By LARRY VAUGHT
Raymond Cottrell was a high-profile recruit in school but he never heard from Kentucky. Still, when he decided to transfer from Texas A&M after one year, he found his way to Lexington to play for the Wildcats despite having interest from over 20 other schools.
“Making my decision this time, I really took a little bit longer than usual than I would when I make a choice. Coach Verb (graduate assistant Andrew Verboys) actually had called me. I never got offered by Kentucky in high school. I never thought about it, actually, because it’s too cold. I thought I’d never come up here,” Cottrell said at his first UK media opportunity.
“Coach Verb had called me. He was like, ‘Man, I really want to get you up here. I think this is the place for you.’ Throughout the process, you hear coaches say that all the time. So I’m like I’m gonna give coach Verb a chance.
“I came up here, instantly right off the bat, I loved it. It was amazing. There were words that I couldn’t even explain. It was really amazing for me. I really appreciate (coach Mark) Stoops.”
The 6-3, 210-pound Cottrell had 43 catches for 651 yards and nine touchdowns as a high school senior in Milton, Fla., after making 63 catches for 985 yards and eight scores as a junior. He was a consensus four-star recruit and ranked as the nation’s 30th best receiver in the 247sports composite rankings.
He verbally committed to Florida on July 30, 2021, when then head coach Dan Mullen was fired he flipped his commitment to Georgia but then decommitted from the Bulldogs on Jan. 2, 2023.
“Towards the end, I see something wrong that I don’t like. I call it off,” Cottrell said about his decision not to sign with Georgia. “Every time that I was about to commit and go to that school, there was always something that just tweaked my mind a little bit. God was telling me something like, ‘Hey, just wait a second, just wait a little bit longer.’”
He signed with Texas A&M the same day he decommitted from Georgia.
“I got a call from the receivers coach from Texas A&M (James Coley). We talked it out. I go up there, family oriented. I like it. I love it,” Cottrell said.
A foot injury limited him to three games and just one catch for 13 yards in his only season at Texas A&M. He was the first Texas A&M player to enter the transfer portal when Fisher got fired.
“Towards the end of the year I wasn’t getting what I came there to play for,” Cottrell said. “So I decided to make my decision to leave one more time.”
What can Cottrell bring to the Kentucky offense?
“I’m a big guy. I’m a big target. I know I’m a deep threat,” Cottrell said. “When it comes to the size and the speed, If I had to compare myself to anybody in the NFL, Julio Jones. That’s my favorite. I know everybody’s like, ‘Oh, but I’ve been watching that guy since I was a little kid.’ I try to mock everything he does and hopefully y’all can see that this year.”
Jones is a former Alabama standout who has been in the NFL since 2011 and has 914 catches for 13,703 yards and 66 touchdowns along with 19 rushing touchdowns in 166 career games.
Cottrell was recruited by then UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen but has had no second thoughts about coming to UK since Coen’s departure to the NFL again. Cottrell posted on social media he was a “Wildcat for life” after Coen left.
Kentucky had already added a new receivers coach, Daikiel Shorts, 10 days after Cottrell committed to UK.
“He is a very straight forward guy. You could tell when he first came in that he wanted us to figure it out. He is not the type of guy to slap you on the butt and tell you good job,” Cottrell said. “He is very rarely going to say anything good about you. He is going to pick on the bad things but that’s good. That is what I wanted from a coach to get better.”
Cottrell has a definite plan for his future at Kentucky.
“My goal is to become a better man and player. I have four long years here, so I plan on graduating from here,” Cottrell said. “Being at Kentucky was probably the best decision I possibly ever made. You can tell from the academics all the way to football. Everybody on the staff is amazing.”
Cottrell said he has always been a “family guy” and is glad that was a big part of his reason for picking Kentucky.
“When I first got here you could tell the guys really love each other and that makes being here very, very special,” Cottrell said.
Kentucky assistant coach Chuck Martin continues to believe that the best is yet to come for 7-2 Zvonimir Ivisic this season.
“I think Z had such a special moment (in his first game). His first game was unreal. Made for TV. A movie. The expectations are so high after that one game that we had forgotten that he had not played all year,” Martin said.
“He’s still trying to figure out how we defend, offensively our spacing and really what he did that night was just instincts. So it was a great moment for him and us, but I think realistically we’ve got to settle down a little bit, settle him down a little bit and get them back to fundamentals and kind of teach him how we defend.
“I think once he gets that, he’s going to be pretty good.”
Yahoo Sports NBA draft analyst Krysten Peek elevated Ivisic to a top 10 pick in the 2024 draft after his impressive debut against Georgia. She’s not changed her mind about his potential despite his lack of productivity/minutes played since his debut. He did have 11 points and seven rebounds in 12 minutes against Vanderbilt.
