How much guff do UK players from Louisville take over playing football for the Cats?
Quick hitters from the Olympics after-party:
21. Kentucky football recruiting in Louisville. Over its past three signing classes, UK has inked six Jefferson County high school stars. That’s double the number of prospects from The Ville signed by the University of Louisville in the same time frame.
20. From the 502 to the 859. At Kentucky football Media Day on Friday, I asked some of the Cats from Louisville what kind of treatment they get when they go home.
19. Izayah Cummings. The former Male High School star, who is making the transition from wide receiver to tight end, says time has made the reaction in Louisville to his choosing Kentucky more convivial. “I don’t even get a hard time from my parents anymore,” Cummings says, smiling.
18. JJ Weaver. The UK outside linebacker from Moore High School, working to return from a torn ACL, might have the highest talent ceiling of any player presently playing college football in Kentucky. When he goes back to The Ville, Weaver says “the city loves me. The city has got my back, regardless.”
17. John Young. The offensive lineman from Christian Academy of Louisville says he grew up a Kentucky fan and surprised no one when he chose the Cats. He says even his sister and her boyfriend, both U of L alumni, have come around. “They will even wear Kentucky gear to games,” Young says.
16. Remodeling “The Big Blue Wall.” Even as Kentucky is transitioning from an inside zone rushing attack to an outside zone blocking scheme for 2021, the 6-foot-6, 302-pound Young says the fundamental task for the UK offensive line is unaltered. “It’s always going to be trying to move somebody from point A to point B against their will,” Young says.
15. Darian Kinnard. For his senior year, Kentucky’s standout offensive tackle is expected to shift from his familiar spot at right tackle to become UK’s starting left tackle.
14. Old is new again. The 6-6, 315-pound Kinnard says, when one takes into account his high school career, he has actually played more left tackle than right.
13. Reverse actions. In shifting sides, Kinnard says the main adjustment is one has to retrain one’s body how to perform certain repetitive tasks. “Some muscle memory stuff, you get used to (how you do it on the right side of the line) for certain angles, certain ways you kick (out),” he says.
12. Dane Key. In the avidly watched recruitment of the class of 2022 Frederick Douglass High School wide receiver, Kentucky’s aces may be former Broncos stars and current UK freshmen Dekel Crowdus and Jager Burton. “Him and (class of 2023 Frederick Douglass defensive back) Ty Bryant, we are definitely trying to get them boys over here,” Crowdus reports.
11. Devon Key. The former Bryan Station High School and Western Kentucky University defensive back — Dane Key’s older brother — has apparently been turning heads as an undrafted free agent in Kansas City Chiefs training camp. On the Chiefs’ first depth chart, Key is listed second team at strong safety behind Tyrann Mathieu.
10. Kentucky women’s basketball recruiting. Coach Kyra Elzy and staff have now offered two in-state, high school freshmen-to-be.
9. Leah Macy. UK offered the 6-foot-1, class of 2025 forward from Bardstown High School while she was on an unofficial visit to the Kentucky campus this past weekend. Playing last season as an eighth-grader for the Elizabethtown High School varsity, Macy averaged 18.9 points and 12.7 rebounds.
8. A recruitment taking off. Kentucky is hardly the only school making an early play for Macy. Arizona, Georgia Tech, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are among only some of the schools who have also offered.
7. ZaKiyah Johnson. UK has also offered the 5-11 freshman-to-be wing for Sacred Heart Academy. Playing last season as an eighth-grader for Shelby County, Johnson averaged 21.8 points and 8.5 rebounds.
6. A recruitment taking off II. Johnson received offers from UK and Louisville last year. She has added Arizona, Florida, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Tennessee and UCLA, among many others, this summer.
5. UK’s Olympics bounty. Athletes with a connection to the University of Kentucky finished the Summer Games in Tokyo with an unprecedented 12 medals — eight gold, three silver and a bronze.
4. A year of firsts. This followed a 2020-21 in which UK won two team NCAA championships (rifle, women’s volleyball) in the same school year for the first time and also added Kentucky’s first-ever SEC team title in women’s swimming and diving.
3. A golf breakthrough. On Sunday, UK junior-to-be Jensen Castle became the first Wildcats golfer ever to win the United States Women’s Amateur championship.
2. Scott Padgett. You can add the former standout Kentucky Wildcats men’s hoops power forward (1994-99) to those who marvel at the all-around strength of the athletics program UK has built.
1. “Pretty cool to see.” Says Padgett: “When I was in school, it was (men’s) basketball and cheerleading winning championships. But, now, it’s like, (UK is) good at everything. It’s pretty cool to see what they are doing.”
