A Trip down the UK Recruiting Road

Time for another pleasant jaunt along the UK Recruiting trail..... (1) The big news of the last couple of days is the emergence on the Kentucky scene of small forward recruit AJ Stewart. Stewart is from Jacksonville, Florida and is ranked 21 at the small forward position (a loaded position this year) by the good folks at Scout.com. I spoke with Stewart this evening where he confirmed to me that he was considering a number of schools but that Kentucky and Oklahoma St are his two favorites at this point. He says he wants to commit to a school before his high school season, but said he was considering timing his UK visit for March Madness. I saw Stewart play last year at the Marshall County Hoopfest and he truly is a talent. Long assumed to be heading to a Florida school, a pickup of Stewart could ease any lingering pain of the decision not to recruit Chris Wright early. We will be taping an interview with Stewart on Wednesday night for next week's KSR Radio. It will be interesting to hear what more he has to say. (2) Speaking of March Madness, after our conversation on Sunday with Jai Lucas, he told me off the air that he will be attending the first practice on October 15. He said that he thought UK was going to have a lot of recruits there and that he hoped Patrick Patterson would attend as well. After his comment in the interview that he and Patrick talked every day, you have to think that their relationship is a very positive influence for UK. (3) KentuckySportsReport reported today that JJ Hickson narrowed his choices to seven schools, of which Kentucky is one. However when asked who his favorites were, he answered by saying who was "recruiting him the hardest" and mentioned Tennessee, Florida and NC State. Hickson is a good young man, but one gets lots of different responses from him depending on the day. I am not sure what, if anything to make of this, but it does make one wonder if UK has backed off at all or if it is just JJ's perception. (4) Finally, lots of folks are asking me about the comment made recently by someone to me that UK was going to get someone "off the radar" and folks have asked me who that is. I honestly have no idea, but since the talk about AJ Stewart has been so limited on the internet, it could conceivably be him. But I still suspect there may be one or two more that UK is seeking, and maybe winning with, that we at this time have no idea as to the identity. Finally, thanks so much for downloading Episode 1 of KSR Radio Season 2. The amount of downloads was truly staggering and beyond our wildest expectations. It reaffirmed our goal to keep putting out the best information, while trying to have an entertaining show. Most of your comments have been positive and if you have any other suggestions as to what you want to hear, email me at [email protected]. At this point KSR Radio is seeking to be the best UK based radio show on the internet or radio dial and to use this new technology to do things that other traditional radio shows dont do. If you have any suggestions, please let us know. And again, thanks. Thats all for now....