Kentucky Sports Radio

Arden Key is a highly-touted defensive end in the 2015 recruiting class with an offer sheet full of powerhouse football programs, including Kentucky. The 6-foot-5, 200-pounder from Lithonia, Georgia recently decided to wrap up his recruitment early, at least for now, when he pledged his commitment to Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Way to go, USC-Jr. Good for you.

But Key’s commitment, though big news on the football recruiting scene, is drawing national attention for reasons away from the gridiron. Sure, it is a huge steal for Spurrier to pull a recruit out of the state of Georgia, but it’s one of the reasons Key gave for choosing South Carolina that has everyone talking.

After announcing his decision Sunday afternoon, Key told Palmetto Sports that academics drew him to Columbia. And not in a good kind of way for the university.

“The academic part, it’s like you have to try to fail,” he said.

Ummmmm… Come again?

Did this dude just suggest it’s easier to pass classes at South Carolina? And if that’s a major factor in where he goes, why didn’t he commit to North Carolina?

I bet he’d like to have the quote back.

To your News and Views…

 Yahtzee! Yahtzee! Holy Yahtzee! What another great day to be a UK football fan! First, Mark Stoops and his staff locked up twin transfers from Pittsburgh, Demitrious and Chris Davis. In case you haven’t heard, the Davis brothers announced they’d be leaving the Pitt program last month to find a system that fits their playmaking abilities. They were promised the spread offense under former Pitt head coach Todd Graham, but when Graham left prior to their freshman seasons last year, new head coach Paul Chryst brought in a slower Big 10-like offense. The boys’ father, Chris Davis Sr., made it clear during their senior year of high school that they wouldn’t go anywhere in the Big 10 because the style of play doesn’t fit their faster and smaller frames, and they would only seek schools that spread it out. Insert Kentucky, the school they visited and committed to on Tuesday.

The Brothers Davis will have to sit out 2013 but they will participate in fall camp and work with the scout team throughout the season. They will have three years of eligibility beginning in 2014 and potential to earn full scholarships. They will be walk-ons this fall.

Coming out of Ohio’s Austintown Fitch High School in 2012, Demitrious and Chris were the 32nd and 33rd ranked athletes in the class, respectively. They had offers from over 20 schools at the time, including West Virginia, UCLA and Oregon.

Demitrious will play in the slot and occasionally in the backfield in Neal Brown’s Air Raid offense; Chris is expected to play cornerback.

 If you thought the UK staff was done for the day with the Davises, you thought wrong. #BBN had another game of Yahtzee! to play Tuesday night. Derrick Kelly, an unranked lineman out of Florida became the 18th verbal commitment in Kentucky’s 2014 recruiting class. Kelly, like Bryan The Intern on a Saturday night out in Louisville, goes both ways, although he’s listed as an offensive tackle and expected to stay that way in Lexington. A cousin of former UK defensive back Eric Kelly, the 6-foot-5, 280-pounder picked the Cats over offers from South Florida, Central Florida, East Carolina, Marshall and others.

It’s important to note he is high school teammates with three-star cornerback JaJuan Perkins, who also has an offer from UK.

Number one.

Stoops.

 Keeping with the UK football theme, UK offensive coordinator Neal Brown spoke to a group of lunch-eaters at the Louisville Quarterback Club luncheon Tuesday afternoon. Our own Ally Tucker was not in attendance, but she has a recap of Brown’s words with a little help from the Herald-Leader’s John Clay. To summarize, Brown thinks you, the members of Big Blue Nation, are the most active fans on social media and he credits the online interaction and support for building momentum in recruiting. He also noted that the current commitments understand 2013 might be an ugly season and everyone is on board to come here and help turn it around in 2014.

 Bud Dupree and Avery Williams were honored recently by being named to the 2013 College Football Performance Awards Defensive Awards Watch List. Dupree was named to the 2013 CFPA Defensive Lineman Trophy Watch List, while Williamson earned a spot on the 2013 CFPA Linebacker Trophy Watch List.

 Nerlens Noel is receiving some criticism this week for his inner circle and the way they have handled the pre-draft process. How it affects his draft position remains to be seen, but he told KSR it shouldn’t be an issue and he’s surprised to hear the allegations. Noel told Matt he has just been focused on rehabbing down in Birmingham and some people (agents) could be taking it the wrong way when he declines their requests to talk. “One of the reasons I am so far ahead on my rehab is while other people have been wanting me to talk to agents, I have been down here working trying to get on the court,” he said.

