Lakota West offensive lineman Kyle Meadows (#75) prepares to block in a game against Winton Woods in 2011. Meadows had offers from many colleges, but in the end signed with UK. Photo taken by Adam Kiefaber.
This morning, on National Signing Day, Kyle Meadows made it official – he is going to play football for the University of Kentucky.
Meadows, along with many high school seniors across the country, signed a national letter of intent this morning, on the first day of the NCAA signing period.
His letter was then faxed by Lakota West head coach Larry Cox to Lexington.
In the end Meadows, picked UK over offers from the likes of Louisville, Ohio, Toledo, Pittsburgh, Akron, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Indiana, Florida State, Purdue, Kansas and North Carolina State.
Per NCAA rules, Division I coaches are not allowed to talk about recruits until they receive a signed letter of intent.
University of Kentucky offensive line coach John Schlarman. Provided.
Buzz: What type of player is Meadows?
Schlarman: Kyle is a very athletic player. He has great feet for an offensive lineman, especially for one with a long frame like the one he has. So, obviously, in our offense, with throwing the football, he being able to pass protect and those type of things brings a lot to the table. He can stay with those fast defensive ends that we are going to see in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). That is the first thing that jumps out besides him being a great young man and someone with great character, once we got to know him.
Buzz: Meadows had many offers, why did he pick UK?
Schlarman: Coach (Vince) Marrow did a lot of recruiting on Kyle with having Ohio ties. I think being an hour and a half down the road and the opportunity to play in the Southeastern Conference were two things that really appealed to Kyle. He got a chance to come down here and see the campus, the facilities and I think that the new coaching staff and people around the program – I think that was the thing that put him over the top. But, from the standpoint of being able to play in the Southeastern Conference, to be able to play against the best competition in the country and being a part of something new and exciting here at Kentucky, I think really appealed to Kyle … it seemed, like from our standpoint, those were our selling points.
Buzz: Being your first offensive line recruiting class, how excited are you about this group?
Schlarman: We are very excited. In the six or seven weeks that we have been here, we really have been able to attract some great talent to Kentucky. So, we are very excited about the prospects of all these guys who are coming in today to add along with the guys we already have here. We think we are at the starting point of something very special. It is going to take a lot of hard work and effort to make it all happen, but it is certainly a good start with this signing class that is for sure. So, we are really excited about these guys. A lot of them come in with high ratings and things like that and that is always good from a recruiting standpoint.
Lakota West offensive lineman Kyle Meadows verbally committed to play college football at the University of Kentucky on Jan. 12, 2013. Lakota West head coach Larry Cox confirmed the commitment to The Cincinnati Enquirer and to WestChesterBuzz.com. Photo taken by Adam Kiefaber.
Schlarman: There is no doubt that he has the athletic ability to compete for a position high on the depth chart, but he has some work to do in the realm of the weight room. He has to continue to get stronger, physically has to gain a little bit of weight, which I think he is on his way of doing that. He definitely has the frame where he can put it on, so there is going to be a period where he is going to have to get in that weight room and crank it out – just like all offensive linemen have to. But, with his athletic ability, I wouldn’t put it past him to come in and compete for a spot at tackle high on the depth chart.
Buzz: Are you projecting Meadows to play tackle or at other spots on the offensive line?
Schlarman: We really think he is going to be play tackle for us. In this conference, you have to be able move and change direction to play offensive tackle because you are going to go up against the best defensive ends in the country. That is what we are looking for him to do. He will come in and play tackle for us, whether that is the left side or the right side, we will figure all of that out once we get him down here and start working with him. But, we are thinking he can play out there on the edge and handle what he will have to go against on a regular basis.
Buzz: Any last things you want to say about Meadows?
Schlarman: We are very excited about him being a Wildcat. I think he is going to have a great career down here. He is not far from that area, obviously, so it should be a great experience for him and a great opportunity for his family to get to see him play a lot of football.
According to ESPN.com, UK’s recruiting class is currently ranked No. 40 in the nation. Yahoo! Sports ranks it No. 30.
Interviews with other recruits from the Greater Miami Conference will be posted later this afternoon.
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