I think we all agree that UK football is on the uptick....

[bugatti]

You'd likely struggle to find 20 SEC level kids from KY over any 4 year period. Stop the insanity...

This is true. And I'm fine with calling out UK when hindsight is 20/20 but just as long as you're fine with calling out the in-state kids that went to UK or anywhere else and came nowhere close to replicating the level of success to compete at that level.

[bugatti]

Did UK recruit Antonio Andrews before he went to Western?

I believe but not sure an offer was extended. Not as if he had BCS schools left and right offering him.

[00Rocket28]

 

BCS- SEC, B1G, ACC, Big 12, PAC 12

 

CUSA, Mac, etc are FBS but are mid major compared to the rest

 

And I don't know if they offered anyone you mentioned. Bonnifon was probably the closest but they have enough QBs and have better options at WR.

 

THIS!!!!

[00Rocket28]

Did UK recruit Antonio Andrews before he went to Western?

 

Joker dropped the ball BIG TIME. Andrews is the exception in WKU and in state talent that can play BCS Conf ball.

Edited February 10, 2014 by 00Rocket28

[Clyde]

Clyde, I'm not trying to be defensive, but it's like I'm having multiple conversations at the same time and no one knows what I've said to other people. I wish everyone would read the entire thread before picking one of my posts and commenting on them. Loggy has said, he said they couldn't play for UK, so he's one.

 

I'm not searching for the posts, but over the years people have asked why a player would choose UK over other big schools and you have said that some want to play of UK over everyone else because UK is Kentucky. Surely you remember saying that on multiple occasions.

 

I'm sure there are kids in every state that stay home to play for State U despite offers from better programs. Pat Towles is one.

[Voice of Reason]

I did a quick check on scout.com. UK has 4 recruits on there that are below the 3 star level. All the others are 3 star or better. WKU only has two 3 star recruits - Fant (Bowling Green) and Farris (Collins). As to Fant, UK has four 3 star receivers and one 4 star. Fant would have been the 3rd highest ranked WR for UK. On Farris, UK signed 2 RB's that are ranked higher than Farris.

 

Kentucky signed 4 of the top five recruits in the state. Farris and Fant were #6 and 7 and it looks like UK did better than Farris. Fant, maybe he wanted to go to WKU? Here is a link to scout's rankings for KY:

 

Scout.com: 2014 Kentucky State Rankings

 

As you look at that list, you have to say UK got everything they wanted in KY. You also have to say that Eastern is not even making an effort to get the top players in the state.

[LOOGY]

I'm really confused as to why this is an issue. The only thing I've ever heard was UK needs to be able to recruit better out of state especially. I've never heard UK needs to recruit more in state (besides the elite guys). This thread has been mind blowing to me

[AverageJoesGym]

I did a quick check on scout.com. UK has 4 recruits on there that are below the 3 star level. All the others are 3 star or better. WKU only has two 3 star recruits - Fant (Bowling Green) and Farris (Collins). As to Fant, UK has four 3 star receivers and one 4 star. Fant would have been the 3rd highest ranked WR for UK. On Farris, UK signed 2 RB's that are ranked higher than Farris.

 

Kentucky signed 4 of the top five recruits in the state. Farris and Fant were #6 and 7 and it looks like UK did better than Farris. Fant, maybe he wanted to go to WKU? Here is a link to scout's rankings for KY:

 

Scout.com: 2014 Kentucky State Rankings

 

As you look at that list, you have to say UK got everything they wanted in KY. You also have to say that Eastern is not even making an effort to get the top players in the state.

 

I'm not sure where you're getting that about EKU. There were only 2 FCS signees on that list. One of them was an offensive guard. EKU signed 5 offensive linemen. As for the Wofford signee, how do you know that EKU didn't pursue him? Wofford has a really nice program. Maybe they just got him over EKU.

[coldweatherfan]

I'm really confused as to why this is an issue. The only thing I've ever heard was UK needs to be able to recruit better out of state especially. I've never heard UK needs to recruit more in state (besides the elite guys). This thread has been mind blowing to me

 

I'm with you. There seems to be 2 goofy things being said here.

 

1.

-Well that did pretty good, but not great. Compared to #62 & #63. #20 is great.

-Yeah it's a top 20 class, but it's only the 9th or 10th in the SEC. 9th is better than 5 other SEC schools

-They're getting the 2nd tier 4 star player. Really! There's such a thing as 2nd tier 4 star players? I'll take every 4 star player we can get. I don't care where they come from.

Last year's #29 ranked class was the best ever. This year's #20 is even better. If these guys can continue to do this and bring in three more top 25 classes to back this up. We're going to be pretty darn competitive. Winning 8 games a year would be possible, and an occational 9-10 win season with a favorable schedule would not be impossible.

