CatsPause.com Weekly Recruiting Roundup
— Kentucky is fresh off a huge recruiting weekend where the Wildcats hosted 17 of its current commitments plus its top target in Elizabethtown (Ky.) John Hardin 5-star defensive tackle Matt Elam, who is firmly entrenched in a tug of war between Kentucky and Alabama.
For some time, many inside the state of Kentucky and within the UK program have felt as though Elam had long favored the Cats, even at times, carrying himself as a UK commit. That was until his unofficial visit to Alabama for the LSU game Nov. 9, where the Crimson Tide seemed to seize most of the momentum in Elam's recruitment. There was a sense from the UK football offices that the Cats were not as confident as they had been previously regarding its position in recent weeks.
This weekend's visit served as Kentucky's last legitimate chance to regain that momentum before Elam announces his college decision at the U.S. Army All-American Game Jan. 4 in San Antonio and every indication is that Elam's UK visit went very well. At this point, there isn't much the UK staff can pitch that Elam hasn't already heard. This weekend's visit was more about hanging out with the other commitments and continuing to develop a relationship and comfort level with the UK staff and program as a whole.
Elam, along with the other UK commits and current players, watched the UK-North Carolina game at Mark Stoops' house on Saturday and Elam has become close with several of the Cats' verbal pledges, specifically Drew Barker, Denzel Ware and T.V. Williams.
On paper, you can certainly make the argument that Kentucky really has no business competing with the likes of Alabama, and Notre Dame for that matter, for a 5-star football prospect. But many feel as though Elam's college decision will come down to more than simply program prestige. It's no secret that Elam is one who enjoys the recruiting process and the attention from both fanbases on Twitter. Behind the scenes, though, people close to his recruitment believe he simply doesn't have the heart to leave the state of Kentucky, even for gravitational pull of Nick Saban and Alabama.
The fact that Elam is now done with visits and the dead period right around the corner definitely bodes well for Kentucky's chances.
— The signing period for junior college prospects begins Dec. 18 and ASA College 4-star defensive tackle and UK commit Cory Johnson told CatsPause.com he will sign with the Wildcats Wednesday.
Johnson (6-3, 287), who committed to UK in July, took his official visit to Lexington for the Tennessee game and chose the Cats over the likes of Miami, Tennessee and others. He is rated as the No. 6 junior college defensive tackle in the country by the 247Sports Composite, which takes into account rankings across various major outlets.
— Even with most of Kentucky's 2014 class already in tact, there are several names to keep an eye on in the weeks leading up to National Signing Day:
Cleveland (Ohio) Shaker Heights OL Ja'Merez Bowen — Offensive line remains a huge position of need and Bowen (6-5, 270) is a kid the UK staff identified early in the process, but had some academic hurdles to clear before the Cats were able to get serious about recruiting him. Bowen was scheduled to take an official visit to Lexington over the weekend but for one reason or another, did not end up making the trip.
Louisville (Ky.) Seneca DE Lloyd Tubman — The 4-star weakside defensive end has been committed to Vanderbilt since April but hosted the UK staff for an in-home visit last week. It remains to be seen how firm Tubman's (6-5, 235) commitment to the Commodores is, but if UK can get him on campus before signing day and James Franklin's name continues to be floated around as a head coaching candidate at Texas, things could get interesting.
Tallahassee (Fla.) Florida State University School OL Andrew Harrell — The pickings are slim along the offensive line and Harrell (6-5, 290) performed very well at UK's camp last summer against some top notch competition. Harrell, who is very high on UK and hosted assistant Bradley Dale Peveto for an in-home visit last week, was recently named Tallahassee Offensive Lineman of the Year.
— Looking ahead to the future, it sounds as though Kentucky is in line for a visit from a pair of 5-star 2015 prospects: Glen Saint Mary (Fla.) Baker County strongside defensive end CeCe Jefferson (No. 14 overall) and Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier outside linebacker Justin Hilliard (No. 31 overall).
Fore more recruiting scoop, check out CatsPause.com.
Follow Chris Fisher on Twitter @ChrisFisher247
This weekend's visit served as Kentucky's last legitimate chance to regain that momentum before Elam announces his college decision at the U.S. Army All-American Game Jan. 4 in San Antonio and every indication is that Elam's UK visit went very well. At this point, there isn't much the UK staff can pitch that Elam hasn't already heard. This weekend's visit was more about hanging out with the other commitments and continuing to develop a relationship and comfort level with the UK staff and program as a whole.
Elam, along with the other UK commits and current players, watched the UK-North Carolina game at Mark Stoops' house on Saturday and Elam has become close with several of the Cats' verbal pledges, specifically Drew Barker, Denzel Ware and T.V. Williams.
On paper, you can certainly make the argument that Kentucky really has no business competing with the likes of Alabama, and Notre Dame for that matter, for a 5-star football prospect. But many feel as though Elam's college decision will come down to more than simply program prestige. It's no secret that Elam is one who enjoys the recruiting process and the attention from both fanbases on Twitter. Behind the scenes, though, people close to his recruitment believe he simply doesn't have the heart to leave the state of Kentucky, even for gravitational pull of Nick Saban and Alabama.
The fact that Elam is now done with visits and the dead period right around the corner definitely bodes well for Kentucky's chances.
— The signing period for junior college prospects begins Dec. 18 and ASA College 4-star defensive tackle and UK commit Cory Johnson told CatsPause.com he will sign with the Wildcats Wednesday.
Johnson (6-3, 287), who committed to UK in July, took his official visit to Lexington for the Tennessee game and chose the Cats over the likes of Miami, Tennessee and others. He is rated as the No. 6 junior college defensive tackle in the country by the 247Sports Composite, which takes into account rankings across various major outlets.
— Even with most of Kentucky's 2014 class already in tact, there are several names to keep an eye on in the weeks leading up to National Signing Day:
Cleveland (Ohio) Shaker Heights OL Ja'Merez Bowen — Offensive line remains a huge position of need and Bowen (6-5, 270) is a kid the UK staff identified early in the process, but had some academic hurdles to clear before the Cats were able to get serious about recruiting him. Bowen was scheduled to take an official visit to Lexington over the weekend but for one reason or another, did not end up making the trip.
Louisville (Ky.) Seneca DE Lloyd Tubman — The 4-star weakside defensive end has been committed to Vanderbilt since April but hosted the UK staff for an in-home visit last week. It remains to be seen how firm Tubman's (6-5, 235) commitment to the Commodores is, but if UK can get him on campus before signing day and James Franklin's name continues to be floated around as a head coaching candidate at Texas, things could get interesting.
Tallahassee (Fla.) Florida State University School OL Andrew Harrell — The pickings are slim along the offensive line and Harrell (6-5, 290) performed very well at UK's camp last summer against some top notch competition. Harrell, who is very high on UK and hosted assistant Bradley Dale Peveto for an in-home visit last week, was recently named Tallahassee Offensive Lineman of the Year.
— Looking ahead to the future, it sounds as though Kentucky is in line for a visit from a pair of 5-star 2015 prospects: Glen Saint Mary (Fla.) Baker County strongside defensive end CeCe Jefferson (No. 14 overall) and Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier outside linebacker Justin Hilliard (No. 31 overall).
Fore more recruiting scoop, check out CatsPause.com.
Follow Chris Fisher on Twitter @ChrisFisher247
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