Consensus four-star 2014 lineman Matt Elam has elected to play his college ball in the SEC, choosing the Wildcats over the Tide. In addition to those schools, Elam had offers from Ohio State, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Louisville and Mississippi State.
4-star Matt Elam commits to Kentucky over Alabama
One of the country’s most-hyped defensive tackles has made his choice.
Wescott Eberts, SB Nation
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The Elizabethtown (Ky.) John Hardin High School product is 6’5, 372, and could end up at either defensive tackle or offensive tackle in college. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, he is the No. 164 overall prospect in the country and the No. 13 defensive tackle, but there is some significant disagreement between the major services about his rating.
The evaluators at 247Sports love him, placing him ninth overall and No. 2 at DT, which is high enough to earn him a five-star rating. Rivals, on the other hand, considers Elam a three-star recruit and No. 26 at DT. ESPN ranks him 292nd overall and 24th at his position, while Scout has him at No. 12 among defensive tackles.
With Elam in, Kentucky's recruiting resurgence continues. The Wildcats entered the day ranked No. 23 in the Composite and now rank No. 19. More importantly, they'll now rank ninth in the SEC and fourth in the SEC East. That might not sound that great, but UK hasn't had a class finish ranked in the top 10 among the current 14 SEC schools since recruiting rankings became a thing about a decade ago. The Wildcats have 28 commits now, and Elam will likely be the last big name aboard.