Keep doing you, big fella. Make them eat they feet.

 Noel is still No. 1 in Chad Ford’s mock draft, although the Alex Len talks continue to pick up from the so-called experts. It’s looking like it’ll be one of those two who hear their name called when David Stern announces Cleveland’s first overall pick next week.

Archie is No. 38 on Ford’s Top 100.

 I’ll leave you with this tweet from Thaddeus Snodgrass. Go Cats.

For those who didn't know yes we are THE #1 recruiting class in the nation.. Run with us or run from us!!

— Thaddeus Snodgrass (@ThadSnod1) June 19, 2013

Tonight the football team had their “Position Dinners” with the various coaches of their position. This was the Defensive Line group that coach Jimmy Brumbaugh fed. That is a lot of food folks…a lot of food.

It took a little longer than usual but we have a ‘Yahtzee!’ from the Kentucky coaching staff to confirm Derrick Kelly’s commitment. Mark Stoops just made it official:

YAHTZEE…..let’s keep it rolling. pic.twitter.com/QlBfsRhN83

— Mark Stoops (@UKCoachStoops) June 19, 2013

Go Cats.

And we have another one.

Three-star offensive lineman Derrick Kelly from East Gadsden High School in Havana, Florida has committed to the University of Kentucky, per Jeff Drummond. He’s 6-foot-5, 268-pounds and ranked 82nd at his position by 247Sports. Kelly had offers from East Carolina, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, and FIU.

Welcome aboard.

Today I spoke with Nerlens Noel on the telephone to ask him about the national stories that have been swirling these last few days. You may remember that ESPN’s Ryen Russillo went on the Bill Simmons’ Podcast and spoke about those around Noel hurting his NBA Draft stock. According to Russillo, Noel has been surrounded by some people that aren’t looking out for his best interests and are hurting his stock with NBA teams. On my radio show this morning, Russillo joined us and noted that Noel had skipped out on meetings with agents and had seemed to pay no attention to the process of hiring an agent for the NBA Draft. He said this has caused concern for a number of NBA teams that worry that Noel is surrounding himself with people that will do him harm and ultimately has hurt his stock.

When I spoke with Noel today, he seemed genuinely surprised at the criticism. “I am not sure who people are talking about but right now there are only two people around me when I make decisions, my mom and Chris (his business manager).” When I asked him about the reports about blowing off agents he said, “honestly I just haven’t wanted to meet with a lot of agents because I have been worried about my rehab. One of the reasons I am so far ahead on my rehab is while other people have been wanting me to talk to agents, I have been down here working trying to get on the court.” Noel, who is spending his time in Birmingham rehabilitating said, “a lot of those guys have wanted to talk with me and I just haven’t felt like it was necessary. It is more important to get on the court that to talk to a lot of agent type people.” When I asked where Noel thought the source of these stories were coming from he chuckled and said, “probably people mad that I didn’t pick them to work with me.”

The two people Noel is referring to as his “entourage” are both people who have been around him a long time, of course his mother and “Chris” (whose last name I do not know), who has known the family for some time. He was adamant that while he isn’t sure the people being referred to as “bad dudes” by Russillo, unless they are Chris or his mother, they are playing no part in his decision process. While on the phone, all Noel wanted to focus on was basketball, even at one point saying with excitement, “Matt, you would be amazed how far I have come since starting this rehab.” You could hear in his voice the excitement of getting better, and it was a strong reminder how Nerlens is at heart, a kid who just loves playing basketball.

As I have said many times, Noel is one of the best kids off the court that I have seen at Kentucky. While his game needs work (specifically on the offensive end), his character does not and that is why these national reports have had me worried. Russillo and others have been clear that they have no concern about Noel the person, just those around him. Russillo says the source of the worries is from teams, not the agents shunned by Noel. But either way, Nerlens insists that is not an issue and that his inner circle of three people is all that matters to him and his career going forward. I hope that is the case for Noel, as he deserves a chance to showcase his high character in the league at the best pick possible, with no outside distractions.

