Could Ken Montgomery become Kentucky's second 2018 commitment?
There can be no questions about Kentucky's interest in Ken Montgomery.
The Wildcat staff has offered the 6-foot-2 defensive back. They'll welcome him to campus for a camp in July, and don't be surprised if they put on the full court press to try and convince him to commit when he visits.
Montgomery spoke at length, and candidly, with Cats Illustrated about his recruitment, Kentucky's involvement, and what he's thinking about his future.
Montgomery isn't nearly as big as he's going to be. He's listed on Rivals.com at just 153 pounds, although he's probably gotten bigger since his appearance at the Rivals Camp Series event where he was measured and weighed earlier this year.
He may get taller and he'll certainly fill out.
Kentucky's coaches want the Tampa (Fla.) Hillsborough athlete, a self-described defensive athlete "like Chris Westry," because of his body composition. But they do believe, apparently, that he's very capable of filling out nicely, and they do love his length.
Coaches at Tennessee, Southern Cal, Duke, Indiana, Missouri, Louisville and several others -- a dozen in total -- have offered Montgomery, just as Kentucky's coaches have.
Normally that's the kind of offer list that might give some fans and even pundits pause. After all, for all the success Kentucky has had recruiting the Buckeye State under Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow, since the 2013 class there haven't been nearly as many big-time commitments from Florida as from the Cats' so-called six-hour radius.
Then again, seldom has Kentucky been riding a wave of recruiting momentum in the South similar to what they're enjoying now. Although they lost Floridian and quarterback Mac Jones to Alabama, they quickly secured a commitment from Atlanta-area 2018 quarterback Jarren Williams, and followed that up with a commitment from 2017 Florida receiver Joshua Ali, who had plenty of Power Five offers himself.
So the coaches in Lexington probably feel emboldened by recent events, and in the case of Montgomery they would have good reason for optimism.
"Me and Kentucky," Montgomery said late Thursday night, "we have a real good relationship. I'm real good friends with Chris Westry, (who he believes will be a) first team All-American DB. Me and him have been keeping in contact."
Montgomery hasn't met Westry at length in person, but he did know of him when the Cats' sophomore corner was a Florida recruit just a couple of years ago himself. Montgomery really took a liking to Westry more recently, since he watched him burst onto the scene earlier than people expected, taking the SEC by storm and matching up well with players like Pharoh Cooper of South Carolina.
When Montgomery talks about Westry he's not just dropping a name associated with a program. He's done his homework. He sees similarities.
"I pretty much know him from social media," Montgomery said. "But he's been trying to get up with me. I messaged him one day and he was talking to me about keeping my head up, telling me the rights and wrongs of the recruiting process, and showing me how to handle things.
"I used to watch a lot of his full game clips and I used to watch every single snap he played on the field," Montgomery continued. "I actually noticed him at first because he was taller than the linebackers and defensive linemen. That really stood out to me. Me and him are pretty much the same guy. We're real skinny, real tall and real elusive. We're good play makers on the defensive side of the ball."
Westry is only one reason Montgomery likes Kentucky, and it's not as though the 2018 prospect is just hoping to play with the Cats' rising sophomore. After all, he's heard the chatter and knows there are some who believe Westry could be a candidate to be a 'three-and-done' defensive back one day.
He trusts Westry because he's seen the cornerback put in the work and, as Montgomery mentioned, he sees parallels in their games and in their builds.
Defensive backs coach Steven Clinkscale is another reason Montgomery likes Kentucky a lot these days. Although Darin Hinshaw is the coach who visited Hillsborough during the spring evaluation period, as the area recruiter, Clinkscale has played a pivotal role in Montgomery's recruitment thus far.
"Me and the new DB coach have a real good relationship," Montgomery said. "He came from Cincinnati and we have a real nice relationship. He's not my area recruiter but he was my recruiter for Cincinnati. He has family in Clearwater so he comes down to the area a lot and he's real cool with my coaches from high school."
Montgomery said he will be visiting Kentucky in mid-July. He will be camping at Kentucky's big event on July 17, where he'll be joined by plenty of other Florida prospects. But that's not all.
"I'm visiting for the camp on the 17th and then I'm going to hang around with the coaches for a couple of hours and my parents will be there so they can feel the vibe," Montgomery said. "The next day we're going to go back to Kentucky again so we can meet with the coaches again and hang around some more. Then we'll head out to Louisville."
Montgomery said he's got a relationship with the Louisville staff, but added, "I'm not as close with them as I am with Kentucky's coaches."
The defensive back told Cats Illustrated that even though he's young and it's still early in his recruitment, he's "probably" going to commit to a school this summer before the next football season begins.
"You never know," he said. "It just depends on who makes me feel at home."
In that case, it could come down to Kentucky and Louisville, because those are the only two schools Montgomery plans to visit for the remainder of the summer. Kentucky's got a strong leg up right now, and Montgomery doesn't shy away from stating that.
"There's probably a chance I could commit to Kentucky if it goes well," he said. "They're just waiting on me to get to campus. Coach Clinkscale, he hasn't said too much about what to expect up there. (Clinkscale's) not really a talk guy. He's an action guy. He's pretty much just waiting on the visit and so am I, so I'm ready to see it for myself."
Montgomery attended a camp at Florida State earlier this summer but he hasn't visited or camped at any other schools since the end of his sophomore year at Hillsborough.