[LeeCoUKFan]

2015 athlete Thomas gets a look at Kentucky

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Before the six recent Memphis visitors stopped by Kentucky the coach that was traveling with them, Bryan Williams, told Cats Illustrated that Deddrick Thomas had singled UK out as a school of interest.

Thomas and the other recruits he was traveling with had a chance to visit about half of the schools in the Southeastern Conference over the last week. Not only was Thomas able to see Kentucky, but he was able to compare it to a lot of the other schools he's likely to consider.

As a 5-foot-10 and 165-pound athlete, Thomas said he believes he will be recruited as a receiver at the college level. And Kentucky's offense makes the school an attractive choice.

"It was straight," Thomas said. "They're really building a program. You could tell that as they were talking and showing us how the new coach had come in and done things with the defense and the offense he was putting in.

"I was talking to the receivers coach (Tommy Mainord) and we went to the receivers' conference room. He showed us the offense they're putting in. I like the offense and they're showing a lot of interest."

The Memphis (Tenn.) Central rising junior said he hasn't paid too much attention to which schools are recruiting him. He does have early verbal offers from Ole Miss and Memphis, but his coach has been handling most of his recruitment so far.

One of Thomas' in-state schools was especially impressive while he was touring the SEC.

"I'd probably say Tennessee is one of my favorites. It was just nice and everything was pretty good. The players were cool," he said.

Williams told Cats Illustrated that UK offensive coordinator Neal Brown had hinted that offers could be coming soon for Thomas and fellow 2015 athlete Johnathan Johnson.

He then told Brown that if UK comes through with offers soon then he would bring both prospects back for a camp this summer so the coaches can watch them work out in person. Those offers can't go through until Mark Stoops okays them.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1513171