An early scholarship offer, an established recruiting relationship and an unofficial visit to campus have put Kentucky in a good position with one of Tennessee's top football prospects for 2007.

Loudon, Tenn., running back/athlete Josh Hawkins has the Wildcats among his early favorites, according to his coach.

"Josh has known (UK assistant caoch) Randy Sanders for a while now, since he was at Tennessee," Loudon coach Jeff Harig said. "So as you can imagine, he's received quite a bit of interest from Kentucky. They had him up there in March for their junior day, and he really enjoyed that trip. He got to go see the Kentucky-Florida basketball game. He came back really impressed with them. That's when they offered him.

"Coach Sanders came by school again last week, so they're letting him know that he's pretty high on their list."

Kentucky isn't the only major program taking notice.

West Virginia and Mississippi State have also offered scholarships, and Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer attended Hawkins' baseball game on Monday. Alabama and Georgia Tech are also involved, according to Harig.

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