Recruiting MEGA POST: The Ohio Invasion of the #BBN

Left to right: Dorian Hendrix, Mikel Horton, Mike Edwards, George Brown Jr., Tyrell Gilbert and Derek Kief.

In the mid-1960's, a phenomenon referred to as the British Invasion occurred when bands from the United Kingdom such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Moody Blues crossed the Atlantic Ocean and introduced the best new talent to music fans in the United States.

On February 9th, 2013, the University of Kentucky held their Junior Day for football recruits.  Replace the above band names with Winton Woods, Lakota East, Wayne, Colerain, Princeton and La Salle and the Atlantic Ocean with the Ohio River and you have what I have coined, the Ohio Invasion.  This phenomenon, much like the British Invasion, introduces the best new recruiting talent to football fans in Big Blue Nation.

Here are a few of the Ohio recruits that took Kentucky by storm on Saturday.

Profiles
Offers, Links (247Sports / Highlight Videos / Twitter), Recognition and Stats in the same order as the image above.

	Dorian Hendrix, Inside Linebacker Dayton, OH (Wayne) Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 215 CLASS OF 2014 Offers: Kentucky, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio University, Toledo More Info: 247Sports | Highlight Video | Twitter: @BigmeatDh14 2012 First Team All-Conference (GOWC) Second Team All-District (Southwest Ohio D1) Tackles: 69 SOLO, 24 AST, 93 TOT 1 SACK, 2 FF, 1 FR
	Mikel Horton, Running Back Middletown, OH (Lakota West) Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 228 CLASS OF 2014 Offers: Kentucky, Indiana, Kent State, Toledo More Info: 247Sports | Highlight Video | Twitter: @mikelhorton1 2012 First Team All-Conference (GMC) Honorable Mention All-District (Southwest Ohio D1) Honorable Mention Cincinnati Enquirer All-Star Rushing: 202 ATT, 1003 YDS, 111.4 YPG Receiving: 8 REC, 99 YDS, 11 YPG
	Mike Edwards, Safety Cincinnati, OH (Winton Woods) Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 180 CLASS OF 2014 Offers: Kentucky (received yesterday), Illinois (received yesterday), Bowling Green, Kent State More Info: 247Sports | Highlight Video | Twitter: @M__Edwards6 2012 Winton Woods does not belong to a conference (Independent) First Team All-District (Southwest Ohio D2) Honorable Mention All-State (D2) First Team Cincinnati Enquirer All-Star (D2) Tackles: 56 SOLO, 31 AST, 87 TOT 2 FR, 3 INT
	George Brown Jr., Athlete Cincinnati, OH (Colerain) Ht: 6-6 | Wt: 253 CLASS OF 2015 (you read 2015 right, the kid is BIG!) Offers: Kentucky (received yesterday) More Info: 247Sports | Highlight Video | Twitter: @George___Brown 2012 A great article about George He has a wingspan of 7 feet!
	Tyrell Gilbert, Athlete Cincinnati, OH (Princeton) Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 193 CLASS OF 2014 Offers: Miami (OH) Tyrell has been flying under the radar.  He's fast, strong and does whatever it takes to make plays. More Info: Highlight Video | Twitter: @T_gilbert2 2012 Second Team All-Conference (GMC) Passing: 883 YDS, 98.1 YPG, 8 TD Rushing: 138 ATT, 699 YDS, 77.7 YPG, 11 TD
Click here to see pic with Drew Barker	Derek Kief, Wide Receiver Cincinnati, OH (LaSalle) Ht: 6-5 | Wt: 195 CLASS OF 2014 Offers: Illinois, Cincinnati, Toledo, Indiana, Northwestern, Kentucky, Kent State, Bowling Green, Maryland More Info: 247Sports | Highlight Video | Twitter: @DKief10 (and of course, right here at DerekKief.com!) 2012 First Team All-Conference (GCL South) GCL South Receiver of the Year First Team All-District (Southwest Ohio D1) Honorable Mention All-State (D1) First Team Cincinnati Enquirer All-Star (D1) Receiving: 65 REC, 907 YDS, 90.7 YPG, 9 TD

Interviews

Left to right: Mike Edwards, George Brown Jr., Derek Kief and Tyrell Gilbert.

I had the unique opportunity to meet up and interview the above recruits part of the Ohio Invasion.  Below is what they had to say about their experience.

Mike Edwards

Lance Hart: How did you enjoy Kentucky's Junior Day?
Mike Edwards: It was great, I loved it.

