Hello friends. The weekend is almost here. Time sure is flying, even though it feels like we\u2019re inching ever so slowly toward the return of Kentucky football. While I have your attention, let me share a few things from the recruiting trail and more. <\/p>\n
Top 50 Talent Schedules OV<\/p>\n
Myles Smith<\/a><\/strong> is a four-star talent who moved up to No. 47 overall in the latest update of the Rivals300. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound EDGE from Michigan has caught attention from multiple Big Ten schools, including Michigan State, where he will visit in May. Tony Washington Jr.<\/a><\/strong> has given Kentucky plenty of traction in Smith\u2019s recruitment, locking up an official visit for June 12. <\/p>\n \u201cThe relationship I have with the coaching staff,\u201d Smith told Rivals\u2019 Steve Wiltfong<\/a>. \u201cThey make me feel like a priority. Coach Tony and I have been talking a lot and I like how he develops his players and how I can fit in his style of play.\u00a0Excited to come check out the campus in the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n Terhyon Nichols Takes Charge<\/p>\n It was difficult to discern how the new coaching staff assessed Terhyon Nichols<\/a><\/strong>. A decorated four-star recruit from Cincinnati, he flashed as a true freshman before he was sidelined by a season-ending shoulder injury. His sophomore season produced a mixed bag of results. Tasked to play a significant amount of snaps, he was just fine. There were times when he looked great, but others where he was picked on by opponents. <\/p>\n Brad White<\/a><\/strong> was one of Nichols\u2019 No. 1 fans because of his intangibles. He\u2019s a film junkie who loves competition. Jay Bateman<\/a><\/strong> clearly saw those intangibles, and they\u2019re manifesting during winter workouts, with Nichols front and center at Nutter Field House. <\/p>\n Cultivating a culture with a new coaching staff is difficult. It requires returning players to buy into the message and make it infectious throughout the locker room. It\u2019s why Ty Bryant<\/a><\/strong> was such an important player to retain. It\u2019s good to see he\u2019s not the only one taking charge. <\/p>\n Sign up for the KSR Newsletter to receive Kentucky Wildcats news in the most ridiculous manner possible.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Kentucky isn\u2019t Abandoning Ohio<\/p>\n Will Stein<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s coaching staff is maintaining Kentucky\u2019s recruiting footprint in Ohio. Hezikiah Kelly<\/a><\/strong> is a Cincinnati native who was once committed to play for his hometown team. The three-star safety reopened his recruitment and has scheduled an official visit to Kentucky for June 12. He also has an OV to UConn on the docket. His older brother played for Jason Candle at Toledo. <\/p>\n In-State Player to Monitor<\/p>\n The top-ranked defensive lineman in the rising junior class plays high school football in Louisville. After helping CAL win another state championship, Kellan Hall<\/a><\/strong> is Rivals\u2019 No. 5 player in the 2028 recruiting class. Kentucky has connections to his high school; assistant Keith Towbridge worked for former Louisville QB Hunter Cantwell from 2021-23. Hopefully, those connections paid dividends down the road.<\/p>\n Speaking of the road, Hall is hitting it this spring to tour a bunch of campuses. Oklahoma is up first, and they appear to be the early leaders in his recruitment. His father tells Steve Wiltfong<\/a> that Hall is also making stops at Missouri, Notre Dame, and Tennessee before he gets to Kentucky\u2019s campus on March 31. Texas, Ohio State, and Indiana are also in the mix for this extraordinary talent who calls Kentucky home. <\/p>\n Want more Kentucky football intel? <\/a>Join KSR Plus for access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR\u2019s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hello friends. The weekend is almost here. Time sure is flying, even though it feels like we\u2019re inching…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":619709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,265297,265298,265299,1317,1315,1316,62,187306,234918,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-619708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-hezikiah-kelley-27-northwest","10":"tag-kellan-hall-28-christian-academy","11":"tag-myles-smith-27-farmington","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-football","14":"tag-ncaafootball","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-terhyon-nichols-24-withrow","17":"tag-ty-bryant-23-frederick-douglass","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116142169537481525","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}