SOURCES: Where Kentucky stands with Southern Cal transfer
Former elite recruit and Southern Cal offensive lineman E.J. Price is currently on a visit to Kentucky and CatsIllustrated.com has the latest on where things stand according to several sources.
Price was a four-star recruit from the Class of 2016, ranked the No. 11 offensive guard nationally, the No. 184 player on the Rivals250 and the No. 14-ranked player in the talent-rich state of Georgia.
As that heralded recruit Price held offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and many others.
He signed with USC but was in the program only a very short period of time before running into friction with people in the program. That led to a series of events that culminated in Price and the Trojans parting ways.
On Monday, Price tweeted a picture of himself with Kentucky assistants Darin Hinshaw and John Schlarman. Previously Price's trip to Kentucky hadn't been reported by any media.
CatsIllustrated.com spoke with two sources close to the Kentucky football program who shared their feelings on how the recruitment would shake out.
One source told CatsIllustrated.com that they believe Price will ultimately land at Kentucky, while the other source said it will be "either (Kentucky) or South Carolina," leaving it slightly more open-ended.
TrojanSports.com (Rivals.com/Yahoo! Sports) publisher Chris Swanson was the reporter who broke the news of USC parting ways with Price and he spoke with CatsIllustrated.com about two main questions: The circumstances of Price's departure from the Pac-12 power and what kind of player he is.
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"I know that he was removed from the team but it was kind of a time when they were doing really bad," Swanson told CatsIllustrated.com. "They started really poorly and things were going really bad. He was removed from the team because he was acting out about it, talking about leaving and talking to other people about possibly leaving. Then he got into some kind of argument with a staffer."
"His mom tried to tell him to stay and get back on the team, so he actually stayed. I think it was reported that he transferred but he stayed this whole time trying to work his way back onto the time," Swanson said.
In terms of Price's ability, Swanson heaped praise on the player.
"Obviously we only really saw him as a young guy but he looked very college-ready. Even for a high level program like USC," Swanson said. "A lot of people were thinking, 'This guy's the future for them at a tackle position,' and a lot of people were thinking he's probably, in terms of ability, one of the better tackle prospects USC's brought on in a very long time. They've kind of had some issues (recruiting) the position, at least for USC, but I thought he was one of the better guys they've brought in for a long time. A really top-level offensive lineman."
