Where does Kentucky stand with its 2019 football targets?

While most of the immediate focus has to be on Kentucky's Class of 2018, especially with a new early Signing Day, not too long from now the focus will shift to the next cycle.

Cats Illustrated is already on top of it with updates on most of Kentucky's top 2019 targets.

Bazelak has visited Kentucky multiple times already, including for a camp over the summer. He was offered by the Wildcats around that time. He recently told Cats Illustrated that he was able to visit Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Kentucky, Indiana, Purdue, Toledo and Cincinnati for games this fall. Bazelak said Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Indiana and Duke are the four schools that are recruiting him the hardest to date.

By now it's well known that Tyson is the great grandson of the late Paul "Bear" Bryant and his family has made it clear, in conversations with Cats Illustrated, that Kentucky is an intriguing option for him because of the family history with the school but also because they like quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw.

This fall Tyson took visits to Kentucky, NC State, Duke, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Florida and Mississippi State. He told Cats Illustrated this week that the schools that have recruited him the hardest are Kentucky, NC State, Duke and Notre Dame.

Wolff has been one of the most prominent quarterbacks on Kentucky's radar for some time now, because he camped and visited again, plus he has an offer. Ranked the No. 12 pro-style quarterback in the class, Hinshaw is from an area close to where Wolff lives.

Wolf visited Kentucky, Maryland, Pitt and South Florida this fall. He told Cats Illustrated this week that Kentucky, WKU, USF, Cincinnati and Ohio State are the schools that have shown the most interest to date.

Screws was able to attend the Kentucky-Louisville game at the end of the regular season. He also visited Louisville, South Carolina, Alabama, USF, Rutgers and Florida during the season. Screws has family in Nicholasville so that makes Kentucky very appealing to him. He told Cats Illustrated it would be "a dream come true" to be a part of the Kentucky football program.

Norton doesn't yet have an offer from Kentucky, unlike some of the other players on this list, but the Nashville prospect did attend a game in Lexington this fall. He also visited Cincinnati, Miami (Ohio), Vanderbilt and Austin Peay. Aside from Kentucky, Norton told Cats Illustrated that Miami (Ohio), Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Memphis and Lehigh are recruiting him the hardest.

"I went to Kentucky this past summer and this fall," Norton said recently. "I love the facilities and the campus. I got to talk with Coach (Mark) Stoops and Coach Hinshaw and they're both extremely cool. I went up there for the Tennessee game this fall and the atmosphere was awesome."

Hinshaw reached out to the Rome, Ga., junior back in September when coaches could first contact 2019 prospects, but Kentucky's contact has been limited since then. Kadum said he is hearing from Michigan State, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Alabama, Florida State, Tennessee, East Carolina, Ohio State and Oklahoma, to greater or lesser degrees. Kentucky continues to send him mail. During the fall Kadum has visited Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Florida State, Tennessee and Mississippi State. He's working on setting up a trip to LSU.

Mellusi would probably be near the top of Kentucky's wish list at running back from the Class of 2018 but he told Cats Illustrated recently that Notre Dame, South Carolina, Miami, Southern Cal and Auburn are the schools that have been recruiting him the hardest. The only school he visited this fall was Notre Dame.

Kentucky offered Gary during his junior season at Woodward Academy. Gary visited Florida State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Michigan State and South Carolina this fall. He will go to watch South Carolina's bowl practice on December 16th. Gary told Cats Illustrated that he is liking Florida State a lot right now.

Chambers was one of several Georgia running backs from the '19 class that Kentucky offered during the season. At least during the fall Chambers said he hadn't had much direct contact with the UK staff. Kentucky is on the outside looking in. He told Cats Illustrated that he visited Ohio State, Michigan, Stanford, Clemson, Wisconsin, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Penn State and Auburn this fall, staying very busy, and he noted that those are the schools that are recruiting him the hardest.

Bivens has an offer from Kentucky and has visited. He is teammates with quarterback Connor Bazelak at Archbishop Alter, so the Cats are recruiting both players.

