High-profile defensive tackle Matt Elam announced today that he will attend his home state university, the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Elam chose Kentucky over Southeastern Conference juggernaut Alabama, and had other scholarship offers from Ohio State, Louisville, Tennessee, Indiana and Notre Dame. One of the top players in the state, Elam is ranked as a five-star recruit by 247Sports, a four-star by Scout and a three-star by Rivals. With the commitment, Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops is close to putting a cap on his highly-regarded 2014 recruiting class, which will include 27 other signees.
The defensive tackle is currently listed at 6-foot-6 and 380 pounds, but will most likely have to lose about 30 pounds to play at Kentucky immediately, according to his high school coach at John Hardin.
Elam was part of the Army All-American game along with in-state Kentucky commit, quarterback Drew Barker. Barker has been vocal about trying to get Elam to Lexington, and Elam said at his press conference on Thursday that he told Barker his decision before making it public.
Elam’s player profiles can be found here (247Sports), here (Rivals) and here (Scout).