Top recruits expected to attend UK’s Blue-White Spring Game on Saturday

Plenty of highly touted football recruits are planning to be at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday for the University of Kentucky’s Blue-White Spring Game.

The guest list includes several of the Wildcats’ early commitments for the class of 2017, as well as the top-rated prospect left on their recruiting wish list for next year.

Starting locally, Lafayette quarterback Walker Wood told the Herald-Leader on Friday that he and teammate Jedrick Wills are both planning to attend the game.

Wood committed to the Cats last fall and could be a fit at several different positions at the college level, though he will be given a shot to play quarterback.

Wills is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 16 overall prospect nationally and the No. 3 offensive tackle in the class of 2017. He has scholarship offers from Alabama, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and several other major programs, but UK is thought by many recruiting analysts to be the leader for his commitment.

Both players are former high school teammates of five-star offensive lineman Landon Young, who will be a freshman at UK next season.

The Cats’ other in-state commitment, Belfry offensive tackle Austin Dotson, is also expected to attend Saturday’s spring game.

As usual, UK is planning to host a number of talented recruits from the state of Ohio.

Class of 2017 commitments Alex King, James Hudson and JaVonte Richardson are all on the guest list. King — a three-star jack linebacker — is the Cats’ most recent commitment, announcing his pledge just two weeks ago.

Hudson and Richardson are both ranked among the top 250 prospects nationally in the class of 2017, according to Rivals.com.

Rivals ranks Richardson — a 6-foot-4 wide receiver — as the No. 84 overall player in the class. Young is the only UK signee in the Mark Stoops era to be ranked higher by that recruiting service.

Four-star quarterback Mac Jones will not be at Saturday’s scrimmage, but his absence has nothing to do with the scholarship offer from Alabama earlier this week. Jones’ high school prom is this weekend, so he’ll be staying home in Florida.

Knowing he’d miss the spring game, Jones flew to Lexington earlier this month to take in a day of spring practice and meet with the Wildcats’ coaching staff. He raved about that visit in an interview with the Herald-Leader later in the day.

Another high-profile UK commitment, four-star athlete Russ Yeast, told the Herald-Leader that he will not be able to attend the game because he’s participating in a high school track meet. Yeast is the son of former UK star Craig Yeast.

The Blue-White Spring Game is scheduled to start at noon.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Top recruits expected to attend UK’s Blue-White Spring Game on Saturday."