While the Cats would have loved a commitment from Lexington Catholic
quarterback Justin Burke, who picked North Carolina State, and still hope to
get a yes from Fort Campbell star Micah Johnson or Southwestern standout Josh Minton, no one at Kentucky is complaining about having Fidler and Cessna.
They are players who grew up Kentucky fans. They are players who liked
Kentucky from the start. They are players who believe not only in Rich Brooks
and his staff, but they believe in the Kentucky football program.
No, I’m not one that can readily evaluate how good a player will be three
years from now. That’s what Brooks and his staff have to judge. But I do
remember that no one was overly excited when UK signed Aaron Miller two years
ago and all he did was start in the offensive line as a true freshman despite
not being a big name in-state signee. Or what about in-state products Jacob Tamme and Ricky Abren? Former UK coach Guy Morriss withdrew scholarship offers
to both. When Morriss left, Brooks quickly offered both players scholarship
and they both will be key players on this year’s team.
Sure, it would be nice for Kentucky to sign all the blue-chip, can’t-miss
players in the state. But those days are over. However, I do believe in-state
players that grow up bleeding blue have a spot at Kentucky and Fidler and
Cessna are obviously two of those players. Maybe it will be two or three years
before they make an impact on the UK program. But they were willing to commit
now to a program that struggled mightily last year. They didn’t have to wait
to see how Kentucky does this year to know they wanted to play for the Wildcats.
That doesn’t mean it’s not important still to land players like Johnson and
Minton, but don’t underestimate the value of adding Fidler and Cessna, either.