[Tica]

UK has missed a boatload of players over the years who played pro ball. It was not that the players got a better offer elsewhere, it was that UK never offered them in the first place. And face it, for a period of time 10-15 years ago, there were areas in western Ky where UK was not welcome.

But not only has the talent level picked up a bit, the means of identifying and promoting talent has improved. 15 years ago, few people paid attention to combines and there was hardly any social media and a lot of people did not even have decent broadband yet. If someone had a great game, you read about it in the paper the next morning. Now if someone has a good game, there is video and stats circulating on multiple platforms that night. People (recruiters and scouts) have the ability to follow multiple games in near real time. More kids are going to camps and working in improving techniques that will get them noticed. There are a lot of reasons for the uptick.