“The NBA understands international players fit better in the NBA than college,” Peek said. “If he doesn’t fit into the college game now that’s fine with them. They will see his passing and 3-point threat and what it can mean at the next level.
“I still think if he is not a lottery pick he will go late to mid if not lottery late to mid first round. I would take him over (Purdue’s) Zach Edey.”
The 7-4 Edey has been a dominant player for two seasons but mainly plays in the paint and does not have the shooting range or passing instincts of Ivisic.
“This draft is so wide open that you are going to see a lot of movement up and down draft boards the next few months,” she said. “You will see guys we are not talking about yet who will make a move in the draft in workouts and the combine.”
Not having Kayla Kowalik, an All-American catcher and UK’s all-time hits and runs scored leader, receiving her pitches this season has been a big adjustment for pitcher Stephanie Schoonover, who went 5 1/3 innings in a winning season debut last weekend.
“This is my first year without her and it is a lot different,” said Schoonover. “We had a lot of things where we were in sync with each other. She understood me and I understood her.
“We have a lot of catchers that look great. I am getting comfortable with everybody and they are getting comfortable with me. I am really excited. I think it is going to be good but it is different without Kayla back there.”
The good news for Schoonover is that Kowalik is still around. She’s a graduate assistant for coach Rachel Lawson.
“During our (preseason) scrimmages she was our umpire and called balls and strikes. It was something. She was criticizing in a good way,” Schoonover said. “It’s nice to still have her there and have her presence. I mean Kayla Kowalik, she is everything to UK softball and it is great for her to still be here knowing if I need help, she’s there.”
Lawson said Kowalik was more than a great leadoff hitter and catcher.
“She was an outstanding leader. Never confuse leadership with producer. Kayla was a major producer along with a great leader,” Lawson said. “When your best players have the best work ethic and do things the right way on and off the field, you have a quality team.
“You never replace a generational player like Kayla but to me the leader of the offense is the girl in the (batter’s box) at that moment. But it is great to still have Kayla around.”
The February signing date for college football is almost a forgotten day with the majority of the nation’s best players always signing during the early period in December.
However, Kentucky might have picked up a sleeper who could turn into a steal with Covington (Ga.) Newton linebacker Quintavion Norman. The 6-3, 205-pound Norman took an official visit to UK a few days before signing with the Wildcats.
“I just wanna thank God. Kentucky is the place for me because they’re invested in development. I love their tradition and how multiple the defense is. This is home for me,” Norman told Josh Edward of CatsPause.com.
“He has only played one year of varsity football so he was able to slip through the cracks because teams have not been following him for years,” Edwards said. “He is incredibly long and fast, but also has a frame to add more weight.
“If (Tennessee linebacker) Elijah Groves had not flipped to NC State, this commit may have never happened. But UK saw his potential as one worth taking a flier on.”
Norman has run the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds and a 78 3/4 inch wingspan. His brother, Tay Gowan, is a cornerback for the Tennessee Titans.
Kentucky freshman Aaron Bradshaw was projected as a first-round NBA draft lottery pick before he started his collegiate career. After missing games because of a foot injury suffered in the McDonald’s All-American Game, Bradshaw has not been as good overall as expected this season.
“Aaron is a project. He could be a draft and stash for the right NBA team because he is a 7-footer with a lot of skills,” said YahooSports draft analyst Krysten Peek. “NIL could sweeten the pot (for him to stay at UK for another year) and that is a conversation he will have to have with the UK staff about what they want and what he wants.
“At Kentucky there is always the next wave of players. That could force him to transfer or maybe go to the G League and work his way up (to the NBA).”
Peek said a player with Bradshaw’s skills and potential would have to carefully weigh a decision that might land him in the G League.
“The G League is not as rainbow and sunshine as some people think,” Peek said. “Players are figuring out they can make more NIL money in college (than in the G League).
“And being 7-feet tall and flying Southwest or some other airline from Birmingham to North Dakota to play in a game with maybe 600 people there is not the most exciting life.”
Quote of the Week: “She is the standard for all head coaches. I cannot tell you enough good things about that woman. She makes the athletics department a family with the way they host events and parties. If I had a daughter she is who I would want her to play for. She Is just awesome,” UK baseball coach Nick Mingione on UK softball coach Rachel Lawson.
Quote of the Week 2: “The way he can move for his size defensively in pick and roll is unbelievable, so when you have a guy with that size and that type of agility defensively, it gives everyone on the floor courage that we can accomplish this rotation. He’s been huge for us,” UK assistant coach Chuck Martin on center Ugonna Onyenso.
Quote of the Week 3: “I’d like to thank Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams organization for essentially getting me my PhD in coaching. I was able to learn under those guys and a first-class organization,” former UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen at his introductory press conference with the Tampa Bay Bucs.