Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: 2021 Football Class Looking Great Edition

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, and welcome to the Tuesday Morning Quickies.

Kentucky’s 2021 football recruiting class is off to a rousing start that got even better over the weekend with the commitment of Lexington Fredrick Douglass star lineman Jager Burton, a 4-star offensive lineman that had been recruited by … almost everybody east of the Mississippi including Alabama and Clemson.

His high school teammate, 4-star WR Dekel Crowdus and the highest-ranked player in 2021 so far, committed back in May. Kentucky now has a 2021 class that includes 16 total commitments including two 4-stars (Rivals), 12 3-stars, 1 2-star and a JUCO transfer. What I like is the constant attention the Wildcats are giving to the lines, and so far this season, particularly the offensive line with 3 commitments all over 6’4” and 270 lbs. These guys are coming in with good size, and their frames suggests they can take on a whole lot more during development.

The lines are the main area Kentucky has had consistency problems recruiting prior to the Mark Stoops/Vince Marrow era. Marrow in particular has had great success getting the right kinds of players in the trenches, and we have seen what dividends a good line pays the last two seasons. Kentucky has always recruited good players at skill positions and fairly often good linebacking and defensive backfields, but pre-Stoops Kentucky struggled on the lines. That seems to be a fading problem. Good to see.

Tweet of the Morning

Ugh. It isn’t bad enough the darn thing is running in… September? Wha? I guess we should be happy it’s running at all, but…

And…

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Vince Marrow thinks that UK not being in the pre-season top 25 is “a joke.” Yeah, but Kentucky football getting no respect from sportswriters is something of a tradition with them, and it isn’t going to change with a couple of great seasons.

Kentucky basketball

• Ben Roberts talks about what Jai Lucas brings to Kentucky basketball.
• Kenny Walker talks about the head-scratching performance of his Wildcats team back in 1984 versus Georgetown in the Final Four. That’s one of those games I remember far too well for my own comfort. I was in Newport News, Virginia at the time serving in the US Navy, and I remember watching it with my then-girlfriend (who would later become my wife) and thinking what a poor introduction to Kentucky basketball that was for her.

College football

• Will Jacksonville tempt Dabo Swinney away from Clemson?
• Auburn (Kentucky’s game 1 opponent) banking on Bo Nix and a successful overhaul of their lines to bring home the bacon this season.

College basketball

• Former Herald-Leader columnist Gene McLean remembers coach Lute Olson. Rest in peace, Lute.

Other sports news

• The Jaguars’ Josh Allen could become an elite pass rusher this year. This year or in another year or two, it’s going to happen.

Other news

• Could wormholes be a thing? Some scientists think so.
• To be fair, they destabilize a lot of things. Cosmic Rays could destabilize quantum computers.
• NIH: New gene associated with reduced risk for cirrhosis.