Fresh off a strong performance at the Best of the Midwest Combine that garnered him recognition as an elite speedster and a promising prospect, Wandale Robinson is talking favorites.
Although he hasn't eliminated any schools from consideration, the Western Hills athlete has three schools at the top of his list.
He spoke about that with Cats Illustrated this week.
It's important to remember that recruiting might get more complicated before it gets any easier for Robinson.
He ran a 4.22-second 40-yard dash at the combine over the weekend and in the days after that event he has heard from coaches at Colorado, Florida State, Nebraska and Northwestern. So it's entirely possible that new offers might be on the way.
The word is out, after all.
"I thought it was really, really good," Robinson said of the combine. "I can probably say that I dominated the 1-on-1's. It just went well all-around. Testing-wise, the 1-on-1's, everything. It was great."
Robinson said his 4.22 was the best time in the 40 was "easily" the best time he's ever run.
"I just started doing backflips right after it," Robinson said. "The trainer looked at me and said to put my sweatpants on. Then he told me what it was. I was just excited."
Robinson now says that Kentucky, Duke and Virginia are his three favorites.
"With Duke I like the coaching staff and whenever I talk to the coaches it kinda feels like home," Robinson said. "Same thing with Virginia. Same stuff. Then Kentucky is home and I feel the same thing with their coaching staff."
Robinson has been a frequent visitor at Kentucky since emerging as an in-state target last year. He visited Virginia last football season and plans to visit Duke for the first time this weekend.
His recruiter from Duke is Gerad Parker, the Blue Devils' new wide receivers coach who was Purdue's interim coach as recently as the end of the 2016 season. Parker attended Kentucky and has deep ties to the Commonwealth. Robinson's lead recruiter from UVA is new Cavalier running backs coach Mark Atuaia.
John Schlarman has been serving as Robinson's recruiter from Kentucky for a long time but now he's got a second coach in regular contact with him: New assistant coach Michael Smith.
"We've talked a lot," Robinson said of Smith. "He coached the Locketts and he's compared me to Tyler Lockett. That's a guy who's similar to me, so he knows how he would coach me."
Virginia is recruiting Robinson as more of a running back than a wide receiver, but the difference might be less than one would imagine because "they use more of a scat back," the 2019 prospect said.
"With Kentucky I know how they use their slots. They said if I was there they would throw way more bubble screens and jet sweeps," he said. "With Virginia I do see how they throw screens and Duke does kind of the same thing, too."