Lance Hart: What did you like most about the day?
Mike Edwards: I liked the atmosphere and I liked the coaching staff and how they treated me.

Lance Hart: How do you think you would fit in here at UK?
Mike Edwards: I think I would fit in real good.  I mean, I can play any position, safety or corner and they say they want to get me on the field as quickly as possible.

George Brown Jr

Lance Hart: How did you enjoy Kentucky's Junior Day?
George Brown Jr: It was fun.

Lance Hart: What did you like most about the day?
George Brown Jr: I liked the fans, it was crazy, good atmosphere *pause* everything.

Lance Hart: How do you think you would fit in here at UK?
George Brown Jr: I think I would fit pretty good. I like it.

Tyrell Gilbert

Lance Hart: How did you enjoy Kentucky's Junior Day?
Tyrell Gilbert: It was exciting and I really enjoyed it.  I had a good time the entire day.

Lance Hart: What did you like most about the day?
Tyrell Gilbert: I really enjoyed the BBN fanbase and I liked how the coaches treated me.  They made me feel at home and really welcomed here.

Lance Hart: How do you think you would fit in here at UK?
Tyrell Gilbert: I think I would really fit in at the University of Kentucky because I'm really good in open space.  The coaches told me they get the ball to players in space and let them do what they can do to make things happen.  That's what I do best.

Derek Kief

Lance Hart: How did you enjoy Kentucky's Junior Day?
Derek Kief: Yeah, it was great, I loved it.

Lance Hart: What did you like most about the day?
Derek Kief: I just loved the whole environment and all the coaches.  They really like me a lot, I really like them a lot.

Lance Hart: How do you think you would fit in here at UK?
Derek Kief: I like the offense *pause* the AIR RAID.  I feel like I could fit in to the offense really well.

Lance Hart: I hear you had the opportunity to meet with Coach Mainord the Wide Receiver Coach.
Derek Kief:  Yes sir.

Lance Hart: I also heard you that you viewed some video and Coach Mainord walked you through some routes that they are going to run, specifically routes that would be applicable to your style of play.  Can you provide any specific details about how the offense aligns with your style of play?
Derek Kief: Considering that I'm 6'5", they like to run the fade route and they definitely know what they are doing.  They have really good audibles so the quarterback can just make the slightest movement and automatically throw it out to the receiver, so that really benefits me.  Also, they throw it a lot, so the more opportunities I get to catch, the more opportunities I get to make plays.

Lance Hart: I know a lot of colleges are recruiting you.  Do you feel that you would be able to make and impact here earlier on in your college career?
Derek Kief: Yeah, definitely.  They told me that the depth chart is pretty thin right now and that they really like what I could contribute to their team, so I could easily see myself playing early.

Lance Hart: As you know, I used to coach basketball. One thing that is very important to the success of any team is that the players and coaches build a solid relationship around trust.  What was your first impression about the coaching staff?
Derek Kief: I can relate to these coaches a lot.  The conversation was never dull and because the average age of the coaching staff is 44, they can relate to all their players.  Just a really great coaching staff in my eyes.

The northerners absolutely loved the fans!

The reaction that the recruits received from the fans was electrifying and exciting to witness.  The UK fans are ready, even thirsty for this so-called Ohio Invasion.  They are excited to see the new coaching staff making an immediate impact towards the success of the football program.

Left to right: Mike Edwards, Dorian Hendrix, George Brown Jr., Tyrell Gilbert, the UK Mascot, Mikel Horton and Derek Kief.

Left to right: Derek Kief, Bill Henderson, Tyrell Gilbert, George Brown Jr. and Mike Edwards.

Above is 65 year old Bill Henderson from Paducah, KY with some of the Ohio Invasion recruits.  He is extremely loyal, stating that he drives over 4 hours each way to attend basketball and football games.  When we told Bill that George was only a Sophomore, he said, "in college?"  George replied, "no sir, high school".  Per Mr. Henderson's reaction, I quickly scanned the area for an automated external defibrillator (AED).  He immediately thanked the coaching staff for their efforts and said that he was excited for the things to come.

The only disappointment

Most of the Ohio Invaders can dunk and they all wanted to go grab this lonely ball and throw one down for Coach Cal!  They were told that would be frowned upon.

Overall, I would say that UK's Junior Day was the most successful recruiting day in the history of the program.

I would like to thank all of the players, the coaching staff and the fans of the Big Blue Nation.  The UK coaching staff should strongly consider renaming their future Junior Days to...Ohio All-Star Day!