 

Of course some of the people on here just want to try and rain on UK's parade. God forbid that UK did consistently win 8 games a year. Then they're mantra would then change to "I can't believe you're satisfied with that, you should want more. You're settling for mediocracy."

 

 

2.

-They didn't bring in enough Kentucky kids. Sorry! Not enough SEC talent in the state. Period

[Voice of Reason]

I'm not sure where you're getting that about EKU. There were only 2 FCS signees on that list. One of them was an offensive guard. EKU signed 5 offensive linemen. As for the Wofford signee, how do you know that EKU didn't pursue him? Wofford has a really nice program. Maybe they just got him over EKU.

 

On the Wofford signee, check out what his parent says about EKU in this thread:

 

http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/what-does-say-271539-page3.html#post4945151

 

I made the comments I did because EKU is nowhere to be found on a list of the top players in the state - not one recruit. That seems to verify what others are saying about EKU not recruiting in KY.

[AverageJoesGym]

On the Wofford signee, check out what his parent says about EKU in this thread:

 

http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/what-does-say-271539-page3.html#post4945151

 

 

 

I made the comments I did because EKU is nowhere to be found on a list of the top players in the state - not one recruit. That seems to verify what others are saying about EKU not recruiting in KY.

 

 

I understand what he was saying. However, with my son being on the Colonels team, I can give you a little bit more insight into the situation. EKU only had 2 seniors in their defensive backfield that were seniors last season. They return 10 players that saw action at DB, most of those freshmen and sophomores. They signed 4 other DBs--one was a juco player, 2 were from Florida and one from Ohio.

 

 

Overall, EKU signed 5 Kentucky kids out of 20 that they are bringing in.

You have to keep in mind that in most cases EKU isn't going to get the guys on that list. All of them except for 2 went to FBS schools. You can't really go by the ones that went to FBS schools when looking at who they recruit out of Kentucky. It is more realistic to look at the FCS recruits. Of the two FCS recruits one was an OL that went to Indiana State. EKU signed 5 OL in their class, 2 of which were from Kentucky. Perhaps they just liked those two better? ISU is 14-20 the last 3 seasons, it isn't like he was being recruited by a powerhouse. As for Wofford, yes they have a good program. However, over the past 3 seasons they are 22-14, EKU is 21-14. Would I like to see more Kentucky kids on EKU, sure. However, they have to try and get the best players available, not just the best Kentucky kids.

[AverageJoesGym]

On the Wofford signee, check out what his parent says about EKU in this thread:

 

http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/what-does-say-271539-page3.html#post4945151

 

I made the comments I did because EKU is nowhere to be found on a list of the top players in the state - not one recruit. That seems to verify what others are saying about EKU not recruiting in KY.

 

 

Just a quick check shows that EKU had 36 players from Kentucky on its roster last season. WKU, which Ram had said did such a great job recruiting Kentucky kids, had 26. But don't let facts get in the way of your argument. Take one website's ranking list and make that fit your argument.

[nkysoftball]

Joker dropped the ball BIG TIME. Andrews is the exception in WKU and in state talent that can play BCS Conf ball.

Andrews originally signed with Air Force before ending up at WKU, UK had very little interest in a QB after signing Mossakowski and Newton the previous year. Funny thing is he probably would have ended up playing QB at UK with the poor QB play from the last few years.

[futurecoach]

Why can Florida do well in basketball and football? Why can OSU do well in basketball and football? Why can Louisville can do well in basketball and football? But with UK it's "Kentucky is a basketball state"? It's an excuse pure and simple.

 

What difference does it make if it's "Elite KY players" or not, WKU won and they had a lot of Kentucky players.

 

"Pretty good Ohio player"? Who did UK get that OSU also offered a scholarship? Who did Kentucky get that other FBS schools offered scholarships? And what FBS schools offered them scholarships? I really want to hear the answers to those questions. Honestly.

 

Yes WKU won in the conference they are in with Ky players. You are wanting UK to recruit 20 or so Ky players each year to compete in the SEC? Yes WKU finally beat UK the last two years, but how do you think they would have done in the SEC with those KY players? They would have done just as bad as UK did in the SEC. So is getting all those KY players really going to help UK? Nope.

 

Now it is important to get the top talent in KY when Ky has top talent which they did this year. However most of those guys WKU got besides maybe Fant would probably have not done much to make UK any better than they currently are. I am interested in what all other schools were interested in those players WKU signed. Were there much interest from other schools? Right now UK is beating out better schools than WKU on recruits. While WKU is getting recruits that not probably many D1 schools were going after.

 

I absolutely love seeing KY boys go to Western and do well. Getting a chance to play at a D1 school is a great accomplishment. However trying to sign 20 KY boys a year is not going to make us any better than we are now. It would remain 1 to 2 wins a year in the SEC if that, just like how it would be for Western if Western was in the SEC with all those KY boys.