Several of UK’s top football recruiting targets show up for Georgia game

UK hosted several of its top recruiting targets for Saturday night’s game against Georgia at Commonwealth Stadium.

The guest list included UK commitments Austin Dotson, Alex King and Javonte Richardson, as well as a large group of highly touted prospects that the Wildcats’ coaching staff would love to add to the commitment list. There were nearly 275 high school players in all at the game.

Here’s a list of some of the other high-profile recruits that the Herald-Leader spotted on the field before Saturday night’s game:

Lynn Bowden (2017): One of the best football prospects in the state of Ohio; Bowden, who also visited UK this summer, is ranked by Rivals, Scout and 247Sports as a four-star recruit; 247Sports pegs him as the No. 5 athlete, and he can play a number of offensive skill positions as well as defensive back; UK has emerged as the Crystal Ball leader for the 6-1 player; Michigan State and Penn State are also high on his list.

Ayinde Eley (2017): Committed to Maryland – his home-state school – but Vince Marrow visited him recently and Eley is very interested in the Wildcats; Scout.com ranks him as a four-star recruit and the No. 19 outside linebacker in the 2017 class; He attends Mid-Atlantic powerhouse Good Counsel (Md.), the alma mater of UK linebacker Kobie Walker.

Joshua Paschal (2017): Also attends Good Counsel (Md.) and is the younger brother of former Kentucky player TraVaughn Paschal; All of the major recruiting services rank Joshua Paschal as a four-star player, and Rivals.com pegs him as the No. 8 strongside defensive end in the senior class; Top schools include Oklahoma, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Maryland; Was formerly recruited by ex-UK assistants Tommy Mainord and Andy Buh; Vince Marrow is now in charge of his recruitment.

BJ Sharpe (2017): Three-star prospect ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 35 strongside defensive end in the 2017 class; Macon, Ga., native also visited UK for the South Carolina game earlier this season and a camp over the summer; He told the Herald-Leader a few days ago that UK and Western Kentucky are his top two schools.

Jairus Brents (2018): The No. 1 junior in the state of Kentucky; Brents plays for Waggener in Louisville and earned a scholarship offer from the Cats before his eighth grade year; Scout.com, ESPN and 247Sports all rank him as a four-star recruit and a top-20 cornerback nationally in the 2018 class; Michigan State, Tennessee, Louisville and Wisconsin have all offered; Michigan could be the next major school to extend a scholarship offer; (Brents was en route to UK after Tennessee earlier in the day).

L’Christian Smith (2018): Four-star recruit is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 1 athlete, No. 2 player from Ohio and No. 33 prospect nationally in the 2018 class; Scout, ESPN and 247Sports all list Smith as a wide receiver; The 6-5, 215-pound prospect has offers from Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and several others; He’s a teammate of Alex Reigelsperger, another highly touted 2018 recruit who has visited UK several times.

Alex Reigelsperger (2018): ESPN ranks him as a four-star recruit and the No. 12 defensive end in the 2018 class; This will be his seventh visit to UK over the past several months; Pittsburgh, Iowa and Purdue are among the other schools that have offered.

D’Andre Litaker (2018): All of the major recruiting services rank the Murfreesboro, Tenn., native as a four-star player; Rivals and Scout both rank him as the No. 10 defensive tackle nationally in the 2018 class; More than half of the SEC has already extended scholarship offers to Litaker, and Tennessee and Georgia are considered possible early favorites.

Cameron Hoelscher (2018): Three-star linebacker from Ohio; UK was the first program to extend a scholarship offer; Rivals.com ranks Hoelscher as the No. 14 inside linebacker in the 2018 class.

Bryan Hudson (2019): 247Sports ranks Hudson as the No. 11 offensive tackle and No. 93 prospect nationally in the 2019 class; He has already attended several UK games, and the Cats were the first team to offer him a scholarship; Louisville has since offered and other major programs are showing interest; Plays for Scott County in Georgetown.

This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Several of UK’s top football recruiting targets show up for Georgia game."