Photo by Adam Brimer, copyright © 2011
ADAM BRIMER/NEWS SENTINEL Powell's Dy'Shawn Mobley runs the ball as Oak Ridge's Luc Meares tries to stop him on Thursday at Powell High School.
Dy'Shawn Mobley
Dy'shawn Mobley is anxious to take the next step in his football career at the University of Kentucky.
The Powell High School running back/linebacker has at least one more game at his current level — the Panthers (13-0) play host to West (11-2) tonight in the Class 5A state semifinals — before embarking on his career with the Wildcats.
Mobley gave his verbal commitment to Kentucky on Monday. He plans to enroll for summer school and begin working out with teammates.
"I'm definitely excited to go up there," Mobley said Wednesday. "I'm wanting to get up there as soon as possible and get to know everybody and my teammates."
The 6-foot, 205-pound Mobley said Kentucky recruited him as a running back, and that combined with a chance for early playing time were among the reasons for his commitment.
"It's a great opportunity to be able to play in the SEC at Kentucky, and I wanted to get on the field as soon as possible," Mobley said.
Mobley said he also has scholarship offers from Toledo, Memphis, Western Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky, and Vanderbilt and Mississippi State were recruiting him heavily as a run
ning back but did not have scholarships available at the time. He said Tennessee recruited him some, but had not offered a scholarship.
Instead of playing the waiting game, Mobley committed to Kentucky.
"I'm not even worried about UT or any other school right now," Mobley said. "My focus is just on Kentucky."
Powell coach Matt Lowe doesn't see that changing.
"I think Dy'shawn is extremely happy with Kentucky, the coaching staff, and the situation he's put himself in," Lowe said.
Mobley has rushed for 2,625 yards and 41 touchdowns in 13 games this season. He needs 384 yards to break the state's single-season rushing record of 3,008 yards set by Troy Fleming at Battle Ground Academy in 1998. Fleming played at UT.
Kentucky running backs coach Steve Pardue and offensive coordinator Randy Sanders recruited Mobley, who took unofficial visits this season to see the Wildcats play Louisville (Sept. 17) and Ole Miss (Nov. 5).
"I just liked the fan base up there," Mobley said. "I felt comfortable up there and the coaches welcomed me with open arms."
Dave Link is a freelance contributor.
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Comments » 12
WhitePineVol77 writes:
Good luck young man. Cobb did that, too, and he's playing on Sunday. Just hope you can cobble together a team there. They are a BB school first and foremost.
BTW, congrats on your HS stats. Nice job.
orange_eVOLution writes:
Not ranked in state of Tennessee's top 25 players.
eduardo writes:
This guy is the real deal. Why no scholly from UT? Sure looks like we could use a RB that has break away speed and can see where his blocking is setting up. Big mistake Dooley!
DwayneElizondoMountainDewHerbertCamacho writes:
Oh please. Every unranked, in-state player is the "real deal" to a lot of you who see an article on a Vols website and automatically default the player to "diamond in the rough" status.
Vols missed on Cobb. Ok...he was one player. How many other in-state players went to UK and lit the world on fire in the last 10 years? Oh that's right...none.
One thing we know about Dooley is that he doesn't shy away from giving unknown, in-state players scholarship offers, especially when no other quality SEC schools recruit them. If this guy didn't measure up to Dooley's low standards for in-state players, then I don't worry about losing him to UK.
OwensboroVol writes:
I think Tennessee did recruit Randall Cobb. I believe that they just waited too long to start and He had already decided on Kentucky before the Vols got started.
Kentucky was making a determined effort to upgrade its football program, but when the previous Coach (Smith I believe) retired things just seemed to return to the old system. Coach Cal's arrival seemed to drive the nails into the casket the football program was in. Basketball returned to its place in the eyes of the Kentucky fans. I hope this young man is prepared for 2nd class citizenship for the next 4-5 years.
Bubba_Knows writes:
This kid is really good but his speed is in question which is why the biggest offer came from Kentucky and Tennessee was holding out on him as a last resort (not able to get the bigger names). No question the kid can play football though. I was hoping Dooley would offer him but I understand why they didn't.
lahvolman2 writes:
How could he not like the fan base?...Kenturkey has almost as may football fans as Powell....LOLOLOLOL
nocleats writes:
Wonder who his coach will be?
Volencheaters writes:
Looks like he made a good choice. hahahaha
He could go to UT and play under 3 coaches prolly. He wouldnt replace much in T Poole.
Volencheaters writes:
2nd class citizen?
What about finishing last in the SEC east this year? A bad SEC east as well....
Vol4Life35 writes:
Smartest decision Dyshawn could have made. He will be a featured star at UK and that would have been questionable at UT. Hopefully the RB coach can improve his mechanics (doesn't get his knees up well). Best of Luck to Dyshawn and the rest of the Panthers in Cookeville.
utfan36 writes:
what a lose for ut that makes 2 times KY has beat us this year
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