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UK football moves to No. 1 in Rivals rankings for 2014

 Posted by at 10:44 PM on June 18, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 182013
 
UK Coach Mark Stoops has hit the recruiting trail hard in his first few months on the job. Photo: Mark Cornelison/Herald-Leader

UK Coach Mark Stoops has hit the recruiting trail hard in his first few months on the job.
Photo: Mark Cornelison/Herald-Leader

For the time being, Kentucky has the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.

In football.

Offensive lineman Derrick Kelly — UK’s newest commitment for 2014 — was awarded two stars by Rivals.com on Tuesday night, and that was enough to push the Wildcats past Texas for the No. 1 spot in the Rivals team rankings.

It’s likely that Kentucky will drop from the top spot as the nation’s traditional powers reel in more four- and five-star recruits, but Mark Stoops and his coaching staff are clearly making a splash in their first few months in Lexington.

“Crazy big news for #kentucky no matter how long it lasts,” tweeted Rivals.com national analyst Mike Farrell.

As of Tuesday evening, the Rivals top 10 looked like this:

1. Kentucky
2. Texas
3. Tennessee
4. Texas A&M
5. Alabama
6. Notre Dame
7. Michigan
t8. Clemson
t8. Florida State
10. Baylor

Once again, Kentucky has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.

In football.

Unreal.

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Report: Florida O-lineman commits to Kentucky

 Posted by at 9:44 PM on June 18, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 182013
 

Florida offensive lineman Derrick Kelly committed to the University of Kentucky on Tuesday, according to a report by KentuckyScout.com.

Kelly — a 6-foot-5, 285-pound lineman — was one of more than 300 recruits who visited UK for the Saturday Night Prime Time Camp earlier this month at Commonwealth Stadium. He is unranked by Rivals, Scout and ESPN but is considered a three-star prospect by 24/7 Sports. Update: Rivals gave Kelly two stars Tuesday night.

24/7 ranks Kelly as the No. 82 offensive tackle in the class of 2014.

The East Gadsden High standout is UK’s 19th commitment for the class, which is ranked No. 2 in the country by Rivals.com.

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Stoops lands twin transfers from Pitt; Eligible in 2014

 Posted by at 5:50 PM on June 18, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 182013
 

UK football coach Mark Stoops continued to build for the future with the commitments of two high-profile transfers Tuesday.

Ohio natives Demitrious and Chris Davis announced on Twitter that they will move from Pittsburgh to Kentucky. The twins were redshirt freshmen at Pitt last season. They’ll have to sit out a transfer year at UK this season and will then have three years of eligibility starting in 2014.

Rivals.com ranked the Davis twins as the No. 32 and 33 athletes in the class of 2012. They were the No. 39 and 40 overall prospects from the state of Ohio in that class.

Austintown Fitch head coach Phil Annarella told the Herald-Leader that the Davis’ are “terrific athletes.”

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Football notes: Top UK target Bone trims list to four

 Posted by at 2:52 AM on June 18, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 182013
 

Kentucky is still in the running for one of the top wide receivers in the class of 2014.

South Carolina native Blake Bone announced Monday that he has narrowed his list to four schools: Kentucky, Louisville, South Carolina and Ole Miss.

Bone also had offers from Clemson, Arkansas, Nebraska, North Carolina and several others.

The 6-foot-5, 185-pounder from Woodruff, S.C., is ranked by Rivals.com as a four-star prospect and the No. 47 wide receiver in the class of 2014. He’s considered the No. 8 overall prospect from the state of South Carolina.

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Chicago guard Matthews gets an offer from Calipari

 Posted by at 1:22 AM on June 18, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 182013
 
Chicago guard Charles Matthews got a text message from Orlando Antigua just after midnight Saturday morning.

Chicago guard Charles Matthews got a text message from Orlando Antigua just after midnight Saturday morning.

Chicago guard Charles Matthews is the third player from the class of 2015 to receive an offer from Kentucky.

Matthews tweeted late Monday night that he had picked up the UK scholarship offer. He was one of the first players the Wildcats coaching staff contacted Saturday — the first day college coaches were allowed to call recruits from the class of 2015.

