[LeeCoUKFan]

QB Barker talks in depth about Kentucky, South Carolina

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Drew Barker can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The recruiting process is drawing to a close.

All that remains for the Rivals250 quarterback is the spring evaluation period. The Conner quarterback is sticking to his original timetable and plans to announce his college choice in early May after college coaches have stopped by his school and had an opportunity to make one final pitch.

Barker's focus has largely been on Kentucky lately. He attended a spring practice in Lexington on April 8 and he returned over the weekend for a trip that spanned Friday and Saturday, ending in Commonwealth Stadium with Kentucky's spring game.

"It was great," he said of the weekend. "It was a little different this time because they kinda just let me be on my own. They told me when I got there they were just going to let me do my own thing and find out what I like for myself. They weren't going to hound me so much. It was a different approach."

For the duration of the trip Barker was around the players currently on Kentucky's roster.

He spent time with long-time friend and acquaintance Patrick Towles and other players like Langston Newton, Jordan Swindle, Landon Foster, Zach West, Jon Toth and others.

Barker's relationship with Towles, and his respect for him, dates back to his earliest high school days.

"We go back a few years," Barker said. "I remember when I was a freshman and I think he was a junior, just wanting to be in the same position as him. He was Mr. Football and I always wanted to kinda be like that. He's a real cool guy."

Sure enough, Barker finds himself in a very similar position. In fact, he's ranked even higher than Towles was when he was in high school heading into his senior season.

Barker had a chance to watch Towles and the other quarterbacks closely. He watched the entire offense and he saw some good. However, questions remain.

"I watched the quarterbacks and basically everybody from the line to the wideouts. I kinda had some questions about the offensive line and skill players. I'm not really worried about the skill players. I know they're bringing in good skill players," he said.

"I thought (the quarterbacks) all did good at certain times but none of them were perfect. They all played pretty evenly."

The play of the offensive line left something to be desired at times, not only from Barker's perspective but most others that watched the game.

"That's one of the questions that I really had," he said. "You have to have an offensive line to block guys like Za'Darius (Smith), Jadeveon Clowney, the defensive tackles from Alabama and Auburn ... guys like that.

"They've played good at times but it's kinda a concern just because I know the competition. I've seen South Carolina's defensive line and all those SEC defensive lines. You've got to have a really good offensive line."

That's not Barker's only concern with Kentucky. He admitted that he has some concerns related to the coaching staff - not the quality of the staff, but whether coaches will be in Lexington for the long haul if they win at the level many expect.

Of course, there are concerns with South Carolina as well, notably related to head coach Steve Spurrier and how much longer he plans to coach.

"There (are) more (concerns) with UK than SC," Barker said, however.

That doesn't mean South Carolina has the edge, he insisted.

"No leans," he said.

There's a "jumble at the top," Barker said, and he's going back and forth from one school to the next on a daily basis. When asked whether he's starting to get a clear picture in his own mind of where he wants to be, Barker said he is not. No doubt he hopes that changes soon.

While questions about both schools remain, and while Barker said he is open to others, there was plenty of good to take away from his weekend at Kentucky.

"I was more surprised with the Cat Walk than anything because I had been to that before and there was like nobody there," he said. "There were only people on one side. This time it was wrapped around and so long. Everybody was chanting my name. It was a neat and fun experience. That's how it should be at an SEC school."

Barker has stayed in regular contact with many of the other recruits he saw on Saturday that Kentucky's coaches would love to surround Barker with.

He's also stayed in contact with several key South Carolina targets, including guys like Shaq Davidson, Braxton Berrios (who is also being recruited by UK), Chris Godwin and Da'Shawn Hand, the nation's top-ranked recruit.

This week the Gamecocks picked up a commitment from Bryson Allen-Williams and he's already trying to work Barker in the same way Kentucky's coaches and commits are.

"I'm good friends with him," he said of Allen-Williams. "I talked to him for a while."

With the spring evaluation period starting up, coaches from several schools will stop by Conner. Neal Brown will stop by twice and South Carolina will send an assistant on two occasions as well.

The next two weeks are inevitably going to be two of the most hectic, pressure-packed weeks of Barker's life. Regardless of the choice he makes he knows all the jubilation on one staff and in one fan base will go alongside disappointment in others.

But he's forging ahead and seems comfortable with where he's at in the process. Probably more comfortable than the coaches and fans waiting on his decision.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1496017