It’s been more than 48 hours since the last member of Kentucky’s 2014 signing class became official, but people are still talking about Mark Stoops’ record group.ESPN’s SEC Blog ranked the league’s 14 classes in terms of how each school performed against expectations. UK fared well, coming in second behind only Alabama. Here’s what Alex Scarborough had to say about the class:
No. 2: KentuckyRundown: This ain’t your grandfather’s Kentucky. It’s not your father’s or your older brother’s, either. Mark Stoops didn’t have the highest ranked recruiting class in the country or even the SEC, but the top-20 class far outpaced even the highest expectations . The signees speaks for themselves — an infusion of young talent desperately needed for the road ahead — but the overall statement Stoops and his staff made going out and landing the best of the best was huge. Nabbing four-star defensive lineman Matt Elam from Alabama sent shockwaves through college football. It not only said that Kentucky was here to play; it’s here to play and win.Instant impact signee: There’s opportunity abound in Lexington. At one point, a walk-on was starting at receiver against Alabama. With that, four-star Thaddeus Snodgrass has the athleticism (4.5 second 40-yard dash) to provide a quick spark to the Wildcats’ offense.
Link: Most impressive classes in the SECAnother interesting read, Ohio State outlet Eleven Warriors took a look at Kentucky’s success in recruiting Ohio and how Stoops’ class would have ranked third among Big Ten schools.
However, it is more interesting how Kentucky built its recruiting class. Kentucky football finally discovered how close it is to Ohio. Eschewing past recruiting approaches that sought fringe players from Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow used their Ohio roots to pull the best of the second-tier from the Buckeye State.J.C. Shurburtt, national recruiting analyst from 247Sports, mentioned this was learning from a wrong approach employed by Joker Phillips. “If you’re Kentucky, where do you go recruit? Joker Phillips made a serious tactical mistake trying to get fifth-tier guys out of Georgia and South Carolina and compete.” Shurburtt continued, “now, they’re getting the second-tier guys out of Ohio, the first-tier guys out of Kentucky and dropping down and getting some guys out of Florida. I think that roster’s going to get much, much better in the near future.”Ten of Kentucky’s 29 recruits in its 2014 class came from the Buckeye State and not all were from Southwest Ohio. Players like Dorian Baker of Cleveland Heights had offers from Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota. Mikel Horton, a promising tailback prospect from West Chester, had offers from those three schools as well. Basically, all of those recruits had offers from Illinois, Indiana, and most had offers on the table from Minnesota and Purdue as well.
