Keeping this to four notes, hoping to hear back more about who is visiting and doing more research on that. Will have some notes on how Kentucky commits fare in their games tonight, too.
More on JUCO OT Kelby Wickline
JUCO offensive tackle Kelby Wickline picked up an offer from Kentucky not long ago and he has continued to hear from the Wildcats' coaching staff. Some of the other schools involved with him are West Virginia, TCU, Iowa State, Southern Miss and Missouri.
It's worth noting that his father, Joe Wickline, is now West Virginia's offensive coordinator. Kelby was with UT-San Antonio's football program prior to his current stint at Jones County J.C. in Mississippi. He sat out the 2014 football season as a grayshirt for UTSA.
I should also point out that when Wickline was a high school recruit he was listed at 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds. He's now 280 pounds or bigger. If you're interested in evaluating Wickline for yourself his coaches have done a good job of getting a ton of film up. Here's a 7-minute highlight reel featuring Wickline in his first three games of this season.
Jordan Wright's official visit begins today
The headliner of this weekend's visits is defensive end Jordan Wright of Florida. He's a two-sport star that we've mentioned plenty of times before. I briefly caught up with Wright yesterday to check in before his visit and he told me he's not yet sure who his host is going to be. In case you didn't see, Wright was offered by Florida State not too long ago and admitted that the offer from the Seminoles changed the equation a little bit. That doesn't mean that Kentucky's out of the running, though.
There are three things really going for Kentucky in Wright's recruitment. First, he knows that the Cats have some recruiting momentum down in his area and he apparently knows some of UK's Florida commitments. At least he's interacted with them to some degree. Second, playing time. He knows it will be readily available at Kentucky. Third, he likes the idea of walking on with the UK basketball team and that's something they've discussed before.
Syracuse is another school that has been involved with Wright for a long time and apparently Louisville is starting to show some interest as well. It's too early to predict where he might end up.
Reading the tea leaves -- quarterback recruiting?
I don't have any new information on four-star quarterback Mac Jones. He seems to have settled down nicely into a senior season and that whole routine. He seems happy in his commitment to Alabama but I know the Kentucky coaches are still in contact with him.
I haven't heard much about other quarterback targets. At one point a little while back I asked a source if Kentucky would take another quarterback in the 2017 class if they didn't flip Jones. Here's the gist of what I was told. This is paraphrased, probably, but I am sure it is very close to what was said at least on the big points.
"Maybe. You could always look at a junior college guy or maybe a transfer (no names were given). But Gunnar (Hoak) is going to be really good."
Still, here's what the scholarship depth chart situation is moving forward:
2017: Barker (Jr), Johnson (Sr), Hoak (RS-Fr/So?), Wood (Fr)
2018: Barker (Sr), Hoak (RS-So/Jr?), Wood (Fr/So), Williams (Fr)
Given the fact that they have already told Jarren Williams they will not take another quarterback in the 2018 class (assuming he remains committed), the fact that Barker has some injury issues that make it impossible to speculate on his near-term or long-term future, the fact that both Gunnar Hoak and Walker Wood are still unproven (even if they do feel good), and Johnson's limited eligibility .... I just feel like you need to take a 2017 quarterback.
Given that -- that I haven't heard any other specific 2017 names mentioned and that Mac Jones is still listening -- I'm inclined to believe that UK feels like they still have a good shot.
Note on recent UNC decommit Ryan Jones
Rivals250 wide receiver Ryan Jones decommitted from UNC yesterday but I've heard from a few places now that there's more in play than meets the eye. He is certainly a talent but apparently he has been kicked off his high school team (or at least suspended) and grades are an issue. He did confirm yesterday to me in a message that he still plans to officially visit Kentucky but he's apparently not interested in speaking at length. I can't say he would be a take at this point because he does seem to have quite a bit of baggage. But I can't rule out the possibility, either.
More on JUCO OT Kelby Wickline
JUCO offensive tackle Kelby Wickline picked up an offer from Kentucky not long ago and he has continued to hear from the Wildcats' coaching staff. Some of the other schools involved with him are West Virginia, TCU, Iowa State, Southern Miss and Missouri.
It's worth noting that his father, Joe Wickline, is now West Virginia's offensive coordinator. Kelby was with UT-San Antonio's football program prior to his current stint at Jones County J.C. in Mississippi. He sat out the 2014 football season as a grayshirt for UTSA.
I should also point out that when Wickline was a high school recruit he was listed at 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds. He's now 280 pounds or bigger. If you're interested in evaluating Wickline for yourself his coaches have done a good job of getting a ton of film up. Here's a 7-minute highlight reel featuring Wickline in his first three games of this season.
Jordan Wright's official visit begins today
The headliner of this weekend's visits is defensive end Jordan Wright of Florida. He's a two-sport star that we've mentioned plenty of times before. I briefly caught up with Wright yesterday to check in before his visit and he told me he's not yet sure who his host is going to be. In case you didn't see, Wright was offered by Florida State not too long ago and admitted that the offer from the Seminoles changed the equation a little bit. That doesn't mean that Kentucky's out of the running, though.
There are three things really going for Kentucky in Wright's recruitment. First, he knows that the Cats have some recruiting momentum down in his area and he apparently knows some of UK's Florida commitments. At least he's interacted with them to some degree. Second, playing time. He knows it will be readily available at Kentucky. Third, he likes the idea of walking on with the UK basketball team and that's something they've discussed before.
Syracuse is another school that has been involved with Wright for a long time and apparently Louisville is starting to show some interest as well. It's too early to predict where he might end up.
Reading the tea leaves -- quarterback recruiting?
I don't have any new information on four-star quarterback Mac Jones. He seems to have settled down nicely into a senior season and that whole routine. He seems happy in his commitment to Alabama but I know the Kentucky coaches are still in contact with him.
I haven't heard much about other quarterback targets. At one point a little while back I asked a source if Kentucky would take another quarterback in the 2017 class if they didn't flip Jones. Here's the gist of what I was told. This is paraphrased, probably, but I am sure it is very close to what was said at least on the big points.
"Maybe. You could always look at a junior college guy or maybe a transfer (no names were given). But Gunnar (Hoak) is going to be really good."
Still, here's what the scholarship depth chart situation is moving forward:
2017: Barker (Jr), Johnson (Sr), Hoak (RS-Fr/So?), Wood (Fr)
2018: Barker (Sr), Hoak (RS-So/Jr?), Wood (Fr/So), Williams (Fr)
Given the fact that they have already told Jarren Williams they will not take another quarterback in the 2018 class (assuming he remains committed), the fact that Barker has some injury issues that make it impossible to speculate on his near-term or long-term future, the fact that both Gunnar Hoak and Walker Wood are still unproven (even if they do feel good), and Johnson's limited eligibility .... I just feel like you need to take a 2017 quarterback.
Given that -- that I haven't heard any other specific 2017 names mentioned and that Mac Jones is still listening -- I'm inclined to believe that UK feels like they still have a good shot.
Note on recent UNC decommit Ryan Jones
Rivals250 wide receiver Ryan Jones decommitted from UNC yesterday but I've heard from a few places now that there's more in play than meets the eye. He is certainly a talent but apparently he has been kicked off his high school team (or at least suspended) and grades are an issue. He did confirm yesterday to me in a message that he still plans to officially visit Kentucky but he's apparently not interested in speaking at length. I can't say he would be a take at this point because he does seem to have quite a bit of baggage. But I can't rule out the possibility, either.
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