Kanter, who originally hails from Turkey, has spent this past year at Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif., after winning MVP honors in the 2009 Under-18 European Championship. “Big Tank” Kanter had originally signed on to play at Washington,\ but reopened his recruitment process last month.

Kanter visited Lexington on March 7th to witness UK’s Senior Day and was completely won over.

Kentucky fans are certainly living in the now these days. With a potential 8th National Title knocking on the door in the upcoming weeks, not too many members of Big Blue Nation are worrying about next season.

Even though Kanter’s signing might not make that big of a splash due to the timing of his commitment, it certainly helps add some much needed depth in UK’s frontcourt for next Winter.

Unless circumstances cause SEC Freshman of the Year DeMarcus Cousins or junior forward Patrick Patterson to remain a Cat for one season, UK has a huge void to fill in the frontcourt. Though Daniel Orton appears to be the heir apparent at the center position, there has been open debate about who will fill up the four spot.

The 6’9, 240, Kanter has been put in the conversation over night along with junior Josh Harrellson and potential 5-star recruit C.J. Leslie to be one of UK’s frontcourt starters next season.

Kanter joins 6’5 swingman Stacey Poole in Big Blue’s 2010 basketball class.

4 Star tight end Alex Smith, 3 Star running backs Branden Gainer and Miles Simpson, and 3 Star linebacker Tim Patterson all joined the UK fold this morning bringing its total signees up to 26.

This sudden surge of signing talent has jumped UK’s class to 48th in the nation according to Rivals.com. Though this ranking is lower than the 2009 class, Phillips and the rest of his staff have done an excellent job turning on the after burners since January to bag recruits.

In early January, brought in new offensive and defensive line coaches Mike Summer and David Turner to help the UK coaching staff can an edge in the recruiting field.

However, the Cats naturally didn’t get every recruit they went after. 4 Star running back Rajaan Bennet decided to side with Vanderbilt, 3 Star middle linebacker Jonathon Brown joined Illinois, and 3 Star athlete and Lagrange, Ga product Jamius Gunsby chose USF over UK.

But, there are still two unknowns that havent decided where they want to play their college ball: 4 Star cornerback Anterio Sloan, 4 Star defensive tackle Todd Chandler, and 3 Star cornerback Joeseph Byrd.
Sloan was committed to UK but quickly reopened his options after Rich Brooks’ retirement and Chandler has UK in his top three along with cross-state rival Louisville. Byrd has expressed some interest in Big Blue but he is the least likely to sign with the Cats in 2010.

UK’s class ranks 10th in the SEC ahead of Arkansas and Vanderbilt and ranks second-to-last in stars/recruit with a 2.77 according to Rivals.com.

RECRUIT POSITION STARS

Mychal Bailey DB 2
Tyler Brause QB 3
Alvin Davis DE 3
Nermin Delic DE 3
Mike Douglas DE 3
Teven Eatmon OL 2
Branden Gainer RB 3
Josh Gibbs (JC) DB 3
Justin Henderson DE 3
Farringon Huquenin DE 2
Jabrari Johnson LB 3
Brice Laughlin DT 3
Joe Mansuer K 2
Tim McAdoo DT 3
Malcolm McDuffin (KY) LB 3
Tim Patterson (KY) LB 3
Jerrell Priester ATH 3
Tyler Robinson TE 2
Donte Rumph (JC) DE 3
Raymond Sanders RB 3
Ronnie Shields TE 2
Eric Simmons DB 2
Miles Simpson (KY) RB 3
Alex Smith TE 4
Dale Trimble DB 3
Avery Williamson LB 3

Gates takes good paths when run blocking has the size to be able to seal off SEC linebackers. Though his hat-level is high at times, he is still able to generate a great deal of leverage in the run game, but he will not be able to get away with that facing hosses in college. He appears to come off the ball exceptionally well and move decently for his stature. One thing that stood out about Gates was the fact that he gets really front-heavy when drive blocking, something speedy DEs who stunt and rip can take advantage of.

Pass blocking, Gates isn’t too spectacular. He is good at stopping a rushers intitial move but often stops his feet and gets beat on the edge.

