One of UK’s top football targets announces commitment to the Cats

Alex King became the latest high school football standout to commit to the University of Kentucky on Saturday, pushing the Wildcats past Alabama in the national recruiting rankings and signaling another major victory in the state of Ohio.

King — a 6-foot-3, 225-pound prospect from Mason, Ohio — is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 23 weakside defensive end in the class of 2017, but UK has targeted him as its biggest priority at the “jack” linebacker position. He is one of the most explosive pass rushers off the edge in the Midwest, and Rivals has given him its highest three-star designation.

The announcement gave UK a total of 11 commitments for the class of 2017, which Coach Mark Stoops said recently would be smaller than previous classes by the time it’s completed, and moved the Wildcats past Alabama in the 247Sports team rankings. UK now has the No. 1 recruiting class in the Southeastern Conference and the No. 6 class nationally.

The only schools with higher-ranked classes at this early stage in the recruiting cycle — still 10 months from national signing day — are Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma, Clemson and Notre Dame.

King had reported scholarship offers from Tennessee, Wisconsin and West Virginia, among several other top programs. He was one of three highly rated recruits from Ohio to visit Lexington last weekend, taking in the Wildcats’ open practice at Commonwealth Stadium.

Another player in that trio — four-star wide receiver Javonte Richardson — committed to Kentucky last Sunday. The third recruit is defensive back Tyrell Ajian, who ESPN ranks as a top-100 overall player in the class of 2017 and is still strongly considering Kentucky.

A 247Sports national analyst recently predicted that Ajian, too, will ultimately commit to the Cats.

Rivals.com ranks King as the No. 19 prospect from Ohio, and UK now has commitments from five of the top 30 recruits from that state for the class of 2017. The others are Richardson (No. 2), defensive end James Hudson (No. 7), and running backs Michael Warren (No. 28) and Bryant Koback (No. 29). Ajian is ranked as the No. 10 player in the state.

Vince Marrow is King’s primary recruiter for the Wildcats.

This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 1:08 PM with the headline "One of UK’s top football targets announces commitment to the Cats."