[LeeCoUKFan]

Texas QB Stidham has Kentucky ties

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Jarrett Stidham has never been a starting quarterback at the varsity high school level but he's already being hyped as one of the top signal callers in Texas from the Class of 2015.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound prospect from Stephenville, Texas, already has offers from Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor from his current state of residence.

He's also got an offer from Kentucky, and he may have more ties to UK than any of the schools previously mentioned.

"I was born in Corbin and when I was three or four we moved to Richmond," Stidham told Cats Illustrated. "I lived there 'til the summer of 2005 right before I turned nine when we moved out here. My dad's whole side of the family lives in Corbin and the London area and we've got friends in Richmond.

"We actually always go up there for Christmas or at least once every summer. This past Christmas we were there."

Stidham is very familiar with the Kentucky football program as well.

"I grew up a Wildcat fan, basketball and football," he said. "We used to have season tickets to all the football games. That (offer) was definitely special."

But the connections to Kentucky don't end there. Stidham also has some history with a couple of the coaches on the Wildcats' staff.

"Coach (Tommy) Mainord used to coach over here at a college in Stephenville," he said. "He did that and then him and coach (Neal) Brown were over at Texas Tech. Last summer I went to a three-day camp at Texas Tech and they started recruiting me then. I got to see some of the Tech games during the fall and started building a relationship with coach Mainord and coach Brown a little bit."

Stidham said he plans to return to Kentucky on July 19 for a recruiting event that figures to be a big one for the Wildcats.

In spite of all those ties Stidham said he doesn't have any favorites and couldn't say how high UK is on his list.

"I really don't know but that honestly goes for just about every school," Stidham said. "I don't have a list or a favorite or whatever you want to call it. I'm interested in everyone that's interested in me."

The Lone Star prospect has never started as a varsity high school quarterback because Stephenville had a senior behind center that has since signed with Texas State.

Stidham showed off his athleticism as the team's second most productive receiver, totaling more than 50 receptions for 820 yards and 11 touchdowns.

He was recently clocked at 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

"I'm a dual-threat (quarterback) definitely," Stidham said. "As a passer there's always room to get a quicker release or spin it better, to get your elbow higher or all that stuff. I still have a strong arm but there's always room for improvement.

"I'm only being recruited as a quarterback. In junior high I played all quarterback and my freshman year on the freshman team I played quarterback. I got moved up for the playoffs my freshman year and I played back-up and a little receiver then. My whole sophomore year I played all back-up."

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1517269