[EKUAlum05]

D-1 Prospects are not made by newspapers... they are made by camps, competition, and connections.

I am as fervent of a EKY Mountain Sport supporter as anyone, but the argument that there are as many D1 talents in EKY as Louisville, Lexington, and NKY is absurd.

I am going to speak very bluntly here, and in no way shape or form do I want what I say to be taken out of context or mis-represented as anything other than a frank comment that is statistically correct.

The crux of why EKY does not produce as many D-1 prospects begins and is most closely tied with the inherent lack of African Americans in the population base. The vast majority of D-1 players are African American and the concentration of the population simply isn't remotely close to the geographical areas of the State (Louisville, Lexington, WKY) that produces the most D- prospects. To illustrate this further, consider the most prominent D-1 Athletes to come out of EKY in recent years and the names Arliss Beach, David Jones, Dante Wright, and Durrell White would be toward the top of that list. That's not to say that is a pre-requisite... as guys like Tim Couch, Irv Dotson, Jeremy Caudill, Nate McPeek, etc all had great careers... but from a shear % stand point it is not even close.

Secondly, EKY has been hampered for year with kids who don't pan out at the next level. I don't mean to single these individuals out but guys like Gerad Parker, Michael West, Joey Stepp, Jonathan Chapman, Jared Hostetter, Channing Fugate, Dallas Greer, Brent Slusher, etc who go on to play D-1 ball and never really make a significant impact. Some are due to injury and that can't be held against them, but it seems there is much higher than normal rate of guys who simply don't cut it academically or mentally. This does have an impact.

Third, geography is a negative. It simply limits the ability to get noticed because camps and combines are so far away, and even more important it is not feasible from a logistical standpoint for scouting. For example, on any given Fall weekend there are no less than 15-20 D1 prospects within a 20 minute radius of where I live in Georgia. A collegiate scout can visit all of those guys in one day.. whereas in EKY where you may only have 3-4 potential prospects he would be lucky to visit 2 in the span of a day.

Finally, there is a snowball effect that is associated with recruiting. Even your best EKY programs like Belfry and Bell County that have produced several D-1 prospects over time are lucky to have a legitimate prospect once every 5 years. Compare that to a Louisville Central, Trinity, or Highlands who produce probably a player each season. It is advantageous for the collegiate scouts to develop relationships at those schools since they will be there frequently recruiting a player.. this in turn leads to under the radar guys being found..and guys gaining offers who may not actually merit one in hopes of keeping that relationship strong for a Blue Chip Prospect who will follow behind him. A prime example of this is Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, GA. This school has not won a State Title in recent memory..yet they produce 7-10 D-1 prospects per season. Of those 10 players only 4 may end up being a major contributor at the D-1 level.. but coaches..including the UK staff.. have offered and taken guys who may not even be as good of other prospects for the simple goal of maintaining a relationship with the staff and having pull when that stud DE prospect becomes a Senior.