Starting Wednesday, the University of Kentucky athletics department will be hoping to receive a couple of key signatures that could shape the future of the athletics department for the next few years.Wednesday begins the spring signing period, marking the first day prospective student-athletes can sign a National Letter of Intent to play at an institution. The first day of the spring signing period doesn’t traditionally carry the type of holiday feel that football signing day carries, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less significant. Beginning Wednesday, UK will be able to accept letters of intent from prospective basketball student-athletes until the final signing date on May 19. In all other sports, a student-athlete may sign until Aug. 1 2010.Now does this mean UK will definitely receive some big-name letters of intent Wednesday? Certainly not. While the department is hopeful it will obtain a couple of key faxes, don’t expect an outpouring of news.If you can remember back to last year, only DeMarcus Cousins signed on the first day of the spring signing period. High-profile recruits John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and Darnell Dodson signed in the following weeks.The good news for us on the blog is that once a recruit signs, we can finally address them by name and talk about their credentials. Because this is a part of the official site of UK Athletics, I’m barred from talking about a prospective student-athlete until he/she signs.