Mangham is one of the top running backs in the Class of 2019 and he told Cats Illustrated this week that Kentucky, Michigan State, Colorado, Missouri, Oregon, NC State, Purdue, Syracuse, Wyoming, Illinois, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia and Washington State are in the most contact with him. Not all of those schools have offered.

Showing early interest will be key for Mangham. "My dad always says, 'Love who loves you.'"

Nichols visited Kentucky in the spring and told Cats Illustrated that he enjoyed his time in Lexington. He said that he has been friends with 2018 Kentucky linebacker commitment DeAndre Square since 2012, so they have a good, long-standing relationship.

Hayes-Patrick, one of the top running backs in Florida, recently told Cats Illustrated that he has not visited any schools recently. He also said UCF, Louisville and Florida State are the schools that have been recruiting him the hardest but with two of those schools bringing in new head coaches that will be interesting to watch.

Wright has not tipped his hand to recruiting analysts, so it's tough to tell where he's going to end up. But the very versatile prospect has plenty of offers to choose from and will be hearing from Kentucky's coaching staff right up until the time he signs somewhere.

Kentucky was the second school to offer All. More recently, he's picked up an offer from Rutgers. He unofficially visited Kentucky for the Louisville game and also attended games at Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Cincinnati and Miami (Ohio). All told Cats Illustrated this week that the schools that are recruiting him hardest are Purdue, Northwestern, Ohio State and Miami (Ohio).

Rice showed out as one of the top performers at a Kentucky summer camp before the 2016 season. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Syracuse are among the other schools that are involved in Rice's recruitment.

During the regular season Norris was able to unofficially visit Notre Dame. He told Cats Illustrated this week that Kentucky, Louisville and Rutgers are recruiting him harder than any other schools.

Dillon Sanders communicates with a lot of Kentucky's targets from the Show Me State and Childress is no exception. Childress told Cats Illustrated this week that Sanders reaches out almost daily. He has taken unofficial visits to Kentucky and Illinois. He's also communicating with Kansas and Toledo.

Anderson is undersized but a dynamic player. He visited Florida State, Florida and Alabama this fall. He told Cats Illustrated this week that Kentucky and Florida have shown the most interest to date.

Mayo is from Chaminade Madonna and picked up an offer from Kentucky after a strong camp performance over the summer, so he's definitely one to watch. He was close to pulling the trigger on a commitment months ago.

Cunningham landed an early offer from Kentucky and attended the Cats' game against Florida early in the 2017 season, telling Cats Illustrated, "The atmosphere before and during the game was awesome. I wish Kentucky would have broke that 30-year mark. Great atmosphere and it seemed like great chemistry between the players and coaches." Derrick LeBlanc is recruiting Cunningham.

Brown attended Kentucky's spring game and he has raved about his experience in Lexington. However, he told Cats Illustrated recently that Central Florida and Missouri are the two schools that have been recruiting him the hardest. Both of those situations are up in the air with Mizzou looking for an offensive coordinator and UCF undergoing a head coaching change.

Black is probably a long shot because he's a Mississippi State commitment from the state of Mississippi, but he does get mail from Kentucky and could be open to a visit at some point down the road.

Although Morales is committed to South Florida, he has been hearing quite a bit from Lamar Thomas and visited Kentucky for the Cats' game against Louisville. Because Kentucky has two tight end commitments from the 2018 class, time will tell how much they make the position a priority next year. He told Cats Illustrated that he was happy to watch Kendall Randolph play in person, since he was once a player at Lincoln High School.

Dobbs camped at Kentucky two summers ago and the Cats have continued to pursue him, hoping their Michigan momentum can translate into a major steal.

Kight attended a camp at Kentucky over the summer and he was one of the event's standouts, along with 2018 Wildcat commitment Darian Kinnard, who worked out alongside him. Kentucky is very interested in Kight although his stock has since exploded.

Hudson has visited Kentucky countless times in recent years and has been a major recruiting target for the Wildcats since he was a very young high school student-athlete. Ohio State offered before the summer and Alabama has Hudson's interest as well. In late October Hudson told Cats Illustrated that Kentucky, LSU, Virginia Tech, Duke and Florida have communicated with him most, and at that point in the year he also said that he had taken fall visits to Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Penn State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Florida's new coaching staff has made Hudson a priority as well.

