[LeeCoUKFan]

UK football target Powell open to leaving Florida

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Deerfield Beach (Fla.) athlete Brandon Powell has an open ear to the in-state schools that are recruiting him but he wants it to be known that he's open to leaving Florida.

Kentucky's coaches are hoping that's exactly what he decides to do in the end. Most of the schools recruiting him hope that.

The 5-foot-9, 167-pound athlete has attended junior days at Miami and South Florida primarily because those trips are much more convenient to make than are trips to other schools that have offered, like Kentucky, Cal, Cincinnati, LSU, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia, which aren't so close to home.

While both the Bulls and the Hurricanes gave Powell impressive presentations he's still not sure where he will end up. One thing is certain: He's not going to discriminate against schools that aren't in his backyard.

"Location really doesn't matter to me," Powell said. "Everybody's recruiting me hard and I'm open to all of them. I'm hearing from all the schools that have offered me. They've been calling me and checking on me every week."

Chad Scott is Powell's lead recruiter from the Kentucky staff and the UK running backs coach has had plenty of success recruiting in the Sunshine State over the years, both with the Wildcats in the last recruiting cycle and at Texas Tech before that.

Right now Scott is in the preliminary stages of getting to know Powell.

"He was just talking about how he can't wait for me to get up there. They want me on campus," Powell said.

That's a trip he would be willing to take. It's just not clear whether it's more likely to be an unofficial visit over the summer or an official visit in the fall or winter. He does plan on taking most or all of his allotted official visits before announcing his decision.

"I'm looking for academics first and then the coaching staff. How well I get along with the coaching staff is going to be big and then the college atmosphere," he said.

Most schools are recruiting Powell as a running back but some have also mentioned the possibility of letting him play in the slot. He does a little bit of both at Deerfield Beach, where he rushed for 1,180 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. He also added 247 receiving yards and three scores.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1493015