High-profile recruit to Vince Marrow: "(Kentucky) is the place to be"

Just how important was Kentucky’s blowout victory over No. 22 Florida this weekend? It has a blue-chip recruit committed to another school thinking hard about the Wildcats.

The list of valuable visitors was extensive, including current Kentucky pledges and others who could join the class sooner rather than later. Four-star prospects Cutter Boley, Jerod Smith, Jacob Smith, Brian Robinson and Chaston Smith, along with pledges Willie Rodriguez, Aba Selm and Stone Saunders were among the top names in attendance.

Arguably the biggest one the Wildcats? 2024 four-star receiver Rico Scott, a top-250 overall prospect currently committed to Alabama. Teammates with Saunders at Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg, PA, the quarterback pledge previously told KSR he was recruiting his star wideout to join him in Lexington.

“Some guys I’m looking forward to getting — I play with a guy right now, Rico Scott,” Saunders told KSR in August. “He’s committed to Alabama at the moment, but he was with me when I came to Lexington. We’re going to make a little push for him. He’s a stud, runs like a 4.4 (40-yard dash) and I play with him right now. We’ll see how that goes.”

The four-star receiver was back in Lexington with his high school quarterback this past weekend, and he saw a show. Kentucky dominated against Florida in front of a rowdy environment inside Kroger Field, fans following through with Mark Stoops’ ask of noise and energy — potentially with the help of some liquid courage.

And the recruits in attendance noticed.

“It’s like when you’re throwing a party and you hope it’s a good time, it’s a win. We had some dudes on campus yesterday,” Kentucky associate head coach Vince Marrow said on Sunday AM Sports Talk. “They saw — I really have to give a shoutout to Big Blue Nation. For 12 o’clock, you’d think that was a 7 o’clock game. It’s all about the atmosphere. When you have support, Mitch (Barnhart) giving Mark (Stoops) the support to go out and do things, you can have the same atmosphere you get at Alabama or Ohio State. I can’t even tell you how many guys and their parents said, ‘Oh my God, I never knew Kentucky was like this.'”

Marrow couldn’t single out Scott by name as an unsigned and recruitable prospect, obviously. He did add, however, that a player currently committed to a high-profile school made it clear to him that Kentucky blew him away during his visit to Lexington.

“One kid who is committed to a top-five program, he was like, ‘This is the place to be,'” Marrow said. “I just take my hat off to the fans and the people who work here. It ain’t just one person. It’s a machine and you have to give credit to the fans. They were off the chain. They really did listen to Mark (Stoops), what he said last week. It was great to see that.”

Something to keep a close eye on, Big Blue Nation.