[LeeCoUKFan]

Four-star DT Lawson planning Kentucky visit

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Kentucky is putting the finishing touches on its football recruiting class, and the staff is going to continue to work on the Class of 2013 even beyond National Signing Day.

Tevin Lawson is a soft LSU commit who will be at Kentucky this weekend. The reason for the trip is simple: Lawson is exploring other options after the LSU coaches told the defensive tackle they want him to greyshirt.

That was a bombshell and came as a huge surprise to the four-star defensive tackle.

"He's supposed to be flying in (to Kentucky) on Friday," said Denham Springs (La.) coach Dru Nettles. "That's an official visit. I guess he moved it up and he's thinking about taking some other visits. There may be another visit between TCU or Oklahoma State. Maybe even both. We've got to talk about what the next couple of weeks are going to look like."

Lawson could even opt to play for a school closer to home, such as Southern Miss, Lafayette or Louisiana Tech.

Recently Lawson, the nation's No. 21 defensive tackle, visited Lafayette to explore that option. It could be an attractive destination because according to reports that Nettles confirmed, Lawson's mother would like to see her son close to home.

That said, Lawson's mother is likely to make the trip to Kentucky with him this weekend.

"She's going to try to make it," Nettles said. "I think (distance) is an issue but that's for them to figure out. I don't think the kid is so much worried about it. It would be perfect to be at LSU distance-wise but I guess she's going to find out when she goes what she thinks about it."

Nettles has explained Lawson's academic situation in the past and is confident that his senior lineman is on track to qualify without a problem.

Sources have told Cats Illustrated that bolstering the quality and depth of the defensive line is one of the top priorities of the Kentucky staff, if not the top priority.

First-year Kentucky coach Mark Stoops and defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot relied upon a dominant defensive line at Florida State over the past couple of years and would like to have as many big, athletic bodies on the front four as they can find.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1468409