Assessing Kentucky's 2015 class a week before signing day

While it may not stack up well against the rest of the SEC, Kentucky’s 2015 recruiting class indicates another monumental step forward for the Wildcats in their rebuilding efforts under head coach Mark Stoops.

Kentucky’s biggest recruiting victory this offseason was attracting recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow to stay put in the Bluegrass rather than departing to join Jim Harbaugh’s new coaching staff at Michigan. Marrow is a recruiting ace who has done wonders for UK’s recruiting efforts in his time with the Wildcats, and him choosing Kentucky over Michigan showed future high school talents that one day they can make the same choice.

With Marrow in place, Kentucky has hauled in six of the top 500 high school players in the nation, which doesn’t meet the standard set by last year’s class (Marrow’s first year with the team) but is still in the ballpark of the seven top-500 recruits UK signed over the three years prior to Stoops’ arrival in Lexington in late 2012.

Among those six top 500 commitments includes two four-star prospects, which matches the total number of four-stars UK signed in that same three-year window prior to the Stoops era. One of those prospects, linebacker Eli Brown, should fit into Mark Stoops’ defense nicely thanks to his athleticism and instincts from the middle of the field.

The other four-star prospect is tight end C.J. Conrad, who is one of four early enrollees from this year’s recruiting class (UK has two other early enrollees who transferred from Nebraska).

Those early enrollees should benefit UK greatly, as all four (including three of those top 500 players) will have an extra semester to learn the playbook, get acclimated to college living and gain rapport with teammates and coaches.

UK lost brothers David and Andrew Dowell, a four-star safety and a three-star tailback, respectively, earlier this week when they flipped their commitments from the Wildcats to the Michigan State Spartans. Their decommitments from Kentucky dropped the Wildcats’ class ranking from No. 33 to No. 41 in the 247Sports industry composite rankings.

Among the targets UK is still pursuing in the final days of the recruiting season, only one of which is rated higher than three-stars. The key for Kentucky to finish the recruiting process the right way is maintaining its commitments and not allowing more touted prospects to jump ship before signing day.

The class won’t match the 2014 recruiting class, which featured six four-star prospects among its 28 enrollees, but it will continue moving the program in the right direction as the players from Stoops’ first two classes continue to develop.

Take a look at how Kentucky’s current 2015 recruiting class breaks down as National Signing Day draws near:

ASSESSING KENTUCKY’S 2015 CLASS

Current commits or enrollees: 17 (avg. star 3.2)
Remaining primary targets: Marcus Lewis, ATH; Courtney Miggins, DT
National recruiting rank, SEC rank: 41st; 12th

Notable commits