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The Kentucky Wildcats are on a nice hot streak with their 2019 class, but it just suffered a loss ahead of the early signing period.
Junior college defensive lineman Taures Payne is no longer a member of Kentucky’s 2019 class, according to KSR and Cats Illustrated.
A 6-4, 265-pound defensive end, Payne hails from Northwest Mississippi Community College. He held scholarship offers from the Maryland Terrapins, Houston Cougars and UCF Knights among others before picking Kentucky this past summer. He also now holds an offer from the Florida Gators, who have been getting buzz in this recruitment lately.
This past season, Payne racked up 33 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He’ll likely stick to defensive end at UK. Offensive line coach John Schlarman is listed as the lead recruiter by Rivals.
This is a tough loss for Kentucky at a position of need with so many defenders graduating. Alas, Mark Stoops still has his program in great position for a great finish to this class with guys like Jared Casey and Jared Weaver still on the board.
Still, it would be a tough pill to swallow if Payne ends up at Florida and Kentucky has to face him in the coming years.
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