Bowles has a family connection to Louisville's football program but seems open to the Wildcats and has spent time around UK. He attended Kentucky's game against Florida. Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Penn State, LSU, Tennessee and Louisville are among the other schools that have offered and figure to compete for Bowles' signature.

Correll is a Kentucky legacy and several family members spanning three generations have played football for the Wildcats. He camped at Kentucky over the summer and is a top priority for the staff. He attended the Kentucky-Florida game in September and also visited schools like Notre Dame and Penn State during the season.

Alabama and the in-state schools seem to be at the forefront of Lucas' mind, so he's probably a long shot for now.

Jones told Cats Illustrated this week that he was able to visit Georgia, Florida, Duke and Ole Miss this fall. While Kentucky has offered, Jones said Florida, Duke and Mississippi State are recruiting him the hardest.

McIntyre's Kentucky offer came just last month and Louisville followed that up with another offer about two weeks later. McIntyre's first offer was from Maryland. The last staff at Florida offered as well. During the season McIntyre took visits to South Carolina, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.

Lampley has been all over the place, visiting Auburn, Wisconsin and plenty of schools in between. He's got a nice offer list stretching, again, from the SEC to the Big Ten, and seems to be willing to continue with more visits going forward.

Johnson is one of the top offensive linemen in the Midwest and it stands to reason he will be hearing quite a bit from Kentucky. He told Cats Illustrated this week that he is open to all of his offers and has not narrowed his list.

Carpenter appears to be one of Kentucky's top offensive guard prospects from the 2019 class at this early stage. He is the younger teammate of Kentucky commit Brenden Bates at Archbishop Moeller. He was a first team All-Ohio selection in 2017.

Williams visited Kentucky over the summer and didn't exactly keep his interest in the Wildcats a secret whenever Cats Illustrated has spoken with him. He told Cats Illustrated this week that he has visited Kentucky, NC State, Indiana, Georgia State and WKU in recent months.

Derrick LeBlanc has been in regular contact with Murray, one of the top interior linemen in Georgia from the '19 class. Kentucky has not yet offered. Murray attended games at Kentucky and South Carolina this fall. He has been in contact with Boston College and Florida recently.

Although Herron is committed to Michigan, Kentucky's coaching staff is still doing what they can to stay in his ear. A flip seems unlikely at this point.

Ingraham camped in Lexington over the summer as part of the same group that included four-star cornerback Stanley Garner, who had not yet committed to Kentucky.

Jamison is one of several Class of 2019 prospects on Kentucky's radar from Cardinal Mooney in Youngstown. Due to transportation issues he hasn't been able to visit any schools this fall, but Jamison said he plans to visit Cincinnati, Michigan State, Toledo, Northwestern and Duke.

Johnson visited Kentucky for one of the Wildcats' first home games of the 2017 season, telling Cats Illustrated that he toured the facilities and met most of the coaches. Derrick LeBlanc carved out some time to talk to him on that trip. Johnson is a defensive end who could grow into a defensive tackle in college. Recently, in November, he told Cats Illustrated that Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Wake Forest had been in recent contact.

Booker has visited Kentucky and is very interested in the program. He was injured when he visited during camp season over the summer. He also visited for the Kentucky-Florida game and loved the atmosphere beforehand and during the contest. Kentucky was Booker's first offer. He has recently landed offers from Toledo and Cincinnati.

Munoz is one of Eddie Gran's top 2019 defensive line recruits and has told Cats Illustrated that he has been hearing from Kentucky's offensive coordinator since contact with high school juniors opened in September.

Bogle has visited Kentucky and would likely be near the top of the Wildcats' wish list. He was going to release a list of favorites in late October but pushed that back so he could learn more about all of the many schools that have offered.

Vince Marrow offered Thornton over the summer and since that time the three-star from Cincinnati has added Iowa State. He visited West Virginia not long ago. Depending on how hard Kentucky pursues him, Thornton would likely have strong interest in Kentucky.

