we can see that it is starting to get full.
The Smith twins are back in Corbin and have UV'ed UK twice in the last two weeks. In a post earlier this week, I speculated that the twins' recruiting relationship with Harbaugh may be over, and that Harbaugh may have pulled their scholarships. I don't know if that is the case, but you can scroll back to that post and see if it sounds believable. In any case, UK's coaches are still recruiting the twins and no one knows how this will turn out.
Coach Collins and Coach Stewart are also trying to flip DT Artavius Jones, a highly recruited Miami commit from Blountstown, FL. IDK about our chances, but other SEC programs are also interested.
Here are some uncommitted prospects who are known to be active targets for our coaches.
WR Hardley Gilmore from Pohakee, FL holds at least 6 SEC and 4 B10 offers. Coach Woodward and Coach Mike are recruiting him. Gilmore OV'ed UK in June and has scheduled an announcement for August 25. Conventional wisdom suggests this is between UK, PA St, and UCF with UK possibly holding an advantage.
Kamron Mikell is a QB in a run oriented offense at Statesboro hs. Coach Collins is his recruiter. He is heavily recruited, with at least 11 SEC offers, and most schools are recruiting him as a safety. But UK wants him as a WR. The conventional wisdom is that Mikell will pick GA. UK will have to make a powerful impression when he visits Lexington next month.
Brian Robinson is an edge defender from Youngstown, Stoops' and Marrow's home town. Coach Marrow is his lead recruiter. Robinson OV'ed UK in June. He reportedly holds offers from at least 4 SEC and 8 B10 schools plus ND and SoCal. Robinson recently quit the football team at Fitch hs, reportedly over an argument between his father and Fitch's football coach. AFAIK, no announcement has yet been made about his 2023 hs. So there is a lot going on with the family now, and not much recent news about his recruitment. At one time, it was thought that MI was his leader. Now, conventional wisdom suggests it will be UK, Pitt, or PA St. But this could change on a dime. This is the type of recruitment where Coach Marrow tends to excel, but Robinson's situation is unpredictable on several levels.
Stoops already has 15 commitments. Let's keep in mind that there are 17 scholarship seniors on UK's 2023 roster and several of those still have the option of taking a COVID season to return in 2024. Not to mention that Stoops will hold back some scholarships for the transfer portal. So we still don't know how large Stoops' 2024 signing class will be, but we can see that it is starting to get full.
The Smith twins are back in Corbin and have UV'ed UK twice in the last two weeks. In a post earlier this week, I speculated that the twins' recruiting relationship with Harbaugh may be over, and that Harbaugh may have pulled their scholarships. I don't know if that is the case, but you can scroll back to that post and see if it sounds believable. In any case, UK's coaches are still recruiting the twins and no one knows how this will turn out.
Coach Collins and Coach Stewart are also trying to flip DT Artavius Jones, a highly recruited Miami commit from Blountstown, FL. IDK about our chances, but other SEC programs are also interested.
Here are some uncommitted prospects who are known to be active targets for our coaches.
WR Hardley Gilmore from Pohakee, FL holds at least 6 SEC and 4 B10 offers. Coach Woodward and Coach Mike are recruiting him. Gilmore OV'ed UK in June and has scheduled an announcement for August 25. Conventional wisdom suggests this is between UK, PA St, and UCF with UK possibly holding an advantage.
Kamron Mikell is a QB in a run oriented offense at Statesboro hs. Coach Collins is his recruiter. He is heavily recruited, with at least 11 SEC offers, and most schools are recruiting him as a safety. But UK wants him as a WR. The conventional wisdom is that Mikell will pick GA. UK will have to make a powerful impression when he visits Lexington next month.
Brian Robinson is an edge defender from Youngstown, Stoops' and Marrow's home town. Coach Marrow is his lead recruiter. Robinson OV'ed UK in June. He reportedly holds offers from at least 4 SEC and 8 B10 schools plus ND and SoCal. Robinson recently quit the football team at Fitch hs, reportedly over an argument between his father and Fitch's football coach. AFAIK, no announcement has yet been made about his 2023 hs. So there is a lot going on with the family now, and not much recent news about his recruitment. At one time, it was thought that MI was his leader. Now, conventional wisdom suggests it will be UK, Pitt, or PA St. But this could change on a dime. This is the type of recruitment where Coach Marrow tends to excel, but Robinson's situation is unpredictable on several levels.
