[LeeCoUKFan]

Berrios' coach updates wide receiver's recruitment

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Braxton Berrios is a humble guy and he's just enjoying his remaining time as a high school student at Raleigh (N.C.) Leesville Road.

His coaches and teammates appreciate his single-mindedness as it relates to preparation for his senior year, but it can also make it difficult to get a read on where Berrios might be leaning.

His coach, Chad Smothers, spoke with Cats Illustrated early this week and went over some of the latest developments with his 5-foot-9, 180-pound four-star receiver.

"It's been a steady flow," Smothers said of the college coaches that have been visiting his school lately. "Kentucky was down last Tuesday. Tennessee came by Friday. Georgia Tech's been by. South Carolina was up about two weeks ago. East Carolina has been once and they're coming again. N.C. State's been over. Wake Forest, West Virginia, Virginia Tech.

"There's been some others like Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina. Duke's been over. North Carolina's been over. Braxton went over there (to North Carolina) in January and toured the school. Ohio State came down."

Needless to say both Smothers and Berrios have been busy with all of that attention. It's tough to sort through the recruiting process when so many schools have offered and so many others are showing serious interest.

UK receivers coach Tommy Mainord visited North Carolina last week and Leesville Road was one of his most important stops.

"We spent some time together," Smothers said of Mainord. "He actually came during a 7-on-7 skill development workout and we got to chat for a while. He was really complimentary of Braxton and really thinks he can fit into Kentucky's system and be a special player.

"Coming from Texas Tech, of course Braxton's always compared to Wes Welker. Everybody thinks he can be that kind of dynamic kid. Kentucky's expressed a tremendous amount of interest in him."

All that interest could be paying off. Berrios hasn't thought through all of his summer plans but a trip to Lexington appears to be in the works.

"I think Braxton will probably work Kentucky in early this summer when we get out of school," Smothers said. "Down here in North Carolina we go to school 'til June 10. I think Braxton's supposed to go to Ohio State sometime around then."

Anyone on Twitter knows that Berrios and Drew Barker communicate from time to time, and with Barker scheduled to make his decision on Friday it's fair to wonder whether his choice could impact Berrios, especially considering that he has offers from UK and South Carolina.

Smothers doesn't know what impact Barker's decision could have on Berrios mostly "because (he) doesn't keep up with Twitter," he said with a laugh.

"He tries to keep everything kinda down low," Smothers said. "Well, maybe not down low but he's humble and unless I ask him specifically about something he's not going to volunteer, 'Hey coach, I'm doing this or that.' He tries to keep it realistic and right now Braxton plays for Leesville Road High School and he wants to maintain that with his teammates and coaches.

"I have talked with him about us sitting down and getting a top five for his own benefit. I think that's probably coming in the mid-summer after he gets a chance to visit Kentucky, Tennessee and other places. It's kinda hard to formulate a top five when he's never stepped foot on places like Kentucky, Tennessee or West Virginia. It's hard to include them and it's hard not to include them," he concluded.

Smothers added that the academic side of Berrios' decision is very important and will weigh heavily as a big factor.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1504434