[LeeCoUKFan]

Tight end connects with Kentucky coaches

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Darryl Long is one of the top tight ends in the Midwest and Kentucky made an outstanding impression on him over the weekend.

The Westerville South (Ohio) prospect turned in a great showing at the Best of the Midwest combine in Indianapolis recently. Long has drawn rave reviews for his body's transformation and is one of the most improved players in the Buckeye State from last year.

Kentucky got on Long early, in large part because of tight ends coach Vince Marrow, who handles most of UK's recruiting in Ohio. Marrow made Long feel right at home in Lexington over the weekend.

"I talked to coach Marrow a lot," Long said. "He's a great guy and real down to earth. He knows the tight end spot. He's played it and coached it for a long time. He's a great guy and I really like him as a coach and a person.

"I thought the whole trip was great. I liked spending time with all the coaches and the other players that were there. I had good talks with everybody. They showed us around and it's a very nice school. That's always a good thing. The basketball game was really exciting, too."

Long said the offer from UK became official at the junior day. Louisville had offered Long the day before his trip to Kentucky but he did not visit the Big East school.

While Long said he does not have a favorite he's hoping to end the recruiting process in the coming months.

"I'm going to hopefully make a choice before this upcoming season, probably over the summer," he said. "I'm going over all my options with my parents."

Long said he might visit Indiana this weekend.

Any school that he visits from here on out has their work cut out for him because, by Long's own admission, UK set the bar very high.

"I hung out with Darius West, Thaddeus Snodgrass, Drew Barker, Ryan Timmons and guys like that," he said. "We talked about playing together, especially all the Ohio boys. If we can go to the same place we would really enjoy college."

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1477062