By LARRY VAUGHT
Football is a true family affair for 6-5, 285-pound Cincinnati St. Xavier junior offensive lineman Tucker Kattus, a top 500 prospect in his recruiting class in the On3 rankings.
His father Eric was an all-Big Ten offensive lineman at Michigan with Jim Harbaugh, Michigan’s current coach, and then played in the NFL from 1986-92. His oldest brother, Josh, is a sophomore tight end at Kentucky. Another brother, 6-1, 220-pound Justin, is a high school senior teammate who plays a variety of positions and also has a Kentucky offer.
Tucker Kattus already has 11 scholarship offers, including Kentucky. The others are Arkansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Duke, Illinois, Cincinnati, Boston College, Toledo and Miami (Ohio).
Tucker says it is “awesome” to have family members who love football as much as him to “coach him hard” and give him feedback that he needs about his play.
“They all have big expectations for me and I don’t want to let them down,” he said. “They were never easy on me but that just toughened me up. I started playing in the fourth grade and my dad was my coach in the early years.
“We would watch film together and then go out in the driveway and learn new techniques. He was always teaching and helping me.”
Josh was a senior at Cincinnati Moeller when Tucker was a freshman at St. Xavier.
“It was really crazy playing against each other but it was also fun,” he said.
If he picked Kentucky, the two would get to play at least one year together again and he could also be playing with his brother Justin if he also picks Kentucky.
“Recruiting has been fun and just makes me want to work harder,” Tucker said. “I want to prove to coaches they can trust me and I can play.”
He admits he talks to Josh about potential college choices and Josh wants him “to go where I will be the happiest but we both think it would be fun to play together” in college.
“I want to go to a place where they will develop me the best, I love the school and I will get a good education,” Tucker said. “I want it to be a place that really wants me.”
He says his brother Josh is helping him the most with recruiting because it has changed so much from the time his father was recruited.
“Josh had to deal with the COVID year but he’s been through this type of recruiting. He’s helping me with my decision,” Tucker said. “I would not go to Kentucky just because he is there but he would love me to come there. Justin also really likes Kentucky but he’ll also go where he thinks is best for him.”
Tucker keeps his parents “heavily involved” in his recruitment and takes them on any campus visits he makes.
“My mom is also a big sports fan. She loves football,” he said. “She pushes us hard because she knows the opportunities we have. She wants us to take full advantage of them and be the best we can be.”
What does he do best that college coaches like so much?
“I am very good in pass protection, explosive off the ball, can put guys on ground so you run behind me and get yards,” Tucker said. “I am quick on my feet. I’ve always been athletic. I played basketball until my freshman year when I decided to concentrate on football but basketball definitely helped my footwork.”
Kentucky sophomore defensive back Alex Afari of Cincinnati was a four-star recruit and top 250 nationally. He started three games as a true freshman in 2022 and had 21 tackles. He has started each game this season and has 13 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, along with one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one quarterback hit going into the Florida game.
However, as solid as he’s been, UK associate coach Vince Marrow believes he is going to be a lot better and become a future defensive star for the Cats.
“He is a dog. I put him up there with (UK defensive lineman) Deone (Walker). He’s just under 6-3, 215 (pounds) and he will strike you,” Marrow said.
“We held our breath until he signed. We thought Ohio State or Notre Dame would come after him a lot harder.
“He is going to have a great career. This is going to be a really big year for him. I love him and so does (UK defensive coordinator Brad (White). He’s going to be an impact player in so many ways.”
Former Kentucky player Jarred Vanderbilt recently signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, a team he was traded to late last season. That was a major upgrade from the three-year, $13 million deal he has now.
Vanderbilt averaged 28.5 points, 13.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game his senior year in high school in Texas but had to overcome leg injuries that plagued him his only year at Kentucky too.
“Coming to college, you’re obviously ready to play, and then one of our first practices I popped my foot. Second practice. I’m sick,” Vanderbilt said on Tidal League’s Run Your Race Podcast recently.
But he also revealed that North Carolina actually was his college choice before he was overruled by his mother and that he had his best visit to UNC.
“UNC was a good set up,” he said.
However, he admitted Kentucky had everything in place to help him get to the NBA and his family was thinking the same thing.
“My momma made the decision. She honestly thought I’d have too much fun at UNC. She was like, ‘I don’t know if you are going to make it over there,’” Vanderbilt said. “It was like the opposite at Kentucky. They got separate (basketball) dorms. She said that is where you probably need to go. That was really the deciding factor to be honest.”
