Photo by UK Athletics
Maybe one reason I enjoy football recruiting more than basketball recruiting is that there are more ways for coaches to be creative because they have more scholarships and player projections by the recruiting analysts are not quite as accurate with football as they are with basketball.
Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is positioned for a monster recruiting class in 2023. But there is not a lot of suspense because he’s going after the top 15 players in the nation.
Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops has done a remarkable recruiting job to upgrade the talent level at UK but it is not all with four- or five-star players. Remember former national defensive player of the year Josh Allen was lightly recruited out of New Jersey. Kentucky’s all-time leading rusher, Benny Snell, didn’t get a scholarship offer from home state school Ohio State.
That’s why I liked two recent additions to the Kentucky football team.
The Cats got a commitment from cornerback Nasir Addison of New Jersey. The 6-1, 190-pound Addison picked UK over Mississippi and Michigan State and at one-time was verbally committed to Maryland. He was also heavily recruited by Florida State.
He’s also a receiver but is being recruited to play in the secondary because of his length and speed. Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White was UK’s lead recruiter for Addison, a three-star prospect. He was ranked by 247Sports Composite in the national recruiting rankings but not at cornerback. On3 has him as the No. 1,260 prospect in the 2023 recruiting class.
Kentucky has 13 commitments in the 2023 recruiting class, including defensive backs Ty Bryant of Lexington and Avery Stuart of Alabama.
Kentucky also apparently has a new defensive back on this year’s roster with the arrival of Londyn Craft. He played in 18 games at Mississippi State, including eight starts in 2020. However, he did not play in a game last season for coach Mike Leach.
Former Mississippi State defensive back Londyn Craft will spend his last year of college eligibility with the Cats. He will walk on to the team after eight starts in his 2020 junior season.
He is listed on the UK roster at UKathletics.com but there is no bio for him. Still, if he was good enough to start eight games at Mississippi State two years ago, what’s the harm in taking a chance if he wants to walk on the team.