Gates is the Cats 24th committment for the 2010 class but only UK’s second O-lineman. The Cats have four senior offensive linemen and desperatley need to fill the void in the trenches or else Joker Phillips’ offensive will struggle.

Hailing from Florida, Douglas chose UK over Indianna, Cinncinatti, Iowa, Iowa State, Missouri, Pudue, and homestate Central Florida, Florida Atlantic, and Florida International.

Douglas, 6’5 225, runs a 4.6 40-yard dash.

Davis, 6’3 233 with a 4.6 40 time, is on course to play tight end according to his head coach Ken Whalen, but there are also possibilities that he could play fullback, defensive end, or linebacker for the Cats

Freshman Morgan Newton was a key part of UK's Top 50 recruiting ranking last year. Photo by Adam Wolffbrandt

But, the Cats’ class is ranked third-worse in the SEC only ahead of Arkansas and Vanderbilt and has the worst average star-per-recruit rating with a 2.32.

Last year’s class was ranked the 41st best, thanks highly to four stars Morgan Newton, Ryan Mossakowsi, DeQuin Evans, and Chris Matthews.

UK’s best-rated recruiting class was the 2006 class (For the most part, this year’s seniors) that was the nation’s 36th best. Since Rich Brooks and Co. have been at the helm, UK’s recruiting classes average around 57th, so this year’s class is par for UK’s standards.

But, as in the NFL Draft, many recruits can be huge busts or hidden gems. Andre Woodson’s, Jacob Tamme’s, and Keenan Burton’s class in 2003 was only rated 63rd in the nation, yet the Wildcats had their best offensive squad in nearly a decade and help lead UK to two consecutive bowl births. However, big name signees as Micah Jones, Demitrius Goode, and D.J. Stafford didn’t nessesarily have all the hype their four-stars entailed while at UK.

It doesn’t take a John Madden, or even an Eric Mangini, to tell you that the Cats are on the verge of reaching that next level of prestige and respect around the NCAA. Even Schllllurin’ Lou Holtz has the Cats as an “average team”.With close defeats to South Carolina, Mississippi St., and arch-rival Tennesse this season, the Cats are a few big plays away from that 9 or 10 win season stage. Sometimes you have to look past the starters and look at the reserve players to examine a team’s talent level. UK does have solid starters, but not a great deal of depth around the roster.

Brooks has certainly built a solid foundation at UK, but in order for the Cats to continue to rise up the SEC ladder, more talent is needed. Coaching can only go so far, and if the Cats cannot escape the bottom of the SEC recruiting barrel, don’t expect any 9 or 10 win seasons.wp-image-146″ />[/caption] ]]> http://bluenationblog.com/2009/12/08/cats-class-cracks-top-60/feed/ 0 http://bluenationblog.com/2009/12/08/cats-add-another-dt-for-2010/ http://bluenationblog.com/2009/12/08/cats-add-another-dt-for-2010/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:17:07 +0000 Clark Brooks http://bluenationblog.com/2009/12/08/cats-add-another-dt-for-2010/ The UK football team has signed three-star defensive tackle Brice Laughlin according to CatsPause.com. The Summerville, SC product is the second DT the Cats have signed this fall. Laughlin, who originally had a verbal to Maryland last May, is rated the 60th best DT by Rivals.com.

Against the run, Laughlin appears to have a good initial launch off the line and closes down the line exceptionally well when hes an end. His technique, however, is only average. Since he closes well, he is often left out of positon on counters, traps and sweeps toward his side and often uses his strength instead of good technique to defeat blockers. When Laughlin lined up as a DT, he seemed more hesitant to come off the ball and engage the O-Line. If the Cats plan to use the 280 lb Laughlin at DT, they need to teach him solid fundamentals in order for him to be effective in the run game.

Pass rushing, he has a good motor off the edge, but only seems to have one pass rush move: the outside rip. Though he has good size and decent speed in high school, in order to be a more effective puss rusher for the Cats, Laughlin might want to utilize a bull rush or a club to his arsonal. This kid benches 360 pounds and squats 450, so it would be smart for him to start using his strength better in gettng after the QB like he does against the run.

Since he has great initial speed and great strenth, Laughlin has great tools to build off of to make a great addition to UK. Right now he just has raw talent that, over time, can be coached into a solid player on Steve Brown’s D.