Four-star Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas linebacker Rocky Shelton confirmed today that he is still planning to attend Kentucky's spring game next Friday evening. He will be there with 6-foot-2 defensive back and cousin Maxwell Worship, who also has a Kentucky offer and who performed well at a recent Rivals 3 Stripe Camp event in his home state. These two had previously told me that they would be visiting, but as the time for such a trip approaches, especially one that requires so much logistical planning, it's always good to make sure it's still a go. Appears to be in this case.
Shelton has previously visited Vanderbilt and was very high on what he saw in Nashville. UK and Vandy are two very different schools, but I think it's a good sign that Shelton seemed to be so high on a school that isn't what you would consider an SEC powerhouse, following that Vandy trip.
Rondale Moore's stock continues to climb. The Louisville (Ky.) Trinity athlete, who posted a 133 Nike Sparq score recently, just landed an offer from Missouri. Don't let anyone tell you these camps/combines don't matter. Just watch the offers that follow the top camp/combine performances such as these. Not long ago North Texas had offered Moore, which led me to believe that his stock had taken a dip, perhaps because of his size, with the Mean Green perhaps thinking that they had a shot to steal him. After that camp performance and the testing numbers Moore has been posting, I think it's a slam dunk that he's a Power Five guy. Kentucky's still an option but I don't think Moore necessarily has his heart set on staying in-state.
A player that has often been mentioned on this site over the past year is four-star Tennessee defensive tackle D'Andre Litaker. With good reason. He's visited Kentucky a couple of times and has said great things about Kentucky in the past. More recently, I've gotten the sense that Kentucky probably has some ground to make up. One person told me they believe Tennessee is the odds-on favorite to land Litaker. He has a torn ACL but that hasn't slowed his recruitment much. That person also told me they believe the Vols have a good shot with Greg Emerson, another top defensive lineman from Tennessee. He has also visited Kentucky (last summer).
Litaker told AL.com recently that he's about 75 or 80-percent recovered from that ACL injury.
The other day I mentioned Dublin Coffman (Ohio) linebacker Jeslord Boateng, saying that Kentucky is still very much involved and that he seems interested. I didn't mention that he visited Ohio State last week. The Buckeyes have not offered, and right now I don't get the impression that they will. Marc Givler of BuckeyeGrove.com spoke with Boateng following that trip to Ohio State, and the three-star linebacker said Kentucky, Louisville, Cincinnati, Iowa State and Indiana are the five schools that are standing out. Remember, UK's linebacker board in Ohio has Xavier Peters on top, with Brian Asamoah and Boateng probably next up.
Speaking of Asamoah, here's what I've heard. Kentucky got involved a tad later than some other schools on his list but that is no longer a factor because he has scrapped his leaderboard and postponed his decision, which was going to come this month. I know Pitt is one of the schools that really wants Asamoah, similar to Kentucky. Notre Dame is a big name program that's definitely in the mix for Asamoah and, like Pitt, they were on his initial list of six favorites. Apparently, according to some independent Notre Dame site, Asamoah has some kind of connection to ND defensive coordinator Mike Elko.
Some people believe that Asamoah is waiting for an Ohio State offer, or at least that's their explanation for why he postponed his decision. But there's no reason to believe (at this point) that Asamoah is going to get an offer from the Buckeyes. I would imagine that OSU wants both he and Boateng to camp this summer. I'd bet against either of them being offered by OSU at this point. That doesn't mean it's UK if that OSU offer doesn't come through. But that would make UK more likely for either/both.
Shelton has previously visited Vanderbilt and was very high on what he saw in Nashville. UK and Vandy are two very different schools, but I think it's a good sign that Shelton seemed to be so high on a school that isn't what you would consider an SEC powerhouse, following that Vandy trip.
Rondale Moore's stock continues to climb. The Louisville (Ky.) Trinity athlete, who posted a 133 Nike Sparq score recently, just landed an offer from Missouri. Don't let anyone tell you these camps/combines don't matter. Just watch the offers that follow the top camp/combine performances such as these. Not long ago North Texas had offered Moore, which led me to believe that his stock had taken a dip, perhaps because of his size, with the Mean Green perhaps thinking that they had a shot to steal him. After that camp performance and the testing numbers Moore has been posting, I think it's a slam dunk that he's a Power Five guy. Kentucky's still an option but I don't think Moore necessarily has his heart set on staying in-state.
A player that has often been mentioned on this site over the past year is four-star Tennessee defensive tackle D'Andre Litaker. With good reason. He's visited Kentucky a couple of times and has said great things about Kentucky in the past. More recently, I've gotten the sense that Kentucky probably has some ground to make up. One person told me they believe Tennessee is the odds-on favorite to land Litaker. He has a torn ACL but that hasn't slowed his recruitment much. That person also told me they believe the Vols have a good shot with Greg Emerson, another top defensive lineman from Tennessee. He has also visited Kentucky (last summer).
Litaker told AL.com recently that he's about 75 or 80-percent recovered from that ACL injury.
The other day I mentioned Dublin Coffman (Ohio) linebacker Jeslord Boateng, saying that Kentucky is still very much involved and that he seems interested. I didn't mention that he visited Ohio State last week. The Buckeyes have not offered, and right now I don't get the impression that they will. Marc Givler of BuckeyeGrove.com spoke with Boateng following that trip to Ohio State, and the three-star linebacker said Kentucky, Louisville, Cincinnati, Iowa State and Indiana are the five schools that are standing out. Remember, UK's linebacker board in Ohio has Xavier Peters on top, with Brian Asamoah and Boateng probably next up.
Speaking of Asamoah, here's what I've heard. Kentucky got involved a tad later than some other schools on his list but that is no longer a factor because he has scrapped his leaderboard and postponed his decision, which was going to come this month. I know Pitt is one of the schools that really wants Asamoah, similar to Kentucky. Notre Dame is a big name program that's definitely in the mix for Asamoah and, like Pitt, they were on his initial list of six favorites. Apparently, according to some independent Notre Dame site, Asamoah has some kind of connection to ND defensive coordinator Mike Elko.
Some people believe that Asamoah is waiting for an Ohio State offer, or at least that's their explanation for why he postponed his decision. But there's no reason to believe (at this point) that Asamoah is going to get an offer from the Buckeyes. I would imagine that OSU wants both he and Boateng to camp this summer. I'd bet against either of them being offered by OSU at this point. That doesn't mean it's UK if that OSU offer doesn't come through. But that would make UK more likely for either/both.
