[LeeCoUKFan]

Townsend's interest in Kentucky keeps growing

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com


Darien Townsend visited Kentucky last year for the Wildcats' game against Georgia and he visited the school for a second time for the UK spring game.

At the Georgia game last year Townsend wasn't able to see too much of the school but said that he did see enough to pique his interest in Kentucky. His interest has only risen since Mark Stoops took over as the head coach.

Townsend has noticed an increased energy around the program and UK is especially appealing given Stoops' and Vince Marrow's ties to the Youngstown area.

"(Coach Marrow) is pretty cool," Townsend told Cats Illustrated. "I think the facilities up there are really nice and I like the coaches. I got to talk to a lot of them about some things. I talked to the receivers coach (Tommy Mainord) and I talked to coach Marrow."

Kentucky has not offered the 5-foot-10, 175-pound athlete, and in fact, Townsend is waiting for his first offer.

His next best chance to pick up offers might be during the summer on the camp circuit. He plans to work out for the UK coaches to try and convince them that he is offer material.

"They were telling me they want to see how quick I am in person and they also want to see my route running," he said. "They're recruiting me as an inside receiver.

"I like the spread a lot and the fact that there's going to be a big-time threat on the outside," he said, clarifying that he was referring to Thaddeus Snodgrass. "I don't know him personally but I did get to meet him at the spring game."

Townsend said Kentucky, Akron and Bowling Green are the schools showing the most interest for now, and the Wildcats are his current favorite.

Last fall Townsend had 845 receiving yards and caught 14 touchdown passes. He also returned two kickoffs and two punts for touchdowns.

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1500653