Simon Kenton offensive lineman Aba Selm knew there was no need to wait any longer to commit to UK

screenshot-734

Aba Selm (61) is a big presence on both offense and defense for Simon Kenton.

Aba Selm enjoyed the recruiting process and had plenty of college options but knew there really was not any reason to prolong making a decision.

That’s why the 6-4, 290-pound Simon Kenton High School junior offensive lineman told Kentucky coach Mark Stoops he was committing to Kentucky Saturday and then made his choice public Thursday.

“I was already planning on committing there, so when I was up there (Saturday for Junior Day) I thought I might just as well commit then,” said Selm. “There was no point wasting the other schools’ time. I knew I was going to Kentucky.”

Selm is rated among the nation’s top 30 interior offensive linemen by 247Sports. He had offers from Penn State, Illinois, Missouri and Louisville with more offers likely to have come this spring/summer. However, Kentucky was his first Power Five scholarship offer in September and it was not that hard for recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow and offensive line coach Zach Yenser to close the deal.

“Coach Yenser visits me at the school at least once a week. He’s calling me. He’s a great coach and person,” Selm said. “Coach Marrow is a great guy and tells you right to your face if you’ve got it or not. He is a guy that you want to be around and work with.

“The staff at Kentucky is just better than any other staff. The relationships I built are great. It is a high standard at UK but you will work toward reaching that.”

Selm didn’t grow up dreaming of playing for UK like the Cats’ other 2024 commitment, Hayes Johnson of Taylor County, even though his family are UK fans. He watched Kentucky but was more into baseball than football.

He jokes he was “skinnier” as a kid before his baseball photos — he mainly played first base and outfield — showed him getting bigger and bigger. His father put him into football at age 11 when he gave up baseball. He added basketball to go with football in middle school but after numerous ankle sprains his freshman year of high school he gave up basketball, too.

“They ran me so much in basketball in middle school because I was fat,” he laughed and said. “But it was great to play more than one sport and probably helped my footwork even though I still work that every day now.”

He knows Johnson and talked to him a “little bit” Saturday in Lexington before he told Stoops he was committing. The two future Cats also ate together and talked more after his commitment.

“It’s great to have him also. We are both pretty big offensive linemen and I am hoping to build a really great relationship with him now and we know things are just getting started for us,” Selm said.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Loading...