On the Road: Catch Up with UK Football's Busy Recruiting Week

The Kentucky football season ended on Saturday, but this might be the busiest week of the year for the Kentucky football coaches. On Monday morning Mark Stoops' assistants hit the road, covering the country from Michigan to Florida and everywhere in-between.  Mark Stoops joined them on the recruiting trail on Tuesday after his call-in show.  Here's who they've met with and what has happened at the start of the busy recruiting season.

New JUCO Targets

The first JUCO prospect to receive an offer is one who has a close connection to KSR.  Bryant Pirtle was a pass rusher for my DeSales Colts that led the state in sacks twice and in the process broke a little school record I used to hold.  Committed to WKU out of high school, he headed west to junior college in Arizona.  He'll likely stay on the West Coast, but the Kentucky offer could change things. Pirtle's Pima C.C. teammate, defensive back Aaron Maddox, also received a scholarship offer from the Cats.  A native of North Augusta, South Carolina, the safety currently holds offers from Arizona State, Louisville, Arkansas and others. Another new defensive back target on the board is Warren Saba.  A 3-star prospect out of Cleveland Benedictine, he does not yet have an offer from UK, but could pick up one when coaches watch Garden City C.C. this weekend.  If that school sounds familiar, it's also the home of quarterback Terry Wilson, who plans on taking an official visit to Kentucky in two weeks. JUCO defensive line targets have yet to emerge, but that will surely not be the case much longer.

Quarterback Recruits

As of today, Wilson is probably the quarterback that is most likely to commit to Kentucky.  The dual-threat JUCO quarterback will take an official visit to UK just before NSD with most of Kentucky's committed 2018 class. Today Darin Hinshaw visited another dual-threat quarterback, former Missouri commit James Foster.  The day after the Cats extended an offer, the No. 14 dual-threat QB prospect in America included UK in his top five.  LSU and Florida State are currently the favorites and this weekend he will be in Tallahassee.  If Jimbo Fisher leaves for Texas A&M, that will give Kentucky another leg up in Foster's recruitment. https://twitter.com/YungSimba4/status/936252643525218305 Foster isn't the only quarterback Hinshaw has visited this week.  He also caught up with Matthew Baldwin, a Colorado State commit who is considered one of the nation's top 25 pocket passers in the 2018 class.

Targeting Tennessee Commits

Butch Jones' termination has created a hysterical scene in Knoxville, one that is primed for opposing coaches to pick apart the Vols' recruiting class. At the top of that list is former UK commit Shocky Jacques-Louis.  He has re-opened his recruitment and KSR is hearing things are trending Kentucky's way for the Florida wide receiver. There are a few other talented new names Kentucky is trying to pull from Tennessee.  Yesterday Matt House was in Hampton, Georgia for an in-home visit with Trey Dean.  A four-star safety and the No. 275 player overall according to the 247 Composite, Dean has tentatively planned an official visit to Kentucky for the pre-NSD recruiting weekend of December 16. Another highly-touted Tennessee commit will take an official visit to Kentucky on that same weekend.  Nashville native Tanner Antonutti is a 3-star, 6'5" 260-pound offensive tackle that has become a top target in the final weeks of the recruiting season for John Schlarman.

Catching up with the Commits

The first order of business for Kentucky coaches during the post-Louisville week of recruiting is paying in-home visits to Kentucky's verbal commits.  The Twitter timeline is not filled with as many pictures with players and coaches, but Keaton Upshaw, Darrian Kinnard, Brenden Bates and Quintin Wilson have all shared snapshots from their visits.  Where Kentucky's class stands as of today: [table id=65 /] This week the ground work is being laid for the Cats to cash-in on a few Yahtzees prior to the first ever college football early signing day on December 20.  While all is quiet now, it's going to get crazy in about two weeks. [mobile_ad]