The House of Blue

If Lawson and his mama can be persuaded that coming to Ky is not a bad thing, and better than waiting for a yr to enroll at LSU. Then I agree we get him. Hearns, I think Stoops is going to hold a spot for him. If he gets the grades/scores necessary then I think he is a very good chance as well. Couldn't say about any of the others but I think our national ranking goes up some more before all is said and done.

Taj Williams in a long shot, I don't think he has that serious of an interest in UK, but if he and Hearns qualify, there's always the chance they come together, and if Lawson is convinced to go pick UK and leave home, this defensive class is unheard of at UK. Think of Hearns, Lawson, Hatcher, Bell, Smith, McWilson, Hyde, Meant, Willis and Hytche, that's some serious talent in one class, 6 of those rated as a 4* by at least one scouting service.

If no one fills the spots, so be it, but least that means UK could sign up to 28 next year, which doesn't sound to bad with the chance for a better class for next year.

Austin Douglas is walking on at Ole Miss and should already be enrolled there. The new staff wasn't interested.

I wouldn't be shocked if Lovell Peterson ends up here, but it's probably a long shot.

I keep on hearing that James hearns is likely coming to UK they are just waiting on his semester grades.

Tacos- I've also never seen you be right, no offense. The Hearns deal is simple - he's taking the ACT today and his scores won't be back for a month. Good score (at least get a 17/18) and he's got a shot. End-of-semester grades would be the remaining factor. So we won't be hearing about him for another few months. We're clearly his leader if he does make it. That said, 3 months is a long time.

I'm sure there's at least one current wildcat that is actively rooting for him to NOT make it here - if he makes it, somebody has to go.

One thing I don't really understand is what do we have to lose if we sign James Hearns?

Unless we feel really good about signing 3 other big-time prospects this spring, if we sign him and he doesn't qualify, it doesn't hurt us because we would get an extra spot for next season, meaning we can sign 26 next year instead of 25 since we only enrolled 24 players.

One option is signing him now and hoping he qualifies. But, there are a number of other quality players who have academic problems and other issue (see my link above). So, another option is to continue building relationships with such students and then signing or attempting to sign those who qualify or resolve other issues. Thus, still potentially signing Hearns and also not necessarily passing the spot along if he doesn't make it because there might be another high quality option available on down the road.

This staff isn't so limited on who it will go after. The door isn't closed on other highly sought after recruits who are still available. If it is closed, they just might open it up.

This is a completely different methodology at work here.

In the event a recruit like Harris Bivin goes up to ND this summer and gets homesick and wants to enroll at UK instead (or a recruit goes the Zeke Pike route), and we already have 25 players signed, but one of them doesn't qualify academically, can we still take him?

Harris or Hunter?

Hunter signed with ND, so he can't sign with us.
If we sign 25 (out of 25 available), we can't sign any more this year because some don't qualify. If some don't qualify, their spots can be backcounted next year, giving us more than 25 if we early enroll recruits in December.

Harris enrolled and plays for Murray State and was a part of the 2010 class, IIRC. I think a scholarship offered to him would count against our 85 limit but not our 25 for this year.

Hopefully no recruit goes the Zeke Pike route.... The kid ruined every single opportunity he had, Public Intoxication at Auburn, and drinking on the sideline of a game for Louisville... Don't know if he will even have a 3rd chance.

To say those tests aren't difficult is not really an applicable statement when you are talking about kids with grade problems. Sure, a good student with good preparation should have no problem getting a 17 or 18, but when you aret alking about an athelete that has struggled in high school, you are likely talking about a student that has serious deficiencies.

A little test prep isn't gonna help you do alg, or trig, if you don't know your multiplication facts. Lots of these kids are more behind academically than you could ever imagine.

Sort of, but I'm not sure how that will work out.

We will need to have some attrition in our current roster (over and above those who have used up their eligibility) in order to bring in all 22 commits in this class.
There will only be 13 seniors in the upcoming senior class, IIRC. Therefore, we will need to cut or lose through other means of attrition an additional 12 just to have room for a full 25 in 2014. If we want to backcount not taking those last three in this class in order to bring in three extra for next class, we would need to cut an additional three. Of course, we could always just count them as part of 2014 and enroll them early.

There is something I am not sure of however. We might be able to backcount three to 2013 even if we do not bring in 25 for 2014. IOW, we might be able to count three of our 13 recruits for 2014 (or however many we make room for) as part of 2013. Then we would have 10 recruits for 2014 and the ability to backcount 15, leaving room for a huge number of early enrollees in 2015. But, I'm not sure if you can always backcount as long as their were openings in the previous year or if one can only backcount to make room over 25. I think it is the former (Georgia this year?) but I am not sure.