[LeeCoUKFan]

Kentucky in touch with JUCO tackle Levi

Justin Rowland
CatsIllustrated.com Football Recruiting Analyst

Kentucky received a commitment from one junior college defensive tackle over the weekend and the Wildcats are taking a look at another from the west coast.

Rika Levi is a 6-foot-2, 350-pound presence that can eat up space and occupy blockers in the middle of a defense. He's got offers from Washington and Missouri with the Huskies holding the early edge, but plenty of other schools including Kentucky are in the mix.

Levi does not have an offer from Kentucky yet and whether he receives one could now hinge on what Matt Elam decides to do when he announces his college destination in January. But Levi remains on the radar.

"I recently was in touch with Kentucky, coach Jimmy Brumbaugh," Levi said. "He was just telling me I could play in the SEC and he feels I could do well in their program.

"I guess I don't know how they found out about me. Maybe word of mouth. He watched my highlight tape, he followed me on Twitter and he direct messaged me. He was talking to me on Twitter and gave me his number. Then I called him."

Levi said he believes Brumbaugh seems like a good coach and he wants to get to know him better.

He also knows he probably needs a strong second year at the College of San Mateo in order to have a chance at an SEC offer.

"They're going to watch me this season but I know they like me. They're just trying to get to know me more," he said.

"I know that they're SEC and that's definitely a plus. They play against the best. Besides that it just seems like (Brumbaugh) knows what he's doing. We talked a lot about defensive schemes and it sounded really good."

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1528045