[LeeCoUKFan]

Georgia safety Tucker to visit UK this week

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson safety Jared Tucker has visited Kentucky before but that was two years ago when the Wildcats ended their long losing streak against Tennessee.

The near four-star defensive back will be at Kentucky for the second time on Wednesday. Mark Stoops and his new staff has made Tucker a priority just as the last staff had, and he likes the energy around the program.

Tucker enjoyed his first trip to Kentucky but realizes that much has changed since that time.

"It was my freshman year and it was the old coaching staff," Tucker said this week. "I didn't really get to see the whole campus either."

The three-star safety has some serious interest in the Wildcats in large part because of the current staff.

"I'm close to coach (Bradley Dale) Peveto and coach (Derrick) Ansley and we've been talking for a good minute," he said. "They're real good guys. Coach Peveto is an up tempo, excited guy. When I talk to him he's always hyped."

Tucker also said he has been in contact with four-star UK quarterback commitment Drew Barker, who has been in contact with roughly thirty recruits on Kentucky's behalf.

"Coach Ansley told (Barker) to hit me up and we've been talking since then," he said.

Tucker has taken visits to Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina so far and he told Cats Illustrated he's not sure what the future holds after his trip to UK.

"I'm probably going to commit sometime around June, depending on how my relationship with some of my schools goes. It I feel it's right then I'll go ahead and commit."

Florida, Louisville, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ohio State, South Carolina, South Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia and West Virginia are among the other schools that have offered the 5-foot-11, 162-pound defensive back.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1509599