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  • Update with Blake Bone and his AD



    Four-star South Carolina receiver Blake Bone, who had scholarship offers from Clemson and South Carolina midway of his junior season, announced Tuesday that he would join Mark Stoops’ 2014 recruiting class at Kentucky.
    The 6-5 Bone is ranked among the nation’s top 50 receivers and gives offensive coordinator Neal Brown a tall receiver that the Wildcats lack this season. He joins four-star Thaddeus Snodgrass of Ohio, three-star Garrett Johnson of Florida and three-star T.V. Williams of Texas as receivers in the 2014 UK class.
    Bone is UK’s eighth four-star commitment in next year’s class and 23rd overall commitment in what continues to be a top 10 ranked group. He had narrowed his list to Louisville, South Carolina and Mississippi.
    Bone admits he “fell in love” with South Carolina but decided that was not as good a fit for him as Kentucky.
    “UK throws it a lot more there and has got new coaches. I can blossom as a receiver,” Bone said.
    He says he never would have considered Kentucky before the arrival of Brown and receivers coach Tommy Mainord, his main recruiter.
    “The new feel for the program kind of lit up my eyes and made me want to go play there,” Bone said. “ I can run and catch the ball over people. I’ve got good hands. I’m reliable and kind of a possession receiver that they like. Coach Mainord said they don’t have anybody like me now, so that could help my chances to play right away.”

    Bone had 64 catches for 1,114 yards and 14 scores last year for Woodruff High School in Spartanburg. His athletics director, Scott Lawson, says he should hold school records for catches, yards and touchdowns when this season ends.

    “He was all-state for us in football and also all-state in basketball,” Lawson said. “He used to play Little League baseball for me and was a very good center fielder. If could track the ball (in the outfield) and if he got on base, he was two steals to third.

    “But he’s always been a very good athlete. He was a tall kid and sometimes they are young and gangly. Not him. He always had good eye-hand coordinator, always had good body control . There was probably a point in time where he loved basketball more than football. But about the time he was coming along, our program changed from a coach that was heavy run-oriented in the Wing-T to where we have not been under center in six years. We are four wide, shotgun, one back.”

    Sound familiar? That sounds like the offense Neal Brown runs at Kentucky, and one that is not being used at South Carolina, Louisville or Ole Miss.

    Woodruff coach Brian Lane played quarterback and then was offensive coordinator at Byrnes (S.C.) High School, an annual powerhouse with a wide-open offense. He always been part of a spread offense.

    “Since coach Lane got here, we have broken every school record that existed,” Lawson said. “Instead of a wide out you throw to once a game, Blake is now our featured receiver.”

    That’s the same role Brown — and UK quarterback commit Drew Barker — have envisioned for him at Kentucky and Lawson says it should not be a difficult transition for him.

    “Blake is a great kid, too,” Lawson said. “He’s very fluid. He blends in pretty good with different folks and students. He stands out in a crowd because he is 6-5 and a great athlete, but if you see him in the lunch room he could be sitting with anybody or everybody. He did a really good job speaking at his press conference. He’s not had the best home life. He is somewhat self made and patterned after the folks who coached him here. Football means a lot to hm because it is the means to an end for him.”

    Woodruff, a school with about 800 students, has sent numerous players to college recently. But Lawson said having coaches from schools like Nebraska and Notre Dame at the school to recurit Bone was a “big deal” for the school.

    “So for Kentucky just to get in his final four was really doing well,” Lawson said. “I think he wanted to make this move since he made his visit to Kentucky. He and coach Lane talked about it and thought if he was sure, then get it done.”

    Woodruff opens it season Friday, so Bone wanted to make his choice before the first game. He also wanted to keep his announcement from being a “circus” and open mainly to media that have covered his prep career.

    “He wanted something fairly simple. That’s just him,” Lawson said.

    The Woodruff athletics director doesn’t think that part of Bone will change at UK, either.

    “If you put him on the field or court, he stands out,” Lawson said. “You put in the car and take hime somewhere, he fits in. That is hard to find these days. When you have 50 recruiting analysts and newspapers calling, you can get wooed by it all. I just hpe he hangs on to what he is at Kentucky. He’s learned a lot and grown so much here that I just want him to continue on that course at Kentucky and I think he will.”
    Comments 4 Comments
    1. ETWNAPPEL's Avatar
      ETWNAPPEL -
      Great article. Great kid. How hard did the gamecocks recruit him?
    1. dan_bgblue's Avatar
      dan_bgblue -
      Tons of good info there. Thanks very much. Possession receivers are a premium commodity, and he sounds like a good one.
    1. jazyd's Avatar
      jazyd -
      Living in Ms it was great to see us beat Ole Miss
    1. Jimcats's Avatar
      Jimcats -
      I lived in S.C. For several years and remember well that life could be awfully tough for some kids, and families, in the Woodruff area. I do hope football at UK will provide for a great financial future for Blake--especially since he's chosen us over his homie, Clemson.