247Sports ranks UK commitment Landon Young as a five-star recruit

Lafayette offensive lineman Landon Young was named a five-star recruit in the class of 2016 by 247Sports.com on Friday.

Young — a 6-foot-7, 300-pound prospect — committed to Kentucky in 2013 and will be eligible to officially sign with the Wildcats next month. He will join the program in June.

247Sports now ranks Young as the No. 12 prospect nationally in the class of 2016. He is the third-best offensive tackle among high school seniors, according to the final rankings.

Young earned praise from recruiting analysts for his performance at last week’s nationally televised Army All-American Bowl and the practices that preceded it. 247Sports named him the No. 1 offensive lineman at the event earlier this week.

“He has great length and athleticism,” 247Sports director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong told the Herald-Leader. “He’s your prototype when you’re describing left tackle prospects.”

Wiltfong explained that 247Sports ranks 32 players from each class as five-star prospects, because there are 32 first-round picks in the NFL Draft.

“If a player gets that fifth star, we think he has that kind of capability,” he said.

Going into Army Bowl week, Rivals.com ranked Young higher than any other major recruiting service — at No. 54 nationally. Rivals is scheduled to release its final five-star rankings Monday.

According to the online records of each major recruiting service, UK has signed only two five-star football players during the era of recruiting rankings: Micah Johnson (2006) and Matt Elam (2014).

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 2:38 PM with the headline "247Sports ranks UK commitment Landon Young as a five-star recruit."