(Twitter Photo)
Now that we’ve had time to really think about Kentucky football’s latest recruiting class, what should we make of it?
The Cats’ recruiting class was ranked 23rd nationally by 247Sports. That’s the same spot ESPN had coach Mark Stoops’ recruiting class. Scout.com has UK 22nd but Rivals has UK 19th. But the bottom line is that UK had a consensus top 25 class and while several Southeastern Conference teams are still ahead of UK, the margin is not that much like when UK used to hope to just have a top 50 class.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops knows not to over react to recruiting rankings or speculation. That’s why he said he’ll know in “three or four years” if this is his recruiting class because Stoops and his staff have made a habit recently of taking recruits not ranked that high and developing them into highly ranked college players.
“I could tell you I am very confident in this group. I really feel very strong about this group, both as football players and probably more importantly as young men and what they do away from the field and the leadership that I feel that we have within this group,” Stoops said.
So here’s a look at what impressed me the most about Kentucky’s recruiting class:
— Kentucky got two big-time quarterback prospects in Lexington Catholic’s Beau Allen and Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood. He had numerous offers, including Georgia, West Virginia and Washington State.
Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran, a man who does not normally make brash comments, said UK could go into a game now with Gran and “we wouldn’t have any trouble moving the ball.” Stoops said Allen was a “really big piece” of the recruiting class.
Gatewood was rated the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback and 26th player overall in the 2018 recruiting class and won the Florida Class 7A state title. He redshirted his first year at Auburn and played in seven games in 2019 before opting to transfer. He had plenty of schools offer him after he put his name into the transfer portal but quickly picked UK and should be the best runner/passer combo that Stoops has had at UK.
“When that opportunity arose (to recruit Gatewood) just a month or two ago and we started recruiting him and where we were at with quarterback this year, it was important. We never want to be caught thin again with departures or with injury,” Stoops said.
— Kentucky kept Michigan five-star defensive lineman Justin Rogers. He committed to UK early over Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan State and many others but many predicted he would never stay loyal to the Cats. Instead, he never wavered.
He was the No. 1 player in Michigan and ranked as the second best defensive tackle in the 2020 class by Rivals. He also started at offensive tackle and did not give up a sack his senior season.
“He’s a special player and he’s a great young man Every time we see him, whether he’s on campus or when I got a chance to go visit him, he’s one of those guys that puts a smile on your face,” Stoops said. “He affects other people in such a positive way. For such a highly ranked player, he was a joy to recruit. And it says a lot about him and his character.”
Getting him to stay committed not only secured one of the highest ranked players Stoops has signed at UK but also sent a strong message that Kentucky is going to continue to make a big presence in Michigan. And don’t forget that UK also signed explosive receiver Earnest Sanders of Flint, Mich. He’s a top 100 receiver nationally.
“Earnest is a guy that I think has really big-time potential and big-play ability. He’s a real athlete, he really is and big-play ability,” Stoops said. “He was another one, extremely important, but a core guy, been committed to us for a while. Really tight with the rest of the group and special player.”
— Kentucky not only signed Tre’Vonn Rybka of Dickson, Tenn., a 300-pound, four-star lineman ranked among the nation’s top 40 defensive tackles, but the Cats also got in-state Octavious Oxendine of North Hardin, another four-star defensive lineman and top 25 tackle nationally, in a head to head recruiting battle with Tennessee.
Oxendine also had offers from Oklahoma, Texas and others along with Tennessee while Rybka had Oregon and Oklahoma offers to go with Tennessee and others.
Kentucky recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow acknowledged Tennessee signed some players UK recruited, but UK also got players the Vols wanted.
I’m pretty sure this battle is going to go on and on,” Marrow said.
— Big-boy football is going to continue for the Cats.
How many times has Kentucky just got wore down by bigger, stronger SEC teams in the last 25 years? It happened time after time but Stoops has slowly been putting a stop to that and this recruiting class should help that continue.
Along with Rogers and Rybka, Kentucky went into Mississippi to get 308-pound defensive tackle Josaih Hayes — a one-time Ole Miss commit that Auburn desperately wanted — thanks to linebacker coach Jon Sumrall’s recruiting connections in that state.
“Jon Sumrall going into Mississippi and signing Josaih, that was an enormous get for us. That was one that you really kind of feel like you pulled a rabbit out of a hat today. We really kept that really far under the radar for a lot of reasons,” Stoops said. “Josaih is a fantastic young guy and a great player and a great person. That’s a big get going into Mississippi and getting the number two rated player in the state of Mississippi.”
Former Penn State commit R.J. Adams, a 325-pound offensive lineman, picked UK over Oregon and others. Michigan defensive lineman Deondre Buford had offers from Auburn, Penn State, Tennessee and more. Don’t forget Jeremy Flax, the top junior college defensive lineman in the nation. There’s more but that shows the trend Stoops has going for UK.
The good news for Kentucky football is there are other positives one could also include on a list like this but to me these were the top storylines in a signing class filled with terrific storylines for UK.
