Tadarrius Patterson is a linebacker from Alabama who just received an offer from Auburn.
I kept this off the record at the time, but on August 8 he told me that he would be verbally committing to Kentucky. Nothing came of it after that. He will likely end up at Auburn or another top SEC program.
Similarly, Jaquan Henderson told me on July 16 that he would be committing to Kentucky. He visited. The commitment never happened. He subsequently committed to UCLA.
Kentucky could have had commitments from both of these players. But herein lies the difficulty in recruiting in the South at Kentucky. For whatever reason -- and I don't know the reason in those cases -- calculations were made that commitments should not have been accepted.
Sometimes you put a kid on hold because you haven't had a chance to evaluate them thoroughly enough. Sometimes, maybe, if you're Kentucky, you have to balance taking a commitment from a kid you love, or not taking the commitment because (for whatever reason) you don't think you'll be able to keep him (based on something the kid has said, something you've learned about the kid, etc).
Anyways, recruiting at Kentucky is not easy and that makes the job Mark Stoops and staff have done all the more impressive. Two cases outlined above illustrate the complexities and the "what ifs" that are literally endless, with many never reaching the public eye.
I kept this off the record at the time, but on August 8 he told me that he would be verbally committing to Kentucky. Nothing came of it after that. He will likely end up at Auburn or another top SEC program.
Similarly, Jaquan Henderson told me on July 16 that he would be committing to Kentucky. He visited. The commitment never happened. He subsequently committed to UCLA.
Kentucky could have had commitments from both of these players. But herein lies the difficulty in recruiting in the South at Kentucky. For whatever reason -- and I don't know the reason in those cases -- calculations were made that commitments should not have been accepted.
Sometimes you put a kid on hold because you haven't had a chance to evaluate them thoroughly enough. Sometimes, maybe, if you're Kentucky, you have to balance taking a commitment from a kid you love, or not taking the commitment because (for whatever reason) you don't think you'll be able to keep him (based on something the kid has said, something you've learned about the kid, etc).
Anyways, recruiting at Kentucky is not easy and that makes the job Mark Stoops and staff have done all the more impressive. Two cases outlined above illustrate the complexities and the "what ifs" that are literally endless, with many never reaching the public eye.