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We have trouble beating GA because they are an extremely well coached team located in a state with a very high number of hs football players and a high level of hs competition. Not to mention that they have a large enough recruiting budget to recruit nationally. However, UK's defense is statistically roughly as good as GA's and slightly better than AL's. In 2022, nobody else played GA as tough as we did.
GA just won a championship with a walk-on starting at QB. Bennett wasn't even rated as a QB prospect coming out of his, but has now been drafted by the NFL. Bennett has a high football IQ and a burning desire to win. You can go on insisting that GA wins because of 4- and 5-stars, but I can keep naming 2- and 3-star prospects like Josh Allen (both of them, actually) now playing in the NFL.
All over the country, athletes succeed because they work hard and have a will to win and excel. Some successful college football players were highly rated coming out of his but a lot weren't. Enough 4- and 5-stars like Goodwin and Drennen lay eggs and face plant to alert the situationally-aware fan to the unreliability of online player and class rankings. You have every right to your point of view. But I have seen far too many lowly, lightly-recruited players like Allen, Benny, CRod, and Fortner work their butts off and achieve remarkable Power 5 success and then get drafted. I could go on naming them all day.
So as the great Bill O'Reilly says, people believe what they want to believe.
In regards to recruiting, and specifically the ‘24 class, I will say recruiting rankings (online, blogs, magazines, etc…) are subjective and some seem to be better than others. I agree with your assessment that rankings cannot effectively look into a player’s future development. Some of the rating factor takes in measurables. We all know players that look good in shorts, but simply don’t put it together on the field.
Stoops has a recent history (5-6 years) of beating teams that have stacked better ranked recruiting classes than UK.
But, the top programs pull in better ranked recruiting classes. Consequently, recruiting rankings matter.
I do NOT want a player simply because of some ranking system. Rather, I think Stoops wants very good players. (Who likely are going to be highly rated.) Ratings should not be a fan’s top concern. Getting the top players that coaches prioritize is TOP concern. I happen to think most of these top prospects will be highly rated.
Final word for me. I’m not worried about recruiting against UGa and Ala. The 12 team CFP begin next year. Stoops has us very close to knocking on that door on a regular basis. However, there are another 20-25 teams in similar situations battling for spots 5-12. Many of them are in our conference. These are the teams we must pass to get to the next level. Passing these teams in the W/L requires better recruits. Again, I’m not talking about making decisions because of rankings, but getting players they prioritize. No team gets all the players they want! But, we need to get better players to take the next step.
First, thanks for this thread. It is great to be able to go straight to one thread to get knowledgeable info about recruiting. Kudo!
Many of your posts imply that recruiting rankings don’t matter and that UK is fine continuing as we are in recruiting. (I may be misreading your intent. Elec communication doesn’t effectively communicate the writers intent.)
Do you think Stoops would trade recruiting classes with Ga? If so, then recruiting rankings matter.
Peace!
Disagree. Stars are just a projection.
UK is good at what they do. They just don't have national cache in football. They have offers to a lot of top 300 kids. They aren't turning them away in favor of less heralded recruits. They get the best they can and develop them.
The question of whether Stoops wants to trade classes with another program is irrelevant because it can't happen. Stoops has established a football culture at UK. In a real sense, his players are co-authors of this culture. No one doubts Benny Snell, Josh Allen, Luke Fortner, and Kenneth Horsey have had a huge hand in building this culture, and Stoops wouldn't trade them for anyone. But they were very, very lightly recruited. That's just the beginning of that discussion. Bunchy Stallings, Logan Stenberg, Quinton Bohanna, Juice Johnson, CRod, Eli Cox, Carrington Valentine, D'Eryk Jackson. Nobody else wanted them, the online ratings services didn't respect them, but Stoops saw the raw talent. Stoops and his coaches evaluate prospects and recruit the ones they want. No program gets every player they want. Stoops is one of the best talent evaluators in the country, and I value his opinion over an online evaluator any day of the week.
