Jason Patterson commits to Cincinnati: Where Kentucky goes from here
Kentucky has won its fair share of head-to-head recruiting battles against Scott Satterfield‘s staff. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, one of those went the other way on Tuesday.
Four-star tailback Jason Patterson committed to Cincinnati and became the second top-500 prospect to join Satterfield’s first full recruiting class at UC. This is a loss that stings in Lexington. The Wildcats hosted the Sneads (Fla.) High tailback for an official visit in June, and there was a lot of buzz that UK would be the eventual destination for Patterson. However, Cincinnati got Patterson on campus quickly after Kentucky did and made a very strong push.
The Bearcats have landed the 2023 Florida high school rushing yards leader, and Kentucky will be looking for help elsewhere.
The Kentucky tailback room
Kentucky enters the 2023 season with six scholarship tailbacks on the roster, and half of those are entering their senior season. Ramon Jefferson is in his final year of eligibility. Ray Davis and JuTahn McClain are both seniors who each have a COVID-19 season left to use. The expectation should probably be that at least two of these players will leave.
Elsewhere, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye is a true junior with two years of eligibility remaining. La’Vell Wright is a redshirt sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining. Jamarion Wilcox is a true freshman with four years of eligibility remaining. Sumo-Karngbaye and Wilcox are safe bets to be on the roster in 2024. Wright could be a transfer candidate.
Kentucky could have just four scholarship tailbacks left on the roster after this season.
One high school commit
Davie (Fla.) Western senior Tovani Mizell was a former Georgia commit who re-opened his recruitment on June 8. North Carolina and Oklahoma were also involved in this recruitment. Kentucky got the high three-star tailback on campus for an official visit in June and earned a commitment shortly after.
Mizell has legit breakaway speed on a 190-pound frame and could provide a different element in Jay Boulware‘s position room as a receiver. There could be a role for the South Florida native in Lexington as a true freshman.
One more player needed
Projecting what position rooms could look like in the transfer portal era is often a fool’s errand. But someone has to do it. At Kentucky, a safe bet would be that one of Ray Davis/JuTahn McClain return to campus plus two of Jamarion Wilcox/Demie Sumo-Karngbaye/La’Vell Wright. Add in Tovani Mizell, and that gives Kentucky four scholarship tailbacks. Another player will be needed.
When looking at our recruiting board at KSR, Sam Williams-Dixon is a name that immediately jumps out. The Ohio State pledge took a surprising official visit to Kentucky, but no flip came. Kentucky was also recruiting Johann Cardenas. However, that official visit was canceled. The Texas product ended up committing to Vanderbilt over Missouri.
I would expect Kentucky to continue to kick the tires with Williams-Dixon, but flipping a in-state player from Ohio State is a tall order. Other high school prospects can, and most likely will, emerge. However, the transfer portal is always on the table.
Expect Kentucky to vet prospects throughout the season, but using the portal to fill holes at this position is now a viable option. The Wildcats must get to at least five scholarship tailbacks and may feel like six could be needed. There might not be a way to get there without using the portal.
Disappointing loss
Losses are going to occur on the recruiting trail. That is inevitable. Programs just need to most of the winnable ones while pulling a few upsets. Kentucky seemingly lost a winnable recruitment on Tuesday.
Jason Patterson‘s finalists were Boston College, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Rutgers, and Vanderbilt. Those are schools that UK should beat consistently on the recruiting trail. Unfortunately, there was a head-to-head loss for the four-star tailback.
Kentucky will be able to absorb this loss. Tailback is a deep position with a large volume of quality options both in the high school and transfer markets. However, you do not want these types of recruiting losses to become a trend.
The Wildcats now must find some secondary options at tailback after zoning in on Patterson and Mizell to be the two additions in this recruiting cycle.
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