Big Blue Nation added two new members late this afternoon when the Davis twins announced they’ll be transferring to Kentucky to play football.

Here are 10 things you should know about them…

1.) They were stars at Austintown Fitch High School just outside of Youngstown, Ohio.

Youngstown, of course, is the home of Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow, an area Kentucky is beginning to own in recruiting. Marrow is currently recruiting a running back, Darrin Hall, from Austintown Fitch in the 2015 class, also.

2.) They had offers from Oregon, West Virginia, UCLA, Baylor, Arkansas, Oregon State, Purdue and Vanderbilt.

The twins picked up a little more than 20 total offers in high school, mostly from the same programs. If a school only showed interest in one of them, that school was immediately removed from consideration.

“We knew from Day 1 we were going to go to school together,” Demitrious Davis told ESPN in 2012.

3.) They were top 40 prospects in Ohio and top 40 athletes in the 2012 class, according to Rivals.com.

Demitrious and Chris were the 32nd and 33rd ranked athletes, respectively. They were No. 39 and No. 40 in the state of Ohio.

4.) ESPN Recruiting called Demitrius “a blur of an athlete in space.”

An excerpt from his ESPN scouting report in 2012:

“This guy is an absolute nightmare to deal with at the high school level as a dual-threat, run first quarterback that will likely move to cornerback or slot receiver at the next level. He is dramatically undersized or he would be a national recruit as both an ATH and dual-threat QB because he throws the ball surprisingly well. He is a short prospect, but can flat out run. He is a blur of an athlete in space. Displays rapid acceleration, supreme top end speed and moves like a jack rabbit laterally. He has a low center of gravity, can jump cut, shows excellent vision with sharp cuts to exploit the cutback lane. He is the ideal zone runner and could be a spread offense utility back. He explodes through tiny creases in-line and once at the second level he is a homerun threat that can take it the distance. Will win most, if not all footraces at this level.”

ESPN ranked him the 25th best athlete in the class and the 10th best recruit in Ohio.

5.) Demitrious will play offense, Chris will play defense.

Demitrious will be used in the slot and at running back in Neal Brown’s Air Raid offense. Chris will help out on the defensive side of the ball in the secondary.

6.) They both bench 350, squat 450, and run a sub 4.4 40-yard dash.

Wait, what?

Demitrious is listed at 5’10”, 175 lbs. in the Pitt media guide. Chris is 5’9”, 180 lbs.

7.) They announced their transfer from Pitt on May 12, 2013.

The twins cited a change in the offense as their reason for leaving. Former Pitt head coach Todd Graham ran a spread offense before his successor, Paul Chryst, implemented a pro-style offense. Demitrious and Chris were adamant about playing in a spread offense in college during their recruitment. After announcing the transfer, Chris tweeted that he had to put himself in the best position to succeed.

Pitt prohibited them from transferring to an ACC school or Arizona or Arizona State where former Pitt coaches are on staff.

8.) They will walk on this year.

But the opportunity to earn a scholarship in the future is there.

9.) They will have three years of eligibility at Kentucky beginning in 2014.

And they should be more than ready to go when their time rolls around. They will be able to run with the scout team all season and participate in fall and spring camps.

10.) They’re excited.

Your boy is a Kentucky Wildcat!! #UK

— Chris Lamar Davis Jr (@chris_davis22) June 18, 2013

Its official! Im a Kentucky Wildcat! #UK

— Demitrious Davis (@Ddavis_2) June 18, 2013

Welcome aboard.

Despite what you’ve been hearing the past few days about his growth plates and questionable entourage, Nerlens Noel is still projected to go No. 1 overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Chad Ford’s mock draft.

Ford writes, “Noel remains on top because he fits the profile of a player the Cavs prefer to draft — the player with the most long-term upside. That’s why they picked Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters at No. 4 the past couple of years and why Noel remains the favorite. Sources say Noel’s strongest competition right now is Len, whom some in the organization favor because he, too, has size and defensive ability, but he’s less raw and should be cleared to play much sooner than Noel.”

Archie Goodwin did not make the first round in Ford’s mock draft. He’s sitting at No. 38 in the Top 100 prospects.