Eaford is a teammate of Ashtan Pierre's (2018 Kentucky commitment) from Deerfield Beach, Fla., and he camped in Lexington over the summer. He said that he spoke with Mark Stoops on that trip to Kentucky, that he loved the city and liked the family vibe around the program. Kentucky made his top dozen schools, but there's a long way to go.

Brooks has close to 20 scholarship offers but earlier in the year, before the summer, he was calling Kentucky his favorite. However, that was very early in the process and he landed an offer from Miami over the summer. Brooks has yet to take many visits.

Weaver is one of the top prospects from the Commonwealth in a strong year for Kentucky talent. A very versatile, multipositional player, Weaver is being pursued by both of the Commonwealth's Power Five teams.

Kentucky only recently offered Orhorhoro, who calls himself "the Nigerian Nightmare." He's from Steven Clinkscale's recruiting territory.

Pickerington Central is a school that Vince Marrow has recruited frequently in the past and Carter picked up his offer from the Cats' recruiting coordinator around the time that he visited the high school before Carter's sophomore season. So Kentucky has known about Carter for a long time. West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame have all offered over the past couple of months so his stock is climbing.

Lucas has been on Kentucky's radar for months now and the Wildcats have been in contact with the coaching staff at Lucas' high school.

Faucheux is just the latest Lakota West talent to hear Kentucky's pitch. His teammate, Xavier Peters, will be heading off to Lexington next year. Kentucky offered early and has remained involved. Penn State, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and many others have offered the Rivals250 prospect.

Holley's first offer was from Florida but there have been a lot of moving parts in the early part of his recruitment. He visited Clemson, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Georgia and UAB during the season. Holley said Auburn and Georgia Tech are recruiting him the hardest.

Gibson has been in Marrow's sights for a long time and his interest in Kentucky has been very high. Kentucky's staff has a strong connection to Springfield and that helps. He at least attended Kentucky's spring game and enjoyed that trip. Indiana, Purdue, Louisville and Cincinnati are some of the other schools that have offered and remained interested.

Sorrells is committed to Florida but that hasn't stopped other schools from recruiting him. At one point he was talking about a visit to Kentucky, but it's not clear how much interest he still has in the Wildcats.

Briggs hails from Walnut Hills, which is the school that 2018 Kentucky offensive line commitment Quintin Wilson attended until he transferred to Turpin. He's one of the nation's top prospects so pulling him in will be a tall order but the Cats will make a go at it. Ohio State and Michigan are pursuing Briggs as well, though, so that will be tough.

Defensive line coach and area recruiter Derrick LeBlanc has been in contact with Jackson since at least September.

Dixon has been hearing a lot from Kentucky and the Wildcats have to hope he could be the DeAndre Square of their 2019 class, as one of the top defensive prospects in the state. He has already visited Kentucky and told Cats Illustrated in mid-September that he's been in contact with Steven Clinkscale.

Although Gee has been committed to South Carolina for some time, he had been staying in contact with Kentucky through at least part of the season when contact with juniors opened up.

A Division II all-state player in Ohio, Thomas is one of the state's top prospects and Kentucky, West Virginia and several others should be making him a priority.

Kentucky offered Willis back in the spring but just this week he added an offer from Syracuse. He is obviously an interesting prospect because of Kentucky's history in Lagrange.

Kentucky was the third school overall to offer Glenn and his tweet announcing that is still pinned to the top of that social media page.

Fulton hails from Cardinal Mooney and visited Kentucky for a camp over the summer and again for a game this fall. He also visited Pitt, Indiana, Cincinnati, Penn State and Northwestern. Fulton visits Ohio State this weekend.

Fulton has offers from Kentucky, Indiana, Cincinnati and Toledo. Beyond that, he's got interest from Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Maryland and Northwestern.

Henry is that rare JUCO prospect who has picked up a Kentucky offer very early in the process, as he's still got another year before he transfers to a "D1" school. Iowa State was the first school to offer and Kentucky remains the only other school that has offered to date.

