Recruiting Notes to begin a Busy Week

Our trip across America and Canada is now complete and it is the beginning of another busy week. I am moving to Louisville on Wednesday, starting a new job on Friday and my birthday is today. But nevertheless, the blog should be back to its normal, multi-posting ways beginning tomorrow. In the meantime, look for a new episode of Kentucky Sports Radio late Tuesday or early Wednesday with interviews with Patrick Patterson and Marshall Moses along with a football preview with Chip Cosby of the Herald Leader. Should be a big show. Here are the news tidbits from the weekend: (1) I spoke this evening with Patrick Patterson's father, and received a couple of tidbits of note. First, the visit to Midnight Madness is completely set up and his father said, "Patrick is really looking forward to that." In addition, as previously has been reported, he has visits set up with Florida and Duke, and his father is unsure if any other officials will be taken. Patterson's father acknowledged that things would be moving more quickly soon, with "Tubby and Coach K" coming to our house and Donovan coming five days after his official visit to Gainesville. Patrick has agreed to be our guest on KSR Radio this week and we look forward to hearing from him. 2) In important news indirectly to UK, Florida received the commitment of Chandler Parsons (pictured above) for next season. Parsons is 6'8" and while thin, is a great shooter and handler of the basketball. For Kentucky purposes, the commitment of Parsons possibly gives UK an advantage vis a vis Florida for Patrick Patterson as the two play similar (although not the exact same) types of games. Patterson's father acknowledged that he heard about Parsons, but "wasnt sure what impact that would have." My own two cents here is that in my following of this recruitment, I have always believed, and still do, that going into the visits, Florida is a distinct third in this race. (3) Much has been made of the Herald Leader story that point guard recruit Jai Lucas had supposedly narrowed his choices to three schools, one of which was Kentucky. I am scheduled to speak to Jai tomorrow, but I believe the context of this story was misinterpreted. The story said that "such schools" as Oklahoma St, Maryland and Kentucky were recruiting Lucas. It did not say that these were the last three. Because of my various conversations with Jai, I would be VERY surprised if LSU did not make the final three list and as of a few days ago, he was still scheduled to meet with the coaching staff there. We will get confirmation tomorrow, but I am skeptical that the "top 3" story is correct. (4) Finally, expect to see the names of UK targets continue to increase over the next few weeks. This process is common at this time of year as coaches decide where to place their priorities following the summer AAU season. In Kentucky's case, only the name of Jeff Brooks has leaked, but I expect you will see a few more very soon. The Cats have lost a number of so-called "backup plans" and while the staff (and I) still believe that they are set up well with the main guys, there has to be a move to get secondary targets. While my opinions on the continued failure to offer AJ Stewart have been well documented, there is no doubt that the Stewart, Pettigrew and Brooks recruiting moves in recent weeks show a staff expanding their horizons. Depending on your point of view this is either a good thing (the staff is seeking to find the best possible players, including diamonds in the rough) or a bad sign (they are scrambling, blah blah blah). I think it is more the former, but would be much more confident if a commitment happened soon. (5) Finally, a new name has surfaced in the battle for Tyrone Nash. Apparently the Florida Gators, in their quest to sign every player in the country, have contacted Nash. Nash swears he is still considering UK, but the day he picked the prep school, I found the possibility of him in Lexington a very, very long shot. Tomorrow we will be back to normal with more posts on a variety of subjects, both on and off topic. Plus the football coverage is about to be ramped up as the season begins and our football guys get going. If you havent heard, Rob Johnson was cut today, which means that it is very likely that Jared Lorenzen makes the Giants, possibly even as the backup. In addition, watch tomorrow for the beginning of a KSR Radio College Football Pick Em game where you can win actual money.....yes actual money. Finally, I turn 28 today, so as a much more veteran, seasoned man, I wish all of you a happy beginning to your week.