Elijah Reed's Recruiting Rise Through Reclassification

“Are you serious?” 

That’s all the awestruck Elijah Reed could say after receiving a scholarship offer from the University of Kentucky. The three-sport star from Pleasure Ridge Park always dreamed of having the opportunity to play Power Five football. His time finally came, much later than anticipated, only after a position change and a reclassification, thanks to a new Kentucky state law.

“There ain’t no feeling like it, for real,” Reed told KSR days after receiving an offer from Kentucky. “I’ve never really went through anything like this before, so it’s really exciting to get the opportunity to be able to get something like that.”

Up until this weekend, Reed was not on the radar of Division I coaches. One of the many talented athletes that trains at Louisville’s Aspirations Gym, founder Chris Vaughn believes this is only the beginning for Reed.

“Elijah Reed is a kid that I would describe as one that crawled out from underneath a rock,” Vaughn said. “He’s a kid that’s going to make a lot of noise and create a lot of attention for himself, with ideal length at the corner position, being a 6-foot-3 kid with long arms and long reach, which is desirable by all Division I coaches to matchup with those big outside receivers.

“It’s the intangibles that he has for me are what give him an opportunity to be a special player.”

Reclassification

In recruiting circles reclassification has always applied to players who were eager to move up a class to begin college sooner. In March the Kentucky state legislature passed Senate bill 128, allowing high school students an opportunity to redo the academic year lost to COVID-19.

The new rule gave Reed a second chance. COVID-19 limited PRP to only five football games in 2020, his senior season. Not only did it restrict the film of game snaps he could send to schools, it also eliminated the summer camp circuit, preventing him from testing and performing in front of college coaches.

“A kid like that would’ve gone to summer camps last year, run fast — he’s a 4.48 kid, he’s a high 4.4 low 4.5 kid at that size — he would have generated a lot more attention last year,” said Vaughn. “Having the opportunity to come back, play another year and get in front of some more people is really going to let people see his true colors and give him some opportunities he wouldn’t of had the year before.”

At the time, Reed was worried his dreams of playing college football were over. Once SB 128 passed, he did not hesitate to jump at the opportunity to play one more year of high school football.

“I didn’t put any thought into it. I knew that this is what I wanted,” he said. “This is definitely what I want to do with my life. What’s one year to do something I want to do with the rest of my life?”

Reed is not the only high profile Kentucky high school football player ready to return for a fifth year of high school. Beechwood’s co-Mr. Football Cameron Hergott opted to play an extra season to improve his recruiting stock and draw more eyeballs from college coaches. It’s an enticing opportunity, but Vaughn believes it will only benefit those who are willing to put in the extra effort off the field.

“I’ll be honest with you, in more instances than not I don’t think it’s a good idea for most kids to do it because it’s a work thing. It’s a want-to thing. You can go and put yourself back two or three years, but if your work ethic and your mentality never switches, then you’re going to end up in the same spot. Ultimately, upside and potential is what your ceiling is going to lie at,” said Vaughn.

“I just think he happens to be a special case. The kid has always had the athletic ability and the aptitude to work hard and the foundation fo being able to go through the process it takes to be a great player. (Reclassifying) makes sense for a kid like that.”

Position Change

The last year has been filled with change for Reed. He grew two inches to 6-foot-3. In the spring he transitioned from wide receiver to cornerback. Once he got used to back pedaling, Reed felt right at home on defense.

“It feels a lot more natural at corner, to be honest,” said Reed. “I can be me at corner. At receiver you gotta stick to some stuff, you gotta do things a certain way. I can kind of do me at corner. That was the biggest thing switching to corner.”

Unfinished Business

The scholarship offer from UK’s Vince Marrow was a monumental moment for Reed, but it’s only the beginning of his ascent. Also a standout on the baseball field and basketball court, Reed has heard from Michigan State, Purdue and Louisville. Those schools still need to see more on the field before extending an offer.

Despite the new rules in his favor, there’s one going against Reed. The transfer portal has shrunk the size of recruiting classes. Rather than take a flyer on developmental project in December, college coaches are saving those scholarships for sure things from the portal.

Throughout the high school football season Reed will have to prove that he fits in on defense. Carrington Valentine, another Aspirations athlete, made the switch to cornerback late in his career and is now on pace to start in his second season at Kentucky. If Reed can fit that mold, coaches will happily add the super senior to their signing class.

“As soon as people see him on film and they watch him move around and they see what he can do with that desired height and length, that’s what everybody’s looking for,” Vaughn said. “He’s a nice piece of clay to mold. I expect a lot of people to jump on board.”