[LeeCoUKFan]

Cats in good shape early with 2014 LB Hendrix

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Dorian Hendrix is one of the Midwest's top linebackers and he's going to have schools from all over the Big Ten coming after him. They will have to fight off UK, because the Wildcats are in good shape early.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Ohio linebacker picked up an offer from Kentucky several weeks ago and he's been building a relationship with Kentucky and learning about the school ever since.

He spoke with Cats Illustrated just as he left campus and said the trip couldn't have gone any better. It was his third time on campus so he's starting to become pretty familiar with the campus scene.

"It was my first time for a basketball game though," he noted. "It was fun with the fans and everybody. They're real enthusiastic. I had a good time. Everybody showed love. You can tell they love their athletes there so that was fun to see."

Mark Stoops, Vince Marrow and D.J. Eliot were the coaches that spent the most time with Hendrix. That's a trend: Head coach, regional recruiter or position coach, and coordinator.

"The coaching staff is good. I've got a great relationship with the staff. Me and coach Marrow have got a good relationship. It was my second time talking to coach Stoops. It seems like that's pretty good. We've got a nice chemistry.

"Coach Stoops said he was excited for me to get down there. We talked a little bit about the class they just signed. I asked if he was excited and of course he said yes. I know they just signed some top guys so I was excited for them as well. We talked a little bit about all that."

Hendrix has other offers and knows even more are likely to come in. Because of that he doesn't want to say whether he has a favorite because he wants to let the process run its course so he doesn't limit his options.

So at least publicly Hendrix has no favorites.

"At this point I'm kinda neutral with all my schools," he said. "But I feel like me and UK do have a really good chemistry right now. As far as who's high and low, all that type of stuff, I'm real neutral. But I do like the staff and I do like UK and the BBN family."

Hendrix said he is considering visits to Purdue, West Virginia, Northwestern and maybe Michigan but nothing is set on the calendar yet.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1471080