Though his first few seasons in Lexington were unimpressive in the win-loss column, Mark Stoops set about changing the way Kentucky recruited from day one. He developed a valuable Ohio pipeline while keeping some of the state’s best homegrown talent in the Bluegrass.

Nowhere is his makeover plan more apparent than the Wildcats defensive secondary. Stoops decided he was going to go after tall, physical corners and safeties to combat with the lanky speedsters all over the conference.

Stoops has pulled off several recruiting miracles that the Wildcats faithful may not had previously thought possible, including luring 6-foot-4 corner Chris Westry out of his Auburn commitment and to the brand new turf of Commonwealth Stadium.

That alone would have been enough to make the incredibly scrawny kid from Florida (his coach used to refer to him as ‘Bambi’) a campus legend, a la Matt Elam, but he has followed it up by bulking up to 185 pounds and contributing steady play to a unit many were suspicious of before the season.

His official coming-out party was a SEC Defensive Player of the Week performance during a Week 2 win at South Carolina. The outing included a game-sealing interception on a desperation bomb by South Carolina as the game wound down (he also recorded his first collegiate sack).

He has made several mistakes that one comes to expect from freshmen who line up against the top receivers in the country every down, but his physicality and size make him a tough matchup in jump-ball and single-coverage situations. Kentucky is a young team as a whole, and Westry should fill a Richard Sherman-like role for the Wildcats until the NFL comes calling.

The thumping the Wildcats received in Starkville last Saturday at the hands of Mississippi State was tough for fans to swallow for many reasons. In particular, Dak Prescott reaffirmed existing fears that the Wildcats are virtually incapable of stopping mobile quarterbacks.

Though Prescott had an impressive day, it was the freshman Westry who came up with the play the young (and depleted) Wildcats defense could hang its hat on. Prescott entered the game having thrown 274 consecutive passes without an interception, a streak which dated back to last season’s Orange Bowl. Westry, building upon his growing legend, picked off Prescott and ended the streak at 288 pass attempts.

The Wildcats are much better this season than in previous years, and fans have no reason to believe that the momentum will be slowing anytime soon. They have bowl eligibility in their sites, youth all across the depth chart and a solid recruiting class lined up for next year.

According to ESPN.com, Kentucky’s 2016 recruiting class is currently ranked just outside the top 25 (26th) after ranking 43rd last year. For 2016, UK already has 22 commits, the most in the SEC and 9th-most in the country.

Westry’s legend should grow even more as he continues to make big plays in games that will increase in meaning while the ‘Cats continue their rise.