Vince Marrow still believes quarterback Will Levis could be the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL draft. (Vicky Graff Photo)
A year ago Kentucky associate coach/recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow was telling anyone who would listen how special quarterback Will Levis was going to be. Levis led UK to 10 wins, including a Citrus Bowl victory, and Marrow certainly has not backed off his praise of Levis.
“He could be the first pick in the (NFL) draft. No worse than No. 10,” Marrow said. “He can make a lot of throws. He’s big and physical. He can run.”
Marrow said Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, and Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud are both talented but Levis is bigger than both of them.
“He looks bigger than them. His ball comes out a lot better,” Marrow said. “Will is also such a great leader. Everything is 110 percent or more with him. You just sometimes have to slow him up because he gets so excited about everything.”
The Penn State transfer’s success has helped the UK football brand grow — or had until last week when John Calipari said UK was a “basketball school” that drew national attention as well as quick disagreement from Stoops and Marrow.
“I think we’re picking it up more in the north. It’s the same message that we have for the kids in Ohio and Michigan, ‘If you don’t go to Michigan, if you don’t go to Ohio State, come and play in the SEC. You’re still a four-star guy, come and play in the best conference,’” Marrow said a few days before Calipari’s remark.
“Now you’re starting to see guys from New Jersey, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, we’re branching our brand. But like Stoops always says, do not get it twisted, Kentucky and Ohio will still be our home base of where we go to recruit.”
3 Responses
Is UK is a football school or a basketball school?
It all depends on your definition of "xxx school" so until that definition is agreed upon the arguments from both sides are basically just "one person’s opinion" (which they are entitled to have whether we agree with it or not) and therefore the arguments are really meaningless.
Simply define "football school" before you say yes or no and based on that provided definition your answer of yes or no will be much more meaningful.
Sometimes the measure of a program’s success is measured on the degree of disappointment that is generated when goals are not met.
Until I at least see a SEC East Championshop Banner my vote is for "a basketball school" but that is just my opinion that is also shared by many others
My advice => Enjoy today’s blessings and be thankful you have multiple UK sports teams that make you proud to be a UK fan.
We are UK. We pull for all our teams. True fans won’t let off script regrettable comments like Cal’s detract from our support. Cal said he was sorry, and I think he is. The end. Now time for Mitch to fully embrace NIL. Reasonable minds can debate the merits of alcohol sales vs it’s effect on a family friendly game environment,
UK is a football school, and always has been because they play in a football driven and top notch football conference called the SEC That is just a little step away from the NFL. If you don’t think that is true, you are kidding yourself. Watch the Paul Finebaum show daily and see what most of the talk is about most everyday; It is football. Also, football is the largest revenue producer, and pays the bills I do believe.
Here is another fact, until fairly recently, other teams in the SEC looked at basketball as an after thought, and the talking heads looked at the SEC as a weak basketball league, remember? That has changed of course in the last 15 years, especially since Caliprai arrived. Teams in the SEC have hired excellent basketball coaches, and SEC basketball is no longer an automatic SEC championship for UK year in year out as the past has been.
If UK basketball had the won/lost history that UK football’s past includes, Rupp Arena would be half empty every season. On the other hand, UK football, even with their decades of losing history, have packed thousands in their seats at old Stoll field, at CWS starting under Fran Curci in 1973, to the shinny new Kroger field we have today, and do so win or lose every year, generally speaking. So UK, if we are honest is really a football school. John is right, UK fans pull for all their sports teams, but UK football fans are the most faithful year in year out, and prove it. That is a fact. Sorry roundball fans, Calipari is wrong again. Football baby!