Boyle County junior defensive lineman Tommy Ziesmer, one of the state’s top players, committed to Kentucky Saturday. (Photo by Twitter)
Tommy Ziesmer was busy having prom pictures made and did not hear his cell phone ring when his father drove over to tell him to answer his phone.
“The Big Dog (Kentucky recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow) had called. So had my parents,” said Ziesmer, a senior at Boyle County High School. “I knew I was messing up. I called Coach (Marrow) and told him I was sorry I didn’t hear the phone because I was busy taking pictures.”
Marrow was calling to put head coach Mark Stoops on the phone with with the talented defensive lineman who is one of the state’s top overall players in the 2023 recruiting class. The call obviously went well because Ziesmer then decided to announce his verbal commitment to Kentucky.
He had 10 scholarship offers — including West Virginia, Tennessee , Purdue and Louisville — but admitted Kentucky had been his “go-to school” from the start.
“I had not publicly put it out there but I was ready to commit. It’s the hometown school and was one of the first ones to offer me,” the 6-3, 250-pound Ziesmer said. “Coach Stoops and Big Dog both said they were proud of me and glad to have me.”
Ziesmer was a starter for state power Boyle his freshman year and after the season made a visit to Kentucky. He said “all the recruiting people knew me” and that wasn’t true at other schools on his first visit.
“At some places I might not get spoken to. When I was there (UK), they all knew me and all about me,” Ziesmer said.
He expects Kentucky to use him at multiple spots.
“They like my power and explosiveness and how quick I am off the ball,” the Boyle senior said. “They compare me a lot to Josh Paschal. That’s a pretty big honor.”
Paschal has been UK’s inspirational leader for three years and key playmaker. He recently was picked in the second round of the NFL Draft by Detroit.
Boyle coach Justin Haddix said UK coaches used the Paschal comparison with him, too.
“They are about the same size. Josh was about 265 I think and Tommy is 250 but once he gets in the weight room at UK he will develop into a big-time player,” the Boyle coach said. “He is just so physical. He has brought that since he’s been here. He dominates the game from a physical standpoint and usually shuts down a side. He never gets single blocked. I think he’s the best defensive lineman in the state.”
Last season he had 27 solo tackles, 34 assisted tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and five forced fumbles in 15 games. In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he had 21 solo stops, 21 assists, 13 tackles for loss, six sacks and two forced fumbles in only nine games.
Ziesmer immediately got a lot of calls and texts after making his commitment and said some family and friends had “suspicions” he might be ready to commit because he had been wearing UK blue all week.
Before that he was careful not to let on where he was favoring.
“I had to throw people off. So one day I might wear an Ohio State shirt and then the next day West Virginia, Tennessee or some other school,” he said.
He said the other school on him the heaviest was West Virginia where former Boyle all-state receiver Neal Brown is the head coach.
Ziesmer isn’t sure what he will do now about summer camps. Numerous schools had invited him to attend camps and he might go to some “just to showcase my talent again” because he enjoyed doing that in 2021.
“It’s also important to go against good competition like you see at camp to let me know what I still need to work on. Going up against good players does that for you,” he said.
“But committing takes the pressure off me for sure. These past few months have been stressful. Some schools were slow playing me and I did not want to get left in the dust. I knew Kentucky was right and I didn’t want to wait any longer.”
