State of 2024 Recruiting
- Thread starter Rembrandt90
- Start date
I named Saunders, Geiger, Horsey, and Jackson as examples. There have been a bunch more examples of low ratings proven wrong. But you know that.
Thrower, a junior, is now in the linebacker playing rotation, so you jumped the gun on that one. Jones gave up football due to injuries. Oliver excelled at another school. A lot of these players never played football again.
How about 4-stars who flopped:
Jason Hatcher
Matt Elam
Lloyd Tubman
Eli Brown
JaVonte Richardson
Jared Casey
Moses Douglass
Michael Drennen
Chris Lewis
Dekel Crowdus
Kiyaunta Goodwin
You know very well that you are presenting a skewed version of the argument. Good players come from all levels of the rankings, and it depends on how they do after they get to campuses.
There’s about 7-8 on here that seemingly go out of their way to bash this program
It’s truly remarkable as to why they are UK fans at all
It’s truly remarkable as to why they are UK fans at all
Their thinking, as I am here in FL and surrounded by Gators, they are still on board with him, but they are getting concerned about on field performance. Securing the recruiting class is not about having their talent to secure wins, necessarily, rather that they can convince them to stay for the next big name hire. The thought is that you can get a higher level of coach interested in taking over if the cupboard is already stocked.
True, but that's like the guy in school who never got laid because he was waiting for a 10. Sometimes you have to sprinkle in some fives and sixes to stay in shape and sometimes they even pan out. There are only 8-10 schools that consistently get 50% blue chip recruits and we are not there yet. Getting closer, as we are typically around 35%, but you still have to fill out your roster.
I am specifically using the past 5 years as reference because anything before the class of 2018, Kentucky had not established itself as a program that could win more than 7 games in the SEC. They were making a different recruiting pitch than they currently make and therefore the recruiting expectations should be viewed in a different light. No one argues that four stars don't flop. They just pan out at an exponentially higher rate.
Since 2018 (2018-2022) Kentucky has taken roughly 35 guys that were 4 stars on at least one site or were consensus top 500 guys. The hit rate on those guys is about 50%. This includes several UK legends in Darrian Kinnard and Deandre Square, 7 to 8 current starters including the some of the teams best players (Walker, Wallace, Weaver, Key, Brown) also includes some misses in Goodwin, Aneale, and Drennen.
In the same time period Kentucky has taken roughly the same number of players that fit the mold that I do not like. Not 4 stars or consensus top 500 and not in Kentucky's main recruiting base (Kentucky, Cincinnati, Youngstown and southern Ohio/Columbus/Dayton). Of those 35 players 6 have started a game. That is a hit rate of under 20%.
It's just a numbers game. Higher rated players hit at a much higher rate than those ranked lower. When Kentucky reaches for players outside their recruiting base they are vastly more likely to never become contributors and transfer out of the program.
Agreed. My issue with this class is no longer there aren't enough 4 stars. Its the guys at the bottom of the class are not even top 800 players. Several guys with 0 other SEC offers. Too many guys ranked 800+ where Kentucky is beating out MAC schools and the bottom of the BIG 10 or ACC and the in state flagship school never even offered. Marshall and Mizell are the only guys ranked between like 300 and 750. Needed more guys in that range than in the 800+ range
I would agree. I was hoping for 12-15 4*s but they won't be anywhere hear that.
Not sure we will ever get to that level. I think a perfect class is 6-7 guys that are consensus top 300, another 3-4 that are 4 stars on at least 1-2 sites. Then 5-6 guys that are high 3 stars. Then 3-4 local (Kentucky/Ohio) guys that coaches get good insight on. Then take 2-3 fliers that you like the traits and think are developmental pieces. That would be the ideal makeup for a class with 20-25 commits.
Don't know where you get that. Recruiting did pick significantly when Stoops & Marrow arrived & has stayed improved, but it seems pretty flat at a good, not great level, over the last 5 years as evidenced by team record & class rankings. Maybe there's a measure of improved recruiting I don't see, but why a leveling of records then?
I am beginning to think so too.
We just had a 10 win season 2 years ago! I don’t know about you, but I think improved recruiting may have had something to do with that. You have to include the transfer portal into today’s recruiting. Levis and Robinson were immediate stars and other recent recruits impacted that team.
This year’s team is loaded with young recruits that have been at UK 3 or less years. Leary, Brown, Key, Walker, Wallace, and Cox come to mind immediately.
