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One of the first players scheduled to sign his scholarship papers with the University of Kentucky Wednesday is Florida defensive end Denzil Ware.
Bob Jones, Ware’s principal at Crestview High School, is a former Kentucky football player and has been a mentor for Ware. He had to fly to Dallas today for a meeting and he wasn’t about to miss Ware’s signing.
“This was a big day for him and our school,” said Jones.
The 6-3, 220-pound Ware has had an interesting last 12 months. He left Crestview just before his basketball team was set to play in the district tournament to transfer to a school about 25 miles away in Alabama — and did so not long after his Crestview football coach left for a new job. Ware had been committed to UK, but then de-committed. Word spread he was going to Florida, but he decided to come back to Crestview, re-committed to Kentucky and is now one of the top players in coach Mark Stoops’ recruiting class.
“I am so excited about this,” Ware, a four-star prospect, said. “I am finally getting all the frustration of recruiting out of the way and I am one step closer to my goal (of playing in the NFL).
“I really like coach Stoops and (defensive coordinator) coach (D.J.) Eliot because they are honest people. They did not sit here and say if you come here you are going to play and start and be the big man on campus. They told me when I come I will have to work hard. Nothing will be easy and I will have to work and earn my spot. By them two telling me that, it meant a lot knowing I would be given a fair shot and could work for what I wanted.
“I do feel like I can help immediately, but every new signee thinks they can do that. I am not going to sit here and say I can. I think I can, but I cannot say I know I will produce as a freshman. But this is so exciting. A lot of people here are excited. A lot of people here probably never did think I would make it this far, but many of them stayed by my side and pushed me to go the next step.”
That includes Jones, who has known Ware since he was
the middle school principal when Ware was a sixth-grader.
“He is doing well. We are working hard on academics to make sure he keeps them up,” Jones said. “We are staying on top of him on that. He is on the borderline of qualifying and we can’t let him slip up. His guardian is working hard with him and I meet with his teachers once a week just to monitor how he’s doing. He had a couple of bad grades in the ninth and 10th grades, but he’s taking online courses to get his GPA up and is being tutored for the ACT like all our students are so hopefully next time he can get his test score up to make sure he stays above the (qualifying) line.
“But the rest is all doing good. Coach Stoops was down here recently for a basketball game and coach Eliot was down during the day and we met about an hour and talked about academics and what it would take for him to qualify.”
Ware says he appreciates Jones checking on him academically.
“We can check grades online but knowing somebody is watching my grades that close is really good,” Ware , who has a 95 average in his analytical geometry honors class, said. “It’s tough when classes get hard, but he’s helped me understand that.”
Jones enjoyed getting to know Stoops when he came to watch Ware play basketball.
“He was the hit of the night when he was here,” Jones said. “As soon as people figured out who he was — and the school we played that night doesn’t even play football — everybody was excited. He was very friendly stopping for pictures and autographs. He had a great visit with Denzil after the game.
“It was just a great visit and I was so impressed with coach Stoops. He was so down to earth and friendly. He took Denzil aside after the game and when he got ready to leave, he hugged him and said, ‘I love you man.’ I have never heard a college coach say something like that to a player and I know he meant it.”
Ware, who worked to help try and convince John Hardin defensive tackle Matt Elam to commit to UK before he did last week, is glad to be part of this recruiting class that he believes can change the direction of UK football.
“The recruiting class is probably the best come to Kentucky in history. He (Stoops) is getting big name guys in,” Ware said. “He has had to do some cutting on players there. If you are not a team player, he is going to find you and get rid of you. He is trying to make it a better program and I want to be part of that when it happens.”
Many thought Ware might flip his commitment before signing day even when he re-committed to UK, but he never wavered.
“There was no wavering on his part. I wouldn’t let there be,” Jones said. “I am sure he got phone calls and letters from other schools after he re-committed to Kentucky. But he did not talk or say anything to me about other schools. He never swayed from Kentucky. When he went up for his official visit, he was just blown away and he made such close contacts with those other recruits.”
Ware said Louisville, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Stanford and Florida were the main schools that kept contacting him even when he said there was no doubt he was going to UK.
“Mr. Jones told me to make sure I stayed loyal and if another school came at me to make sure my mind was in the right place,” Ware said. “Some big-name schools kept hollering at me to get me to try and change my mind about where to go but I was good with Kentucky.”
Crestview went 5-5 last season, but won three of its last four games. That included a win over Niceville, which lost the state title game for its only other loss. “That was a big, big win for us,” Jones said. “Denzil was hurt in the middle of the season and missed a couple of games, but he finished strong.”
Ware didn’t start playing football until he was in the seventh grade.
“I was not a defensive end until 10th grade. I always played offense, but once I got to be a DE (defensive end), I became a big-time player,” Ware said. “I had played running back and some quarterback, but mainly just running back until going over to defense.
“As a player, I really don’t say too much on the field. I help people all I can. I don’t judge myself as a player. Being a four-star, three-star doesn’t bother me.
Everybody plays for a reason. That is what they do for fun or to go to college and then the NFL. I just play the game because I love the game. I don’t get caught up in stuff on or off the field.”
Jones said transferring from Crestview as Ware did about a year ago and then moving back was a learning, growing process for the star player.
“He is so much more mature now. He listened to some people telling him things and he knows now who is on his side and has his best interests. He has learned who to listen to and who not to listen to. It was a mistake to leave and coming back here was the best thing for him,” Jones said. “If he had stayed (in Alabama), I don’t think he would be a qualifier.”
Ware admits last year “mentally was pretty hard” due to his transfer and de-commitment from Kentucky.
“Everybody said I committed to Florida, but I never did. I just took some time to get my mind together and figure out the purpose of life and how college ball would help me and what school would help me be a better person,” Ware said. “In the last year, I have changed a lot and know what to do and what my purpose in life is.
“Last year was pretty hard. People are going to talk and it took me a long time to realize that. They are going to say things. They will praise you highly when you do what they want but when they don’t do what you want they will turn on you. I don’t worry about what people say any more. I do what is best for Denzil and my family.”
Jones said everyone was glad to have Ware back at Crestview when he returned.
“The kids here all welcomed him back and he’s been a big help for our basketball team, too. When we played Niceville, he did not score a lot but had 15 rebounds. We were down by 10 points and won by 12 and he was a big part of that with his power inside and rebounding,” Jones said. “Coach Stoops was amazed how he played above the rim and how athletic he was. And playing basketball keeps him in shape and focused. It’s just good for the team and him to have him playing.”
Ware agrees.
“Basketball keeps me in shape — rebounding is the best part and I can maybe put up 10 points or so — and helps me with lateral movement. I don’t have to get up early to do cone drills and stuff like that for football when I have basketball to keep me in shape,” Ware said. “Basketball was really the sport I liked growing up. I was really kind of timid about football, but then my mom brough up playing one day and I liked it.”
But he’s coming to UK to play football and wants UK fans to know one thing.
“Denzil ain’t going nowhere and I am going to try my best to bring a national championship back to Lexington,” Ware said.
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