Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow says not to worry about UK's future recruiting in Ohio. (Vicky Graff Photo)
During their time at Kentucky the recruiting hotbed for coach Mark Stoops and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow have made Ohio a feeder system for the Wildcats. But not this year. The Cats signed only three players — offensive linemen Paul Rodriguez and David Wohlabaugh along with defensive lineman Jamarius Dinkins — from Ohio.
Does that mean UK has changed its recruiting philosophy?
“I am coming back,” Marrow said about Ohio.
Stoops had the same message for anyone thinking UK was backing off Ohio.
“Ohio will still be really good to us. We have great respect,” Stoops said. “When we talk about northern Kentucky and you just go right across the bridge there and we feel like that’s part of our home state as well. We’ll always recruit Kentucky or Kentucky and Ohio in that border in particular. We’ll get very good players from there.”
Stoops said not having to depend solely on Ohio for recruiting means UK has expanded to a more diverse recruiting base.
“We can be diverse and go to different states. We don’t just have to concentrate on one state alone,” Marrow said. “Vince got seven out of the state (of Kentucky) and then three in Ohio still. He was still all over the place,” Stoops said. “But we will still get back to Ohio.”
Marrow believes Kentucky’s past recruiting success in Ohio led Ohio State to extend scholarship offers much earlier to players in past years it would have “slow played” before offering that gave UK a chance to get an inside track.
“They have immediately jumped on those guys early (this year),” Marrow said. “See how good Cincinnati is doing (this year). A lot of those guys did want to come here but for whatever reason some of the guys we did not go on.”
Marrow said before Ohio State would offer maybe the top 15 players in the state and UK would get players ranked maybe seventh to ninth.
“I would have been doing some ground work in the spring and going to close in this period when we really do face to face with home visits,” Marrow said. “It’s just because of what happened with the coronavirus was a little bit to blame. But the three we got out of there we zeroed in on and wanted.
“We will be in Ohio. Trust me. The (20)22 class is pretty strong (in Ohio). And the sad thing about it, the 22 class in Kentucky is very strong, too, so I have my work cut out for me.”
