Kentucky makes a move with four-star in-state linebacker Jared Casey
Jared Casey's stock is blowing up.
The Louisville (Ky.) Ballard linebacker stood out at a recent Rivals 3-Stripe Camp event and quickly landed his fourth star.
Then he picked up an offer from Oregon plus lots of interest from schools across the country.
Now, Vince Marrow has offered on Kentucky's behalf.
Cats Illustrated spoke with the 6-foot-2, 225-pound prospect just before Kentucky offered. Casey announced the offer Monday afternoon.
Even before the offer, it was clear that Kentucky's recent interest had intrigued Casey. He said he would have "a lot" of interest in the Wildcats if they were to offer. While he doesn't have any connections to Kentucky and grew up a fan of Louisville, Casey is intrigued.
"I did grow up a Louisville fan but that doesn't really matter because you have to go where you fit in," Casey had said.
Casey has never visited Kentucky before.
"I definitely want to visit Kentucky. It would be an unofficial," Casey said.
The four-star linebacker said he probably would not camp at the school.
He also added that he's "cool" with Aidan Robbins and Wandale Robinson, two of the other top 2019 prospects in the state and a pair of top Kentucky targets in their own right.
"Coach Marrow just started texting me a couple of days ago and he's coming to the school Monday to see me," Casey had said before the offer. "He hadn't really said much, we've just been going back and forth. I don't know much about them but I'm excited to learn more."
Before the camp Casey had a number of other offers but his recruitment has blown up since the Rivals event. Oregon offered and Casey has also been hearing from Ole Miss, Pitt, Virginia, Hawaii and many others.
Wake Forest, Louisville, Temple and Cincinnati were among the schools recruiting Casey before UK's offer went out.
"I mean I've been hearing from schools before that but it really started picking up and I started getting buzz after the camp," Casey said.
Before Kentucky's offer, Casey said he wanted to take official visits to Oregon and Temple. While he has never been to Eugene, he's heard a lot about Oregon's facilities and NIKE association so he said, "When I go down there I feel like I'll probably fall in love with it, for real."