I will always want recruiting to be better. However, UK continues to reach heights that many football talking heads (not just fans) said was not possible at UK.
If you don’t see the overall program heading in the right direction then we’re watching different programs.
Recruiting improved dramatically when Stoops got here. Stoops opened up OH and TN and gained a recruiting footprint in AL, PA, NJ, and MI. Now we are recruiting successfully in St Louis.
Just based on your comment, what you evidently may not see is that more factors than just recruiting go into the final record. For example, Josh Allen hurt our 2015 class ranking but became an All American and took over games for us. UK blew two games last year just with incompetent special teams play. I don't know what you mean by leveling of records. UK won 10 games in 2018 and again in 2021. Last year, we were several special teams mistakes away from 9 regular season wins, so that had nothing to do with rank of our recruiting classes.
And I suggest that our 2022 recruiting class was a great (not good) class. It's a subjective adjective. But 2022 was arguably the best recruiting class we have ever had, and it heavily affected our program. I realize I am habitually more positive than you, but I don't think I am misrepresenting anything here or sharing anything new.
Current 2024 UK recruiting board, according to publicly available evidence-
QB- Cutter Boley (UK commit)
RB- Tovani Mizell (UK commit), Jason Patterson (UC commit), Travis Kerney
TE- Willie Rodriguez (UK commit)
WR- David Washington (UK commit), Hardley Gilmore (UK commit), Rico Scott (AL commit), Kamron Mikell
OL- Aba Selm (UK commit), Hayes Johnson (UK commit), Jadon Lafontant (UK commit), JacQawn McRoy (OR commit)
DL- Jerod Smith (UK commit), Artavius Jones (Miami commit), Alex Foster (Baylor commit), Brian Robinson, Nasir Smith
LB- Elijah Groves (UK commit), Jacob Smith (UK commit), Caleb Redd (UK commit), Lorenzo Cowan (UK commit), Steven Soles (UK commit), Devin Smith (announcement on 9/22), Chase Couch (PWO)
DB- Jiquavious Marshall (UK commit), Antwan Smith (UK commit), Terhyon Nichols (UK commit), Quaysheed Scott (UK commit), Casey Etienne
K/P- Jason Kauwe (UK commit)
QB- Cutter Boley (UK commit)
RB- Tovani Mizell (UK commit), Jason Patterson (UC commit), Travis Kerney
TE- Willie Rodriguez (UK commit)
WR- David Washington (UK commit), Hardley Gilmore (UK commit), Rico Scott (AL commit), Kamron Mikell
OL- Aba Selm (UK commit), Hayes Johnson (UK commit), Jadon Lafontant (UK commit), JacQawn McRoy (OR commit)
DL- Jerod Smith (UK commit), Artavius Jones (Miami commit), Alex Foster (Baylor commit), Brian Robinson, Nasir Smith
LB- Elijah Groves (UK commit), Jacob Smith (UK commit), Caleb Redd (UK commit), Lorenzo Cowan (UK commit), Steven Soles (UK commit), Devin Smith (announcement on 9/22), Chase Couch (PWO)
DB- Jiquavious Marshall (UK commit), Antwan Smith (UK commit), Terhyon Nichols (UK commit), Quaysheed Scott (UK commit), Casey Etienne
K/P- Jason Kauwe (UK commit)
Last edited:
And you also know that these guys can be recruited over in an instant.
If we have a shot at a 4* at a position that is already filled, the coaches are going to make the call on that.
It happens everywhere all the time!
Maybe but there have only been a of handful examples in the past few years. Kaden Mooreman and Treyveon Longmire are the only examples of guys that I can remember Kentucky basically agreeing to part with. Every other decommit seemed to commit to another P5 commit. Maybe there are a few that I am not remembering but Stoops is not known to recruit over guys who are committed.
Perhaps that is because Stoops and Marrow do not pursue an ad hoc recruiting methodology.
I don't disagree. I don't want a coach who is consistently pulling scholarships on kids they recruited.
However I think sometimes we as a fan base are just told to "trust the staff" with every recruit. The point I am trying to make in this thread is that when Kentucky recruits lower ranked players outside of their normal recruiting base the hit rate on those players is much much lower than other types of recruits. Maybe this class changes that narrative, maybe it doesn't. I just don't like seeing such a large percentage of the class fit into that mold and has caused some concern, especially early in this cycle for myself and others.
