Of course national sentiment would be with Alabama. In their minds, we don't hold a candle to Alabama in recruiting or in anything that is football.
I would be significantly shocked if he did not choose Kentucky, and my guess is that he has really known that UK is best for him for a long time.
I do think there is somewhat of a "smoking gun" in this but not readily evident. If true what has been reported (since that's all I have to go by), given the location, given his history with the kids, the relationship with the coaches, and the numerous visits he's made means there has been some serious interest for a long time. It means that he cares about those people, and it appears that relationship development process is not something equaled by the guys in Alabama.
His reneging on his original commitment to Michigan is telling to me--it likely indicates that as Kentucky went its different direction with Stoops and with their renewed commitment to football with stadium improvements, better recruits, better on field success, he liked what he saw. It was like he wanted the hometown program to improve, and saw evidence of that. He wanted to be interested and liked when they showed the interest they did. This is not Joker's UK football team--this is Mark Stoops, football pedigree, AND Vince Marrow, who have come in and changed the philosophy and potentially the fortunes of this program--in my view, Harris has been intrigued by that and the possibility of staying at home is a strong lure. He also would have the advantage of trying Kentucky first--if that didn't work, he could transfer later (or vice versa).
I have no details about this and really only have a guess because of reading the "tea leaves" to this point and because I'm fairly knowledgeable of human nature. I have coached sports in high school, and am a retired teacher, so I also know kids. I may be totally wrong here, but my thought is that he might have been talking up Alabama a lot lately because he is now and has been convinced for some time that Kentucky is his best choice for him and all concerned. Yeldon leaving Alabama early (last night's news) may not help our case, but I think it has actually been something he determined long ago...to attend Kentucky.
This post was edited on 1/9 12:05 PM by TheBlueMax