Both of you who have been here from the beginning know that we're not big on the crazy and increasingly creepy world of recruiting, but even paying only peripheral attention over the past several months has made it impossible to overlook that all is not going well for the Cards in this area.
U of L currently has eight commitments from the class of 2009, seven high school seniors and one junior college player. The average star rating of these players (1-5 scale) on Rivals.com is 2.13. These two factors leave Louisville sitting at No. 90 (eat it, Temple) in the site's current class rankings.
Given all of this, I found Jody Demling's blog post on Central linebacker Tim Patterson today particularly troubling.
He's a nice size kid with great speed and a lot of ability. Despite having Kentucky commitments Ridge Wilson and Mister Cobble also on defense, it has been Patterson who has led the Yellowjackets in tackles each of the past two seasons.
Patterson has a very impressive list of schools already watching his progress.
Central coach Ty Scroggins said Kentucky has already offered and Patterson said "I've been thinking about them since the made the offer." It's his only offer at this time.
But Scroggins also said "just about everybody has called," including Southern California, Alabama, Oregon and Tennessee. The coach said Patterson has not heard from Louisville and the player noted "I'm a Louisville fan."
Patterson was the only Kentucky player listed by Rivals.com on its top 250 high school football players to watch from the Class of 2010.
Really?
The man has made 115 solo tackles in 12 games while playing on a defense that also boasts a pair of guys who will be smacking pads in the SEC this time next year, and he apparently wants to come to Louisville.
But that's OK, it's not like we could use any help at linebacker. The vast experience and talent currently present at the position has been well documented since the beginning of last summer. Plus, it's so hard to find and get in contact with talented kids playing so well at high schools in your own city.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to engage in some light afternoon reading.