[LeeCoUKFan]

Horton sees big things coming for Kentucky football

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Four-star Rivals250 running back Mikel Horton became the first recruit to commit to a school at the Rivals Camp Series presented by Under Armour in Cincinnati on Saturday when he announced his pledge to Kentucky.

That's big enough news itself.

But Horton continued making big news even after putting the white cap with the blue interlocking UK logo on. He told Midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt that other prospects have made their decision to commit to Kentucky and only have not gone public yet. That's not huge news for those that have been following the Wildcats' recruiting efforts closely, but what Horton told Cats Illustrated on Sunday was.

Cats Illustrated spoke with Horton and followed up on that conversation he had with Helmholdt in Cincinnati.

Just how many other prospects have decided they want to attend Kentucky?

"Between 10 and 15," a confident Horton responded.

And how many of those prospects have offers?

"A majority of them," he said. "Not all of them. Some of them haven't been offered yet. Probably seven or eight have offers."

In other words, the number of prospects that have decided on Kentucky already could be much bigger than anyone previously anticipated. That will play itself out and make itself public in time.

Horton was named the top offensive player at the Rivals event in Cincinnati so it's tough to imagine his four-star status being in jeopardy.

"I did well because a lot of the things I had been working on. I ran good routes, I feel good about the way I cut, and I ran track to help those things out," Horton said.

The future Wildcat said fellow commit Dorian Hendrix and UK targets Drew Barker, Darryl Long, Darius West and Chris Frey were some of the other campers that impressed him the most.

Horton will be part of a loaded offensive backfield when you figure most of Kentucky's current backs will still be on the roster when 2014 rolls around. Kentucky also adds incoming freshman Jojo Kemp and Nebraska transfer Braylon Heard.

But Horton probably brings his own style.

"I know people look at me as a big back because I am a big back," he said. "But I've also proved at these camps that I can move. I'm very shifty. I have great speed for my size and I can pull away from linebackers and the secondary. I know (Kentucky) runs that Air Raid and that's what we run now. It's the spread and downhill running."

As for that commitment Horton is just excited to finally go public with his desire to be on board.

Kentucky established itself as a major player in the four-star backs recruitment long ago when Vince Marrow built a strong relationship with him.

"I decided on Kentucky a while ago," Horton said. "My mom always said Kentucky was going to be a place for me. I based my decision on how I felt down there with my parents. We got a hotel and all just to get the city life. We saw how it would feel to live in Lexington and there were a lot of great, nice people. There's a lot to do at nighttime and it's just the perfect place for me. The fans are crazy.

"The spring game was very impressive. That was another reason I came. People put a lot of faith in coach (Mark) Stoops and I like to see they're taking a chance. Good things happen to good people and coach Stoops is a great guy."

Horton said he, Hendrix and Thaddeus Snodgrass are all planning to graduate from high school in December and enroll at Kentucky early.

And he's hoping there could be more early graduates that come on board soon.

"I'm very excited," he said. "Everybody feels the same. They just want to [announce their commitments] at separate times. It's all about trust. We trust those guys who have committed."

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1498241