[LeeCoUKFan]

Kentucky has competition for wide receiver Badet
Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

It appeared as though Jeff Badet was getting close to making his decision. Now it's not so clear.

Badet has been saying for weeks that Kentucky is slightly ahead of the rest of the field. When Cats Illustrated exchanged text messages with him on Sunday around noon he confirmed that Kentucky is still his favorite.

However, now the Wildcats have a bit more competition. It's not coming from Clemson, N.C. State, Iowa State or the usual suspects. It's from a Pac-12 upstart that has been one of the biggest surprises on the recruiting scene this year: UCLA.

Badet announced on Sunday that he had picked up a late offer from the Bruins, who are also recruiting his friend and quarterback Asiantii Woulard.

Woulard is likely to choose between Clemson and UCLA but Badet has a slightly different list of finalists.

"Kentucky, UCLA and Wisconsin," Badet sent via text message when asked for his finalists.

While Kentucky leads the Bruins have a chance to make a late impression. He's clearly excited about the offer and has high expectations going into his cross-country flight.

"Just seeing what the chances of me playing early (are)," he said. "And (looking into the) academics."

The trip will clearly have to be a game-changer for the Bruins to make up all the ground they need to on Kentucky, which has made a strong pitch based on playing time and the offense that coordinator Neal Brown will bring in from Texas Tech.

Badet has become one of Kentucky's most important recruits because of the need at wide receiver.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1465238