Connect with us

FB Recruiting

Report: Mark Stoops Hiring Rising Texas A&M Recruiting Staffer

Published

on

Photo by Britney Howard | Staff

Mark Stoops has built the Kentucky football program to heights that many had thought were unattainable. Two key reasons for that are recruiting better players and hiring an excellent staff.

According to Football Scoop’s John Brice, Stoops is looking to improve in those areas even more by hiring Danielle Braswell as executive director of recruiting and will start immediately.

Braswell, originally an Auburn graduate, has risen through the ranks after holding positions on the recruiting staff at Auburn, Arkansas, and Texas A&M.

Advertisement

At Auburn, Braswell was a recruiting operations assistant for three seasons before becoming an athletic recruiter’s advisor for the 2015 season. She then moved on to Arkansas in 2018, where she took over as assistant director of on-campus recruiting, using that to springboard herself last season to Texas A&M where she held the same position.

Texas A&M just signed the no. 1 recruiting class in the country and one that is being touted as one of the best recruiting classes ever. With 30 commits, the Aggies are bringing in eight five-star recruits, nineteen four-star recruits, and a handful of three-star recruits, culminating in an average of 4.17.

With the hire of Braswell, I am sure that Stoops is hoping she can bring some of that success with her as executive director of recruiting.

According to 24/7 Sports, Kentucky currently has the 20th ranked class in the 2023 class.

Advertisement

FB Recruiting

Kentucky Transfer’s Father Speaks Out Against Kentucky Football Staff

Published

on

Destin Wade and Keaten Wade are transferring from Kentucky football.
UK Athletics

Now two days after the the transfer portal has opened, the Kentucky Wildcats have had a dozen players enter. Two of those players are the Wade twins, Destin and Keaten, who committed to Kentucky as a three-star quarterback and 4-star edge in the 2022 class.

The Wade twin’s father, Steve Wade, recently spoke to Maurice Patton of the Main Street Muary, a local Newspaper in Maury County, Tennessee about his sons’ decision to enter the portal.

As for why? “They (Kentucky) didn’t keep their promises up there. We’re not going to go for that,” Steve said. “I’m mainly talking about Destin, not Keaten.”

Advertisement

Two seasons into each of their collegiate career, one was on a path to success, while the other was not, unfortunately.

Keaten Wade, listed as a 6-foot-5, 250-pound sophomore outside linebacker, collected a total of 51 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a pass deflection in two seasons as a promising piece on the Kentucky defense. Destin Wade (6-3, 223) appeared in just one game at quarterback during his time at Kentucky, going up against Iowa in the Music City Bowl. In the game, he was 16-30 for just 98 yards, threw two pick-sixes, and only advanced in Iowa territory twice on 13 drives, going as far as the 36-yard line.

“They (Kentucky) threw him in that bowl game and never did give him a chance to redeem himself, under circumstances that nobody could have really did anything with, Iowa being the No. 2, No. 3 defense in the country,” Steve said. “We were promised by (Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam) Coen that Destin ‘was too good an athlete to just be sitting on the bench’. We did our part, we trusted in Kentucky to do theirs.”

Bringing in NC State transfer Devin Leary this season, Steve claims that Destin could have been just as good if he was given an opportunity to compete.

Advertisement

“Destin could have been just as good as that quarterback (Leary) we had this year,” Steve Wade said. “There’s nothing any of those guys sitting in that quarterback room couldn’t have done (that Leary did). They didn’t give him an opportunity to even compete. So we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. He’s got to get on the field somewhere.”

As far as Keaten, Steve was satisfied that he played, but not satisfied that he was not a starter. “They let Keaten play, but he still didn’t get the reps he should have gotten as being a starter,” Steve said.

One reason Steve gives as to why his sons didn’t play as much as they deserved was because of NIL, allowing “worthless” players to get more playing time just because they were paid.

“It makes it that much more difficult for kids that are on scholarship because they’re paying these other guys money to come in — They’re looking for those players to play,” he said. “The school’s going to play those guys, whether they’re worthless or not.

Advertisement

All the best to the Wade twins and their family, but this is simply some parental delusion as Steve Wade overestimates his sons’ talent.

Continue Reading

FB Recruiting

Kentucky Receives Commitment from Georgia Transfer QB Brock Vandagriff

Published

on

warms up before the start of the SEC Championship game against Alabama at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
© Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Kentucky Wildcats have found their quarterback for next season, and potentially the next two seasons. On Thursday morning, Georgia transfer quarterback Brock Vandagriff announced his commitment to Kentucky, with the caption “Ready to get to work.”

Vandagriff has been a name silently floated around since the end of the season as his sister plays volleyball at Eastern Kentucky and his father has a relationship with Liam Coen.

At Georgia the last three seasons, Vandagriff was a backup and saw limited action. However, he was a backup to some pretty good talent, first to Stetson Bennett who won back-to-back national titles with the Bulldogs, and Carson Beck this season who finished this season fourth nationally in passing yards.

Advertisement

Before his time at Georgia, Vandagriff was a five-star quarterback in the 2021 class, ranked as the 4th ranked QB overall by 247Sports’ Composite rankings. Holding offers from the top names in college football including Alabama and LSU, Vandagriff had his choice and originally committed to play for Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma before flipping to Georgia.

The talent is clearly there and there are not many better ways to gain preparation than by practicing against one of the best defenses in college football the last three seasons.

Kentucky will also add 2024 four-star Cutter Boley to the QB room for next season and another transfer for depth whom the staff is still searching for. That said, just two days after the portal opened, Kentucky has filled one of their biggest needs, if not the biggest, of this offseason.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

FB Recruiting

BREAKING: Kentucky Football Flips Running Back from Cincinnati

Published

on

Kentucky football has received a commitment from three-star running back Jason Patterson.
UK Athletics

Hours ahead of when five-star basketball prospect Jayden Quaintance is supposed to announce his decision, which is expected to be Kentucky, the Kentucky football program received a commitment of their own.

Three-star running back prospect, Jason Patterson, flipped his commitment from Cincinnati to Kentucky on Tuesday morning, citing “I’m home.”

Patterson is a prospect that Kentucky has wanted for a while and for good reason. He led Florida in rushing last season with 2,721 yards and 35 TD. Kentucky certainly put a lot of effort in and was thought the be the leader for Patterson for a long time. That is why it was a surprise when he committed to Cincinnati in early August. Since then the Kentucky staff and some commits have put the pressure on, ultimately leading to the flip.

Advertisement

One such commit UK quarterback commitment is Cutter Boley. Patterson and Boley have been close friends for a long time and have maintained their friendship through their respective recruitments.

With the addition of Patterson, Kentucky’s class ranking has jumped from 21st to 20th nationally, and still ranks 11th in the SEC (including Oklahoma and Texas).

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending