Mark Stoops still has strong relationship with recruits

Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow with commit Treyveon Longmire of Corbin. (Twitter Photo)

About 36 hours after his team beat Louisville, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops was back on the road recruiting just as he promised he would be even with his name being mentioned in conjunction with other coaching jobs. Kentucky just finished regular-season play 9-3 and Stoops believes his 2022 recruiting class could be “dynamic”  based on recruits he has committed and others he hopes to add.

“I think it’ll be a little lower in numbers. You do have to keep some room with the (transfer) portal and with guys where you feel like you need some plug-and-play guys,” Stoops said.

“Development, recruiting in high school, recruiting and developing those players will always be the lifeblood of our program. But you have to also manage your roster.

“We have some players on our roster that have to look around and see if they can play somewhere else. And, we have to bring in some guys that we can feel can plug in and play at certain positions. That’s just the way it is now.”

He’s right. The transfer portal has changed recruiting. Kentucky filled needs at quarterback, linebacker, receiver, and offensive tackle in the portal last year. It will try to do the same, especially at cornerback, this offseason.

Stoops doesn’t believe having his name mentioned with jobs at Florida, LSU and Oklahoma will hurt recruiting.

“My relationship is strong with the prospects and always will be.  I can’t control that (i.e., being mentioned for other jobs).  I have no control over that.  I don’t want that out there, I don’t want that distraction, I don’t ask for that,” Stoops said.

“I can only control trying to win and build a program here. I think we can all understand I’ve been nothing but committed to doing that here and plan on doing that.”