Kentucky Football: Could this be why Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio trashed Kentucky publically?

If you'll recall, Glenn posted about it in his Quickies on Tuesday with this little ditty:

Big Ten coaches, now including Michigan St.'s Mark Dantonio, continue to play down the SEC at every available opportunity and poo-poo the idea that Kentucky's recruiting success in football is hurting them.

Keep whistling past the graveyard, boys. Has anyone but me noticed the roaring silence of ex-SEC coach Urban Meyer?

Perhaps it is time you go back and read the article or read it for a second time. It left many UK fans scratching their collective heads. After all, Michigan State got commitments from one Ohio player UK was also recruiting: Chris Frey.

Dantonio's outburst made me think he was simply complaining that Michigan St. was actually having to work harder to land Ohio recruits now instead of taking Ohio St. and Michigan leftovers like they have in the past. I took it to mean Kentucky has finally crossed the river and was giving the B1G a run for their money in the Buckeye State. I really didn't think all that much about it other than a "heh" with a grin. Just more B1G whinery. They've been doing a lot of that lately.

While that may have been part of it, it dawned on me this morning the real reason for Dantonio's outburst. This visitor on campus yesterday was none other than offensive lineman Nick Richardson from Westerville North HS. Michigan State wants Richardson very badly. After all, who can blame them? He's a Rivals (5.8) 4 star lineman and Rivals ranks him #11 at his position. 247 sports has him as a 3 star and the #36 player at his position. As you can in see his 247 Sports profile, he's a player anyone would want.

Like I said, the Spartans want Richardson badly and they are so desperate to get him that they have two guys recruiting him. One of them is Jim Tressel's nephew, Mike. What-EVer. Dantonio and MSU may be about to get Marrowed because Richardson is very interested in Kentucky. Could it be because our very own recruiting machine is working hard for another Ohio Yahtzee? Kinda makes you wonder.

Dantonio is further upset that Richardson has been a Kentucky "Lean" for quite some time, according to 247 Sports. And, their Crystal Ball feature has projected him to commit to Kentucky: 16 of 16 projectors: Cats 100% - MSU 0%. The projections are not always accurate, but they have a pretty good track record.

One of Dantonio's quotes from the article made me laugh, or as they say here in Florida, "lauwgh."

I go back to where I say, `what is the truth?' It's about the people. Most people in the Midwest want to play where their family can come see them play.

I did a little checking this morning and the driving distance between Ann Arbor East Lansing and Westerville is 245 miles. The driving distance between Westerville and Lexington is 206 miles. The horror of it all. Maybe Dantonio should rethink that one. (Edited)

If you are a Twitterer(er?), show this young man some BBN love. He would be a great addition to our program.

As Paul Harvey used to say on his radio show, "Now you know the rest of the story."

Go Cats!