Vanderbilt had a stress fracture in his left foot in 2016 before re-injuring his left foot before his senior year of high school started. He injured his right leg during the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic and then another injury once he got to UK forced him to miss the first 17 games.
“It’s tough dealing with injuries, especially at that age. Now you can accept them a little bit better, but when you’re that young, mentally, it’s hard,” Vanderbilt said on the podcast. “I was out for the first, like, 20 games. I missed the combine (Pro Day), then the first 20 games. Didn’t let it derail me, but it was an adversity. It was tough, definitely a tough time.”
However, he never lost faith in his ability and averaged a career-high 8.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 2022-23. He became a defensive stopper who normally had to guard the opposing team’s best player after he joined the Lakers and made the same type of hustle plays he did at UK once he returned to action before being hurt again late in the season.
“I came in (at Kentucky) as this point forward, going to bring the ball down, stuff like that. It didn’t happen because of adversity, injuries, all that s***,” Vanderbilt said . “Me being able to adjust is the reason I’m still around. You just have to adjust and adapt.
“That’s what it’s about, being a pro. A lot of dudes are talented, but they couldn’t adapt to that role. You come from being a McDonald’s All-American, averaging 20 or 30 points. Now you’re confined to a role or a niche. But if you find that, you’re going to last long in the league.”
Before the season started senior linebacker JJ Weaver didn’t mind the comparisons to UK linebacker Josh Allen, the 2018 national defensive player of the year.
Like Weaver, Allen turned down a chance to leave UK early for the NFL to return for a senior season. Like Weaver, Allen added weight before his final season.
However, Weaver’s season has not quite tracked like Allen’s final year did. Weaver had six quarterback sacks in 2021 and three in 2022, both team highs. He also had game-changing plays – remember the fourth-quarter interception against Florida in UK’s 2021 upset win.
Weaver has started the season okay but not spectacular but defensive coordinator Brad White is not yet worried. He has 10 solo tackles and four assists through four games along with two pass breakups, two tackles for loss and one quarterback hit. However, he has just one sack in four games.
“I think he’ll continue to make big plays and we need him to make sort of game-changing plays for us,” White said. “Those will come if he just stays true to who he is, stays true to sort of the training the technique. Play with a little bit of reckless abandon.
“A lot of times, if you’ve been in the system a lot, you know all the strengths and weaknesses of the defense. You know what they’re trying to do. Sometimes, you just don’t need to overthink. We talked about that. I’ve talked about football IQ all the time. There’s that pre-snap, but then when it’s post-snap, you just got to let it go, trust what you saw pre-snap and then just play.
“I think he’s going to be just fine. He’s still really helping us win. And I think he’s going to make some plays like he has in the past that changed the outcomes of ballgames.”
A few weeks ago The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie not only projected Kentucky freshman Justin Edwards as a 2024 first-round NBA draft pick but as the No. 1 overall pick. He predicted Edwards would be UK’s “best player” this season even with D.J. Wagner, Robert Dillingham and Aaron Bradshaw on the roster.
“I buy him being a bit more polished than some of these other guys, capable of playing well on both ends of the floor at an important position of value (a combo three/four) and especially able to drive toward the rim,” Vecenie wrote.
ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg won’t proclaim that Edwards could be the first pick in next year’s draft but he does think his versatility could make coach John Calipari’s team special this season.
“Edwards is a 6-8 guy who can snatch a defensive rebound, take two hard dribbles and win the first two steps in transition,” Greenberg said. “He can bust out and clear the first line of defense. That is a really big thing for a guy his size.
“He can pass and do so many things. You can’t pigeonhole him in one position. He’s not just a small forward. He can play the 4 (power forward) or 2 (shooting guard). He is just a basketball player. He’s a 6-8 floor gamer who makes shots and could enable John to play small ball if that’s what he wants to do.”
Quote of the Week: “That’s one thing I can say: I’ve worked with the all-time winningest coach at the University of Kentucky, and that’s pretty special to me,” veteran UK football equipment manager Tom Kalinowski who has doing the same job for 50 years on working with Mark Stoops to BBN Tonight’s Maggie Davis.
Quote of the Week 2: “He is a great coach and I love him to death. That is the main reason I flipped. I love all the coaches and facilities but I really love him,” Corbin linebacker Jacob Smith on UK defensive coordinator Brad White after flipping his college commitment from Michigan to UK.
Quote of the Week 3: “AB is a special kid. Once he understands college football more and gets tuned in to what college football be I can guarantee you the fate of that receiving room is in good hands,” UK senior running back Ray Davis on freshman receiver Anthony Brown-Stephens.