UK football lands commitment from Belfry lineman Austin Dotson

Belfry offensive lineman Austin Dotson received a scholarship offer from the University of Kentucky while on campus Saturday for the program’s latest junior day event.

He promptly accepted, becoming UK’s eighth football commitment for the recruiting class of 2017.

Dotson — a 6-foot-6, 290-pound offensive tackle — is an under-the-radar recruit who is still not well known outside of eastern Kentucky. He does not have a player page on any of the national recruiting websites, and major college programs were just now starting to find out about him.

Tennessee was one school showing interest. Marshall and Florida Atlantic recently offered.

UK’s coaches feel like they got an early steal.

“I’m really happy for him,” said Belfry head coach Philip Haywood. “We knew that he had a lot of potential. He’s just improved by leaps and bounds over the course of the last year. I think, as the season went on and more people started seeing him play, they realized that this guy is a pretty good football player.”

The film from Dotson’s junior season shows a player who gets a quick first step off the line and often excels at blocking in open space.

Haywood says Dotson, who is still just 16 years old, started as a sophomore and has always been a physically strong player. He added that he improved on his speed and quickness as much as anything during his junior year.

“He’s a very physical kind of kid,” he said. “And, of course, we’re more of a running team. You’re not going to see too many pass blocks on (film). But he’s got the feet and the arms that colleges look for in tackles.”

Dotson is UK’s first offensive line commitment for the class of 2017. The Cats’ top remaining uncommitted target in that group — Lafayette’s Jedrick Wills — is ranked by Rivals.com as a five-star player and the No. 3 offensive tackle in the country.

Wills has been a frequent visitor to UK over the past year.

Belfry’s roster also includes offensive lineman Cole Bentley and defensive lineman Ray Horton, two more class of 2017 recruits that UK has been evaluating for possible scholarship offers.

The Pirates rolled to their third consecutive state championship in December, and Haywood said Dotson blossomed during that postseason.

“He had a great playoff run,” he said. “And he played very well in the state championship game. He was a very dominant player. And I think coaches just started noticing him more. And maybe a couple of tapes got floating around out there and they said, ‘Hey, look at this guy.’

“Plus, he has that 6-6 frame that coaches are looking for. I think with that, plus his athletic ability, people started saying they needed to take a closer look at this guy.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "UK football lands commitment from Belfry lineman Austin Dotson."