[LeeCoUKFan]

OL McBride could come down to Kentucky, USF

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Kentucky and South Florida have become recruiting rivals since Mark Stoops and Willie Taggart assumed their respective positions.

That was bound to happen with Kentucky making the Sunshine State a priority and USF working to build a more powerful brand in their home state.

So far the Wildcats have won their share of battles, notably with players like Jojo Kemp and Jeff Badet among others, while USF's early commitments from the Class of 2014 have come, at least in part, at the expense of UK.

Montel McBride is another recruit the two schools are going head to head for. In fact, in spite of the fact that McBride has offers from Florida State and others, UK and USF are standing out.

"My interest is Kentucky is high," McBride said. "I like them and USF a lot. I'm not going to rule out any other schools but (Kentucky) is definitely a visit I want to take and I'm liking those two a lot. I would say those two are even."

The 6-foot-4, 332-pound lineman from Plant City (Fla.) is ranked the No. 17 offensive guard in the nation.

Kentucky's assistant coaches are making the rounds in Florida this week and they plan to stop by Plant City to see McBride. Last week Louisville and South Alabama stopped by.

So far this spring McBride has visited Florida and USF.

"I went to USF's spring game and I enjoyed that a lot. I got to be around a lot of the players and I got a feel for how it would be if I was to play there," he said.

Kentucky is pushing for McBride to visit over the summer and he told Cats Illustrated that's something he will probably do.

"Me and coach (Chad) Scott talk a lot. Actually it's at least once or twice a week," he said. "It's hard to describe but they're very proactive recruiters. They make you feel wanted.

"I've talked to (Scott), the offensive coordinator (Neal Brown), the defensive coordinator (D.J. Eliot) and the defensive line coach (Jimmy Brumbaugh). They talk about the SEC and with the draft everybody's been watching to see how many linemen went in the first round.

"They've talked to me about being a four-year starter and getting to the league as quickly as possible."

While the Wildcats and Bulls are running ahead of the field McBride said he will probably take all five of his official visits so his decision might not come until closer to National Signing Day.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1501168