[LeeCoUKFan]

UK continues to surge with Tucker commitment

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Jared Tucker is the latest prospect to commit to Kentucky in what is shaping up to be the greatest recruiting class in the school's history and by a good margin.

The nation's No. 44 safety has a Rivals Rating of 5.7 and told Cats Illustrated that his final two schools under consideration were Kentucky and Miami.

Sources had informed Cats Illustrated that Tucker had planned to visit Miami on June 2, but that trip was canceled in an apparent indication that a decision could be imminent.

He texted Cats Illustrated Wednesday afternoon, saying simply, "I committed to UK."

Tucker then clarified his choice a bit.

"I loved the coaching staff's energy towards me and I was really impressed with the visit. [It] really wasn't a hard decision to make," he said.

Assistant coach Bradley Dale Peveto was Tucker's primary recruiter. It is Peveto's first major recruiting win since joining Mark Stoops' staff.

Tucker reported that he has received "23 or 24" offers over the course of the recruiting process. He is Kentucky's ninth commitment and his pledge helped the Wildcats' surge to No. 10 in the Rivals team rankings.

It is the first time UK has cracked the top ten of the national rankings since major recruiting services started covering the process.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1510336