As Ally mentioned in the post just south of this one and originally reported by Rivals.com, Kentucky picked up two new players for the 2014 college football season, and they’re identical twins. Demitrious and Chris Davis will walk on at Kentucky and be eligible to play after this coming season. The Ohio natives signed with Pittsburgh out of high school and sat out last season as redshirt freshmen, then announced intentions to transfer from the program early last month. After a very quiet official visit to Lexington today, they decided the University of Kentucky is where they’d like to continue their college football careers. One is expected to play in the defensive backfield and one will be used as an all-purpose athlete on offense. They will have three years of eligibility at Kentucky.

Watch them work…

Demitrious Davis:

Chris Davis:

We’ll have more later…

 Two twins from Pittsburgh, Demitrious and Chris Davis will transfer to Kentucky. They both confirmed the information via Twitter. Both are wide receivers and both will come to Kentucky as walk-ons. As we learned earlier today, the wide receiver corps heading into this season is very thin right now. Neal Brown even mentioned that Kentucky might have tryouts (h/t John Clay). The Davis twins will likely help fill that void. The two were also considering Louisville and Indiana when they decided to make the move from Pitt.

Demitrious and Chris are originally from Austintown, Ohio. Demitrious was the nation’s #32 athlete and Chris was #33 in the class of 2012. Not too bad. 

Lost in all the Matt Elam excitement last night was a 247 Sports rankings climb from Adrian Middleton, another talented in-state defensive lineman who has already committed to Kentucky. Middleton jumped up to the 36th best defensive tackle in the country and Kentucky’s fourth best commit, according to 247. His new 89 overall rating is one point shy of earning him a fourth star beside his name.

The new rating seems a bit high in comparison to the other recruiting services but, hey, we’ll take it.

Go Cats.

Kentucky’s new offensive coordinator Neal Brown took some time today to meet with the Louisville Quarterback Club.  Some of the talk was much of the same, with Brown once again letting everyone know that the quarterback race for next year will likely continue a few weeks into the fall practices. John Clay of the Herald Leader was on hand to relay some of Brown’s messages from the speaking engagement.

Here are 5 of the best tidbits from his talk:

1) The Kentucky staff’s message to the recruits is that everyone remembers “the first.”

If you’ve been wondering what the coaching staff has been selling the latest “big gets” on the recruiting trail (besides the opportunity for early playing time and a chance to compete in the SEC), the vision of being a part of the first group to turn Kentucky football into a championship contending program is clearly a top selling point. The staff has been able to build upon that idea,  putting the pieces together for a class worth talking about, which has created a palpable buzz in the college football world. While some kids are looking for a chance to be a part of an already established program, where winning and competing for championships is the norm— some kids relish in the opportunity to pave their own path. That seems to be the idea Brown and the staff are focusing on at the moment.

2) Brown thinks the UK fan base is the most active fan base in social media.

We’ve seen the good and the bad of this effect over the years, especially with Kentucky basketball. If someone writes a piece about Kentucky basketball, they know it will be read by the masses. For decades, Kentucky basketball fans swarm polls, support their team, travel across the country, etc. The Kentucky fan base hasn’t had much reason to reach that level of excitement and passion for the football program, but now that Stoops has given them a reason– the fans are all over it. The recruits are feeling the love on Twitter on a daily basis. The coaching staff not only notices, but seems to believe it’s helping with the momentum and recruiting process.

3) The wide receiver picture for next year is… interesting to say the least

With some of the recent departures from the program, the fact that the receiving corp is very, very thin should come as no surprise. Brown says the team might have a tryout just to increase the numbers to see what they can find. Luckily Brown likes the depth and talent at the tight end position, which might help to plug some of the receiver holes. Brown also said that the recruiting process for wide receivers in the future is going well. The staff will be picky about the position, but Kentucky is already “in” on some big-time targets.

4) Ashely Lowery is recovering well

Following a very scary car accident earlier this summer, Lowery is recovering well. The staff is cautiously optimistic about his return for the fall.

5) Current commitments understand the challenges ahead this season

One general concern that has been floating around as of late is that while the 2014 class is so strong right now, it might be hard for the staff to keep all of the commitments in tact following what could be a tough season with a brutal SEC schedule. The results on the field may not be pretty, and certainly may not match the excitement and enthusiasm created by the nation’s current top 2 recruiting class for 2014. Brown says that part of the conversation with the new commitments though is that this season may not be smooth and the challenges will be huge. Brown doesn’t believe the results of this season will have an effect on the incoming recruits. Phew.

