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  • Lakota West coach on Meadows, Horton, Stalker



    MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Veteran Lakota West Larry Cox likes what he has seen from the new University of Kentucky football coaching staff, but stressed even as impressive as Mark Stoops has been, the UK program needs time to develop.

    “Patience is the key. Let them get developed. They’re doing the right things and saying the right things right now. Those kids down there are working hard but let’s bring in those top recruits to make a difference,” said Cox during an appearance Saturday at the Ohio UK Convention here.

    “He’s the first coach to come in and dramatically impact Ohio. I’ve been at Lakota West for 17 years. (Former Ohio State coach) Jim Tressel probably did the best job of running Ohio. Before that, there wasn’t a school that just said, ‘We own it.’ Look at Cincinnati’s success. ‘We’re putting a fence around southwest Ohio. The ones that Ohio State doesn’t want, we’ll get.’

    “When Stoops called me wanting Kyle (Meadows), he said, ‘We’re going to make an impact.’ It’s not a knock against athletes in Kentucky but a testament to how many SEC athletes you can pull from here. If you want to be great, you’ve got to pull kids that way. Getting those kids is critical to the success of the program.”

    Meadows, an offensive lineman, did sign with UK in February. He’s not on campus yet, but will be soon.

    “He’s finishing up one last class and he’ll be ready to go. I’m real excited about his impact there. He’s a big athletic young man, almost 6-6. I call him a tall 6’5, about 285 pounds,” Cox said. “He started out as a basketball player. I kept looking at him and saying, ‘I know you love basketball but you need to start looking at football.’

    “(Kentucky assistant) Vince Marrow did a great job when his recruitment was coming to a close with trying to hook him in after he visited Oklahoma and West Virginia. Kyle had an immediate connection with him (Marrow) and (offensive line) coach (John) Schlarman.”

    Cox has one story he feels illustrates how special Meadows is.

    “Kyle Meadows used to walk two miles to school every day,” Cox said. “It didn’t matter rain or whatever. He didn’t want to be picked up and look spoiled. His attendance was near perfect. That’s the kind of young man he is. Attentive and very loyal. He will always work hard.”

    Running back Mikel Horton will be part of UK’s 2014 recruiting class.

    “He had looked at Vanderbilt and Florida State and visited all these schools. I really think Mikel is, for his size and speed, one of the better backs in the area. What impressed them at (the Kentucky) camp in June was his size and speed and his ability to catch the ball. They’re up tempo up there. Now that they’ve seen him catch they think they can do so much more with him,” Cox, who has players starting at Alabama (Ryan Kelly) and Texas (Jordan Hicks), said.

    “The one thing about Mikel is that he is very competitive. He wants to be surrounded by people with the same will to win. He hears me talk about surrounding our team with people who help you win. He is finding the right kids (for Kentucky) and steps out and has a role to be with great people.”

    The 6-2, 230-pound Horton runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds and Cox believes he can fit nicely into Neal Brown’s spread offense at UK.

    “If you look at his size, you’re going to have to give him the ball. When you get a lot of great wide receivers, you’ve got to cover them up. That just gives you the ability to run the ball more,” Cox said. “Once Mikel committed, everyone knew UK was there, and they said, ‘You’re not made for that offense, you’re made for a pro-style offense.’ He heard a lot of the negative messages. But he believed in the message that was given by Stoops and coach Brown.

    “I always tell my kids, ‘Don’t buy into a system. But into a school and buy into the people.’ Not that there were bad people at the other schools, but the whole package of what was best for him was UK. If he was concerned and said, ‘Coach, they’re a spread, what do you think?’ then we’d get on the phone with the coaches and say, ‘Talk him through this.’ They would say, ‘We’re not bringing you down here as a little guy to catch those bubble screens. We need a hammer in the backfield.’ They are committed to that run game.”

    Horton, like Conner quarterback Drew Barker and Texas receiver T.V. Williams, plans to graduate early and be at UK for the second semester.

    “He’s taking summer classes. He will graduate early. He’ll play in the west coast version of the Under Armour All-Star game in January and then fly to Lexington and start school right when he gets there,” Cox said. “He’s always been big about that. He was going to graduate early no matter where he was going. He’ll be there in January.”

    Kentucky is also already committed to Lakota West junior linebacker C.J. Stalker and was the first school to offer him a scholarship.

    “He’s almost 6-3, about 208, an All-American type kid. He has a 3.7 GPA. He plays basketball, too, but his passion is football,” Cox said. “He’s one of those young men that won’t say a lot but he’ll work his tail off. He’s very physical on the field.

    “What excites UK about this young man, if he chooses UK, is they look at his growth potential. They look at his size and frame going into his junior year. He just has that look about him, he has a squared-off jaw. He just visited Vanderbilt, with the academic grades he’s got. His recruitment just started. UK was smart enough to be that first one. Lots more will be in line.

    “He comes from a family that understands loyalty. You take care of those who take care of you. But I know he really, really enjoyed the coaches, the camp, everything about UK. There’s a tight connection between us and UK. I’m really excited about the direction of the program.”

    Cox knows many UK fans in the Cincinnati/Dayton area likely will come to watch Lakota West play to see Horton and Stalker, which could have an impact on Stalker.

    “He’ll know where that’s coming from (if UK fans come to the games). He appreciates that. He was walking in the mall with his family and as he was walking, somebody recognized him and said, ‘Hey you’re CJ. Just remember, go blue.’ He looked at me and was like, ‘Coach, is that how it’s going to go?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m surprised there’s only one who’s doing that,’” Cox said.
    Comments 1 Comment
    1. snoopcat's Avatar
      snoopcat -
      Met the Stalker parents when I played in the Lakota West golf outing. They are good people.
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