When will more UK football fans learn the lessons of actual history? The list of lightly recruited players (like Josh Allen and Luke Fortner, but there have been many others) developed into excellent SEC players and NFL draft choices by Stoops and his coaches is long enough that we should trust our coaches above player rankings. When Stoops offers a scholarship, that is not done lightly, and it is not done just because he can't sign a "higher ranked" player. This coaching staff knows what they are doing. If one puts more faith in a website's player ratings than in Stoops' evaluation abilities, then that means one finds a website more credible than our coaching staff. That is foolish. I am not saying the websites never get it right. I am saying SEC coaches get it right a lot more often than websites do. I can't understand why some of you just can't (or won't) see this.
Rembrandt90 do you see us trying to get back in with any Michigan St recruits in light of the mess up there.
LB prospect Devin Smith from Brunswick, GA, is still scheduled to announce his college decision on 9/22. UK and LSU are his two finalists. Smith had a trip to LSU scheduled for last weekend, but he postponed it to November. So he will evidently make this choice without visiting LSU first, while reserving his OV to LSU for shortly prior to the signing date.
At 6'1" 220#, Smith is an interior defender who would probably fit as a Mike LB in Coach White's 3-3-5. In 2022, playing on an excellent 10-1 Brunswick hs football team, he was named Coastal GA Defensive POTY. He reportedly holds at least eleven SEC offers in addition to OH St, SoCal, and ND. Coach Collins and Coach White are his UK recruiters. If Smith picks UK later this week, he would become another huge addition to our defensive class and would hopefully put a damper on criticisms of the class by some posters. If he picks UK, we will lead the SEC in Smiths. And if he picks UK, I would probably look for him to cancel the November visit to LSU. If he did not cancel the LSU visit, that could set up a complicated new chapter late in his recruitment. But at this point, I would rather be in UK's position in his recruitment.
At 6'1" 220#, Smith is an interior defender who would probably fit as a Mike LB in Coach White's 3-3-5. In 2022, playing on an excellent 10-1 Brunswick hs football team, he was named Coastal GA Defensive POTY. He reportedly holds at least eleven SEC offers in addition to OH St, SoCal, and ND. Coach Collins and Coach White are his UK recruiters. If Smith picks UK later this week, he would become another huge addition to our defensive class and would hopefully put a damper on criticisms of the class by some posters. If he picks UK, we will lead the SEC in Smiths. And if he picks UK, I would probably look for him to cancel the November visit to LSU. If he did not cancel the LSU visit, that could set up a complicated new chapter late in his recruitment. But at this point, I would rather be in UK's position in his recruitment.
No. There is no public evidence for anything like that happening. However, I will also mention that a number of players in MI St's class have UK offers. Probably none of those offers are committable at UK, since none of these players have OVed UK.
But the Luniewski brothers, Mercer and Charlton, UVed UK last spring. They remain committed to MI St. I only point this out because UK could use more offensive linemen. But I doubt Stoops would take the brothers at this point. Mercer is more highly regarded than Charlton, but neither is considered a program turner. Our coaches seem determined to close out our 2024 class primarily by adding defensive players, and they are scoring huge on that front right now with prominent industry analysts predicting Brian Robinson and Devin Smith will announce soon for UK. Few scholarships are left in our 2024 class. IDK but I am guessing Stoops will assess our roster numbers next winter and then snag a few more OTs out of the transfer portal.
Besides me, who is saying that? I haven't seen anyone else explicitly say this. Honestly, no one should need to say it. Our coaches have earned our trust.
Which may be easier to recruit them bc all the glitz and glam is out of recruiting by then and it’s let’s get a plan for the next level started.
I was only suggesting that I see no public evidence of current activity by UK coaches to recruit MI St commits. None of the MI St commits have OV'ed UK. I believe UK coaches are still actively in touch with Jason Patterson (UC commit), Rico Scott (AL commit), JacQawn McRoy (OR commit), Artavius Jones (Miami commit), and Alex Foster (Baylor commit). Patterson and McRoy have already OV'ed UK. Scott is a hs teammate of UK commit Stone Saunders. I can't say if any of them will flip to UK, but I think Scott is seriously looking at doing it.
Whether it is easier to recruit is really a case by case question. Not all players are necessarily bonded to a coach, although I believe most are. But some pick a school because they like the academic merits of the school or the campus. Everyone is different.
I would expect all of those guys would be more excited about playing for Deion .
Now that you brought it up….I culled way to many in high school and college. What the hell was I thinking.