And last but not least, Neal Brown was quoted by John Clay as saying that “Coach Calipari has made Kentucky cool. We’ve got to make Kentucky football cool.” 

I think this staff is well on the way…

The Joker Phillips approach

During his time at the Louisville Quarterback Club luncheon today, Neal Brown hinted that UK might have to rely on tryouts to fill up the depth chart at wide receiver. The position is incredibly thin and is by far the biggest concern heading into Season 1 of the Mark Stoops Show.

We’ll have more from the luncheon in just a moment, but for now, #ComePlayWRForUK???

(H/T John Clay)

NCAA President Mark Emmert is building a band of athletic directors and Mitch Barnhart is one of the band members. Emmert recently announced that he and some of his staff members will meet regularly with a council of athletic directors, beginning next month. Barnhart is one of 10 athletic directors who will make up the council, formed to shift decisions like recruiting rules from college presidents to the people who deal with coaching staffs and athletic programs directly.

The other nine members of the council come from San Jose State, Arizona, Kansas State, Central Michigan, Connecticut, Clemson, Ohio State, Division I-AA Montana State, and Division I-AAA Denver.

[NCAA President to Form Council of Athletic Directors]

Clay Travis and Kige Ramsey. Oh yeah.

There’s been a lot of “I never thought I’d see the day” going around here lately when it comes to Kentucky football, but I’ve got a new one fore you: I never thought I’d see a Clay Travis article praising UK for anything, especially football. Yet, one day after Kentucky football momentarily kissed the sun with a #1 recruiting class, Travis penned a piece about how Mark Stoops is using the SEC brand in Ohio to turn UK football recruiting around. Travis says that by focusing on Ohio, Mark Stoops has opened a channel to a whole state of players Kentucky (and the rest of the SEC) pretty much ignored before, and because of the SEC brand (and Stoops and Marrow’s connections, close proximity, etc.), it’s working:

So Kentucky has found a fertile new recruiting region that welcomes its SEC pitch without having to compete against very many SEC schools. Instead of being a second rate option in much of the South, the Wildcats are a premium product north of the Mason-Dixon line. As if that wasn’t enough, Kentucky is beating Louisville for recruits in Ohio because even though Louisville has a stronger team right now, the SEC’s brand is infinitely stronger than Bluegrass dominance.

While we’ve known about the staff’s connections and success in Ohio for a while now, Travis does bring up some good points. Right now, Kentucky doesn’t really have a lot of SEC competition for players from Ohio, and as a result, can sell the SEC brand and stand out from Big Ten schools. By looking north outside of the SEC footprint, Stoops has given the Cats the advantage in a state that churns out quality football players like it churns out…well, whatever Ohio is really famous for.

Read more over at Outkick the Coverage. It might be the last time we ever encourage you to do so.

[OKtC: KENTUCKY EXTENDS SEC'S BRAND INTO OHIO]

Former Louisville center Gorgui Dieng respects Kentucky basketball but thinks Louisville is ‘more of a team.‘ The soon-to-be first round draft pick acknowledged Kentucky’s star-studded 2013-14 lineup during an interview with sNY.tv, then questioned if the Wildcats will be able to play together.

He said, “They always have the best players and always, I don’t want to say best players, they always have the chance but are they going to be a team? We don’t know. You can have a lot of pieces but it’s tough to have a team.”

“We always have a team. we always have a team,” he added. “Thats what Coach ‘P’ is all about — team. He doesn’t care who you are . You can be the best player but if you do something wrong, he’s going to sit you down. If you’re body fat is over nine percent, you won’t play.”

Dieng also said he believes this year’s Louisville Cardinals will be better than the group he won an NCAA championship with just a few months ago.

Is it December 28 yet?

[Gorgui Dieng Says Louisville Will Be Better Next Year]

UK’s lone 2014 commitment Karl Towns played in the NBAP Top 100 Camp this past weekend and had the opportunity to go 1-on-1 against former NBA player Jerome Williams. How did he do? Check it out in the video above.

H/t to Dan Bodner