UK assistant Orlando Antigua got in touch with Matthews shortly after midnight Saturday. He was expecting a call from John Calipari later in the day. Calipari visited Matthews’ high school in Chicago before the end of the last live recruiting period in April.

“I really always liked (Calipari) growing up,” Matthews said Saturday. “I see what he does with guards as well. He really gets guards ready for the NBA and really matures them and puts a lot of responsibility on them but lets them play as well. And that really sticks out to me.

“I really have a lot of interest in Kentucky.”

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2015 center Zimmerman gets UK scholarship offer

 Posted by at 12:31 AM on June 18, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 182013
 
Nevada big man Stephen Zimmerman received a scholarship offer from Kentucky on Monday.

Nevada big man Stephen Zimmerman received a scholarship offer from Kentucky on Monday.

Stephen Zimmerman announced Monday that he has received a scholarship offer from the University of Kentucky, becoming the second player from the class of 2015 to do so.

Zimmerman — a 7-foot center from Las Vegas — joined Memphis big man Skal Labissiere on UK’s offer sheet for 2015. Late Monday night, Chicago guard Charles Matthews said he also received an offer from John Calipari.

Zimmerman was one of the most impressive players at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend. He said Friday that UK was one of the schools that had been in contact with his family. “They’re pretty awesome. They know how to win.”

Saturday was the first day that college coaches were permitted to call prospects from the class of 2015, and Kentucky reached out to Zimmerman shortly after midnight.

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2015′s Simmons claims offers from Duke, 3 others

 Posted by at 12:00 AM on June 17, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 172013
 

Australian phenom Ben Simmons tweeted Sunday that he has received scholarship offers from Duke, Ohio State, Washington and LSU.

Saturday morning marked the first time that college coaches could directly contact recruits from the class of 2015. Simmons, a versatile 6-foot-9 power forward, was listed as the No. 3 overall prospect in the class when ESPN updated its rankings last week.

Simmons came to the United States from Australia earlier this year and enrolled at Montverde Academy in Florida. He was a teammate of Dakari Johnson and will once again play alongside Ohio State commitment D’Angelo Russell as Montverde tries to win another NHSI title next season.

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Football: Top UK target Derek Kief picks Alabama

 Posted by at 6:32 PM on June 16, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 162013
 

Four-star wide receiver Derek Kief announced his commitment to Alabama on Sunday, picking the Crimson Tide over fellow finalists Kentucky and Ohio State.

Kief, who plays for La Salle High School in Cincinnati, is ranked by Rivals as the No. 47 wide receiver in the country and the No. 17 overall prospect in the state of Ohio for the class of 2014.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound receiver also had offers from Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Louisville, Arkansas and several other Division I programs. One of his high school teammates was Jaleel Hytchye, who will be a freshman defensive back at Kentucky this fall.

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UK target Diallo named MVP of NBPA Top 100 Camp

 Posted by at 3:25 AM on June 16, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 162013
 

Class of 2015 forward Cheick Diallo won most valuable player honors at the NBPA Top 100 Camp on Saturday after leading his team to the camp championship.

Diallo, who averaged a camp-high 8.3 rebounds per game, is considered a five-star prospect in the class of 2015. The 6-foot-9 native of Mali plays his high school ball for Our Savior New American School in Centereach, N.Y.

Diallo led the Celtics to a victory over the Mavericks in the title game. The Mavericks roster included UK commitment Karl Towns, UNC commitment Justin Jackson, Indiana commitment James Blackmon Jr., five-star point guard Josh Perkins and highly touted forward Leron Black.

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Towns finds his concentration on the golf course

 Posted by at 4:42 PM on June 15, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 152013
 
UK basketball commitment Karl Towns plays golf every Sunday. Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

UK basketball commitment Karl Towns plays golf every Sunday. “Sometimes I’ve just got to get away.”
Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — While the world’s best golfers are battling for the U.S. Open title Sunday near Philadelphia, one of the nation’s best high school basketball players will likely be on a golf course not far away.

New Jersey native Karl Towns is Kentucky’s only commitment so far from the class of 2014. Towns is considered one of the top five prospects in his class, and that ranking didn’t come easy.

The 7-footer is on the court or in the weight room six days a week, preparing himself for a summer with the Dominican national team and a college career at UK.

On Sunday, he hits the links.

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