Several sites reporting that Robinson is more than likely pulling the trigger next week, he basically said he knows where he’s going and will commit in the “next week or so”. UK heavy favorites according to most but haven’t seen where he’s been Wiltfonged.
Wiltfong dropped the fong bomb 1st of the week.
Yes he did. That wasn't done without considerable analysis, because he was reversing his earlier CB pick for MI.
So far, trying to time Robinson's announcement has not worked for anyone who attempted it. There is no time pressure on Robinson. He can take his time if he wants, or he can get it over with.
Circumstantial evidence overwhelmingly points to UK now. That is my expectation, but I am still hesitant to guess when he will pull the trigger. In any case, great job here by Coach Marrow.
He may not do what he said, but he told Chad Simmons he haf made his decision would announce in the next week or two. JR's source said the same thing. Of course he doezn't have to announce till Feb or just sign and not announce anything
It's a mistake to think it's always about individual recruits. It's also the class that they are recruiting to, and you take the best available players that commit to working hard when they get here. There's no way to guarantee what they do when they get here, and no telling what can happen between now and then that can change things.
Everyone here that has said they "trust the staff" means it, because they understand football recruiting is a tough business that THIS STAFF has proven to do very well. Going head to head with traditionally football schools in the SEC and b1g and winning has not been done this well and this consistently by any staff we've had before now.
Yes, they have earned our trust and support. Not for a day or a few months, but day in day out, throughout the year. They've done a remarkable job at UK. BereaCat, Rembrandt, and many others (including me) have and will continue to tell you they trust the staff.
Land BRob, Devin Smith and flip Rico Scott and this might turn into Stoops' best class.
Regarding the judgment of class quality, I think you have to consider the toughest positions to fill.
In my opinion, QB, DT, Corner and OT are the positions that are the toughest to fill, and generally in that order.
I have known dedicated kids who have worked very hard to make themselves viable options at most other positions in football.
But as to QB, DT, cornerback and OT, usually a good bit of God/Nature is involved placing a player into a spot to work hard, and play at those positions.
So, classes that have quality at these positions are the best, and somewhat independent of the “star” system.
Our 2018/19 squad had 18 former 4 and 5 stars, but beat Penn State and finished ranked 12th in the nation. All of our corners had been mere 3 Stars, but all had more than a cup of coffee in the NFL. Our sole 5 Star, Landon Young, sat out the 2018/19 season, and during the Citrus Bowl, a true frosh who never saw a 4th Star, Kinnard, saw significant action at OT and played well.
Quinton Bohanna would challenge Walker and Bully McCall as our top interior D-lineman during the Stoops’ tenure. Walker and McCall were offered by the world of college teams. I think we were Bohanna’s only FBS offer.
As to trusting the staff, I trust them most at DB. They’ve consistently turned out All-Conference and AA type talent at DB.
The jury is still out on O-line Development, but the Schlarman years were freakishly special. Guys that made AA and played NFL ball were generally overlooked HS players, with the obvious exceptions of a couple home grown HS AA’s, Young and Drake Jackson.
In my opinion, QB, DT, Corner and OT are the positions that are the toughest to fill, and generally in that order.
I have known dedicated kids who have worked very hard to make themselves viable options at most other positions in football.
But as to QB, DT, cornerback and OT, usually a good bit of God/Nature is involved placing a player into a spot to work hard, and play at those positions.
So, classes that have quality at these positions are the best, and somewhat independent of the “star” system.
Our 2018/19 squad had 18 former 4 and 5 stars, but beat Penn State and finished ranked 12th in the nation. All of our corners had been mere 3 Stars, but all had more than a cup of coffee in the NFL. Our sole 5 Star, Landon Young, sat out the 2018/19 season, and during the Citrus Bowl, a true frosh who never saw a 4th Star, Kinnard, saw significant action at OT and played well.
Quinton Bohanna would challenge Walker and Bully McCall as our top interior D-lineman during the Stoops’ tenure. Walker and McCall were offered by the world of college teams. I think we were Bohanna’s only FBS offer.
As to trusting the staff, I trust them most at DB. They’ve consistently turned out All-Conference and AA type talent at DB.
The jury is still out on O-line Development, but the Schlarman years were freakishly special. Guys that made AA and played NFL ball were generally overlooked HS players, with the obvious exceptions of a couple home grown HS AA’s, Young and Drake Jackson.
Last edited:
Let's add Mikell for good measure
I hope so. He officially visits Oct 28th but visits Tennessee Sept 29th and A&M Oct 6th before.