Most of all, I object to this de facto obsession with what is wrong. This website reeks of it. One reason I enjoy this particular thread is that we have an opportunity here to build a better mindset and escape from the fellowship of the miserable. It is irrelevant for posters (obviously including me) on a website to exclaim that Stoops needs to recruit better. Every coach recruits as well as he can. In each case, if the coach could recruit better, he would. Stoops has done a remarkable job here, and I believe the best is yet to come. It isn't a static situation. It is an active competition. Some programs get better, others don't. Stoops isn't standing in cement or resting on his laurels. He is always looking for ways to improve, and that is how he talks. That is the culture. Barnhart has been part of it by renovating facilities, hanging onto Vince Marrow and Brad White, bringing back Liam Coen, and raising Stoops' recruiting budget. This hasn't always been easy for Barnhart to do, and the most obvious evidence is his friction with the egocentric Cal. We haven't seen anything yet. It is time to stop worrying about what didn't happen, and start placing an higher value on what we actually have. It is time to stop trying to measure what is wrong and start enjoying the greatest football revival in UK's history.
Hope my intent is clearer now.
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Star rankings aren't everything and sometimes not accurate. But statistically speaking, what percentage of 4 and 5 star players make it to the NFL compared to the percentage of 3 star players that make it. And I know, there are way more 3 star players. If you told me to build a college team and to pick any players I want from the high school ranks, then I'm gonna have a team full of 4 and 5 star players. Not 2 and 3 star players. Look at all the teams that consistently win 10 or more games, then look at their recruiting classes. Stars do matter... but are not always accurate
Reading between the lines, it seems Nik Hall may very well be finished. Really hate that.
Things change I guess, but Carolina was always in the top schools, they weren't a surprise choice.
I started another thread on this topic but should have put it on this one. Are we recruiting any Lexington area Srs such as J.T. Haskins, Demeco Kennedy, Zuri Madison, or Jeremiah Lowe ? Thanks
Really hate that for Hall. Was really looking forward to see him contribute this year. Sounds like a MRS year and hopefully back ready in 24.
Personally gonna be crushed if we don't land Gilmore. We jumped on him right as he reclassed to '24.
None of those guys seem to be takes for UK
With everything going on with the transfer portal I don't know what the rules are anymore. We lost 11 to portal, and I have read we are signing 35. We are at 26 and still recruiting several hard, looking for sure 30+.
I agree with you 110%. I think you know I’m not part of the Fellowship of the Miserable. Like you, there are times I don’t come on this board for that very reason. I will defend Stoops with anyone.
You list many good examples of players who outplayed their hs ranking. I’m grateful for them. Yet, only one of those teams would have had a chance at making the new CFP.
As much as I love those players you mention, it will take better players (recruits) for us to climb the football ladder. Or … more players like you mention playing in the same season.
I trust Stoops to land the absolute best players he can possibly land. Regardless of my respect and admiration for the staff, the realist in me will acknowledge when we are not where we need to be to take the next step. (I don’t see acknowledging reality as a knock against the staff.) Yes, the fellowship of the miserable say negative things and think the sky is always falling, Stoops has maxed out, etc … That’s not me. If UK can contend to make 12 team CFP, then Stoops is man to get us there. However, it will take better players, or more of them.
We already have an elite SEC defense, statistically a little better than AL's in 2022. If Liam Coen is as good as I think he is, you will be a happy camper sooner than you think and maybe I will see you at our next bowl game. LOL.
No, I do not think you are a member of the fellowship of the miserable. You acknowledge they still reek on the board, though. So, the reason I enjoy this thread is because the mood, for the most part, is much better here. You are one of the posters making this a fun thread. Thank goodness.
We shouldn't take it that seriously. Have confidence in Coach Coen. We already have excellent WRs. True, we need a few more. But let's not underestimate what Porter, Banks, and Brown are bringing to our football program.
I remain hopeful about Gilmore. But this is recruiting, and it is among the least predictable of human behaviors.
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