Artis says he's committed

Amid all the talk about Shannon Dawson's departure the Wildcats got some good recruiting news in the form of a new commitment.

Class of 2017 defensive end and pass rusher Demarco Artis announced his commitment to UK on Twitter.

As of Cats Illustrated's conversation with Artis on Thursday night we can say that he had not yet spoken with the coaching staff. It's likely they would accept Artis' commitment but that had not yet happened.

Artis is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound outside linebacker/defensive end from Sanford (Fla.) Seminole, and he's been on running backs coach Chad Scott's recruiting radar for a very long time.

"Not tonight. I was just talking with my godparents about it and decided this was the right choice," Artis said. "Honestly ever since they first offered I've been leaning towards them, mostly for the fact that they're an upcoming program. I've heard the education program at Kentucky is way over the standard and at the end of the day it's all about getting an education. The football program's up and coming. The football coaches have showed me a lot of love."

Artis has not visited Kentucky but told Cats Illustrated in the past and again on Thursday night that he plans to visit in the spring or summer.

He told Cats Illustrated that Kentucky likes him as an outside linebacker and a defensive end.