Does speed on the track translate to the football field? Kentucky is about to find out.

As Kentucky continues to build a roster able to compete year in and year out in the Southeastern Conference, speed is becoming a commodity necessary to move up in class.

In finishing 10-3 and winning the Citrus Bowl last season, the Wildcats got a look at their potential future through the legs of now-NFL wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson.

As a result, more fast guys are on the way.

Two of those, incoming freshmen Barion Brown from Tennessee and Jordan Anthony from Mississippi, were among the fastest recruits in the nation.

The tie that binds them? Both enjoyed stellar track and field careers as high school sprinters.

During his senior year at Nashville’s Pearl-Cohn High School, Brown won four Tennessee state titles in Class A. He won individual championships in the boys’ 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes and was the anchor for the winning 800 relay team. He covered the 100 meters in 10.83 seconds.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Brown, who was named Tennessee’s Mr. Football in Class 4A after last season, also won the 100 and 200 at last year’s state meet.

Anthony, from Tylertown, Miss., is one of the fastest high school athletes ever, clocking a 10.14-second 100-meter dash time that places him among the top 10 in history nationally, according to Track and Field News.

Anthony won the under-20 200-meter title in 20.34 at the U.S. outdoor championships Saturday to earn a spot at the U20 world championships in Cali, Colombia, in August.

The 5-foot-11, 160-pound Anthony plans to compete in both football and track at UK.

But how does running track correlate to success on the football field?

According to Brown’s high school track coach, Andre Davis, running track has been crucial to building the four-star football recruit’s strength and has taught him how to utilize his speed.

“(Track) helps with the fluidness of route running and the mechanical part of it,” Davis said.

Aside from helping to master the basics of playing wide receiver, track is an individual sport that requires a different approach than a team sport.

“You run against yourself,” said Elie Brunetti, Brown’s football coach at Pearl-Cohn. “It’s not really against other opponents. It’s you working on your fundamentals and you pushing yourself as an individual to be the best you can be.”

Brunetti said track promotes self-determination, drive and desire.

Anthony and Brown have responded well to the mental side of track, with both athletes steadily improving their times throughout high school.

Brown ran an 11.16 in the 100 as a freshman. He won the state title as a senior at 10.83. Anthony’s first official 100-meter time as a high schooler was 11.46 seconds.

Both players’ high school coaches described them as football players who just happened to be naturally fast. Those gifts translated easily to the track.

Plenty of schools took notice of both receivers’ speed. Brown received scholarship offers from Alabama, Texas A&M, Georgia and LSU, among many others. Ole Miss and Mississippi State fought hard to keep Anthony in the state, but Kentucky eventually won out over the likes of Florida State and Tennessee, as well.

In attempting to fill the gap created by Robinson’s departure, Brown and Anthony will be joined in Lexington this fall by another freshman wide receiver who ran track in Brandon White out of Cincinnati, himself having finished third in the 100 at the Ohio Division I state championships.

Already on campus is four-star freshman Dane Key from Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington. Hw is projected by many as an instant starter after an impressive spring of practices. Key also excelled at baseball in high school.

Former coaches for Anthony and Brown are confident that both athletes are ready to take on the challenges of playing in football’s most talent-rich conference.

Anthony’s high school football coach, Osborne Holmes, is positive that UK will like what it sees.

“He’ll work hard for the coaches, both track and football,” Holmes said. “In the end, they’re going to get everything they expect out of him.”

Brown’s coach shared a similar sentiment.

“With what college football requires mentally and physically,” Davis said, “I think (Brown) can handle it. I expect him to be out there.”