Kentucky offered Ayamel a long time ago and he seems to have some interest in the Wildcats. He's one of the better players in Maryland's Class of 2019 and comes from the same program, Good Counsel, that sent Josh Paschal and Naasir Watkins to Kentucky not long ago. Maryland is the only school that Ayamel visited this fall.

He told Cats Illustrated this week that Maryland, Kentucky, Rutgers, Stanford, Pitt, Syracuse and Virginia Tech have recruited him the hardest. He's heard a little from Northwestern and North Carolina.

Kentucky is one of the schools that has recruited Knight-Goff, a versatile defensive prospect, the hardest. He attended a 7-on-7 passing tournament in Lexington over the summer and both he and his coaches have been in contact with UK's staff. Knight-Goff, who also plays basketball for Doss, is also being heavily courted by his hometown Cardinals.

Alexander is one of a number of talented players at Grayson that Kentucky might be interested in. He landed an early offer from the Wildcats and back in February he told Cats Illustrated that he was working out a trip to Kentucky at some point down the road. Vanderbilt, Penn State, Duke and West Virginia offered during Alexander's junior season at Grayson.

Earlier this fall Mullen released a list of six favorites: Kentucky, Mississippi State, Oregon, Louisville, Indiana and Michigan State. All of those schools had offered except Oregon.

Kentucky obviously has a history of recruiting Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio (Alex Reigelsperger and Blue Smith, most recently). Kentucky, Cincinnati, Iowa State and Toledo are Harris' current offers.

Speaking of cornerbacks from Ohio high schools that have long been on Kentucky's radar, Ross (6-foot-1) comes from Lakota West, home of 2018 Kentucky linebacker commitment Xavier Peters and many other Wildcats on the roster now and recently.

Griffin camped at Kentucky over the summer and attended the UK-Tennessee game this fall. He also attended games at Indiana, Cincinnati and Louisville, but is expecting to take visits to other schools in the offseason as well. Cole Daniels is Saline's quarterback and Griffin's teammate, and he's committed to play baseball at Kentucky.

One of the better corners in Florida, Allen has told Cats Illustrated that he was able to visit three schools during the football season: Kentucky, Florida and Ohio State. He was in Lexington for Kentucky's game against Florida and said, "It was awesome. I would love to go back."

Jenkins does not yet have an offer from Kentucky but he's on the Cats' radar. He visited Georgia Tech three times during the fall and the Yellow Jackets are recruiting him the hardest.

Oregon State, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Cincinnati and Kentucky are among the schools that have been involved in Melvin's recruitment thus far.

Lane picked up his offer from Kentucky almost a full year ago but not much is known about his interest in the Wildcats.

Moe Douglass attended Kentucky and he's the coach at Springfield, Ohio. He's also the father of Rivals250 safety Moses Douglass, the No. 8 player in Ohio from the Class of 2019. Douglass is very familiar with the Kentucky program but a number of schools are involved with him. He attended Kentucky's spring game and told Cats Illustrated he had a chemistry with the coaches on the staff that he met. However, he did not go to any of Kentucky's games this season, instead visiting Louisville, Michigan and Ohio State.

Bridges is one of the top defensive backs from the Deep South and he has visited Kentucky. He comes from the same hometown as Kentucky strength coach Mark Hill so there is a connection that has come in handy for the Wildcats. His interest seems serious.

Rutgers and Iowa State are Fortune's latest offers. West Virginia and Kansas State offered before the summer. But Kentucky was the first school to offer, and thus far that has gone a long way with him.

Graham hails from powerhouse Cass Tech, the same school as 2018 Kentucky linebacker commitment DeAndre Square, and the Wildcats figure to be a major option for him.

Vance unofficially visited Kentucky late in this last regular season and came away with a lot of interest in the Wildcats. He spent a lot of time talking to Derrick LeBlanc on his visit, attended a women's basketball game and came away thinking UK's facilities are "top of the line."

Robinson is a small but shifty slot who could give the Cats a stronger in-state presence in their 2019 recruiting class. It is widely believed that Kentucky is a solid frontrunner for Robinson.

Kentucky, Colorado, Toledo and Wake Forest are the first four schools that have offered Johnson.