Defensive back picks Wildcats
Kentucky received a much-needed commitment from a player at a position of need on Tuesday, the eve of National Signing Day.
Tampa (Fla.) Plant is a high school in a talent-loaded part of Florida that has sent plenty of players to the college ranks in recent years. Derrick Baity is the latest from the school to make a commitment to a Power Five school, and his choice on Tuesday was Kentucky.
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Baity announced his decision on WFLA, the local news station in Tampa, during the sports segment of the 6:00 p.m. news. The announcement was streamed live on WFLA.com.
A 6-foot-2 cornerback, Baity has the kind of length that Kentucky's coaches have coveted since arriving in Lexington. They have recruited, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, players that are taller at the position than the ones they inherited.
Baity had initially narrowed his list of finalists to UK, USF and UCF before eliminating the Knights. He chose Kentucky, turning down South Florida, the more local option.
The Wildcats may look to add another defensive back before the end of Signing Day on Wednesday. Rivals100 defensive back Marcus Lewis will make his decision Wednesday and Kentucky is a finalist. Washington, D.C., defensive back Will Jackson chooses between Kentucky and Wake Forest, also on Wednesday.
Baity's commitment gives UK their 17th pledge of the 2015 recruiting class, moving them up to No. 44 nationally. While that's down from Mark Stoops' first two years on the job, it would rank as the second-best effort in the program's history during the Rivals.com era.