By LARRY VAUGHT

Kentucky freshman Jordan Aumiller was delighted when he heard former Boyle County teammate Lamar Dawson had been offered a scholarship by Kentucky.

“I talked to him and told him more offers would come and just to be patient and look around and try to get to know all the coaches. Go where he thinks is best,” said Aumiller, a linebacker playing under assistant Chuck Smith, a former head coach at Boyle.

Aumiller played with Dawson, a tight end-linebacker, last year and says there’s no doubt he can play at Kentucky.

“I have no doubt at all he can play her. He is a big, strong athlete. I thought all along he would get an offer from here. He has proven to everybody he can play at this level and I think he will be a very good player,” Aumiller said.

Will Aumiller try to sell him on Kentucky?

“I am going to do that and be in his ear. I will do my best to get him here,” Aumiller said. “He seemed pretty excited about the offer, but it’s hard to tell because he doesn’t say much. He’s going to look around and see what else comes up, but I think he likes it here and like me being here and I am trying to sell that to him.

“I think he will be a linebacker. He just has a natural instinct for the ball like that. He has great size to be a linebacker, too. He could do a lot of things here that fit in very, very well.”

Aumiller has been learning about fitting in while being redshirted. He was originally expected to sit out until January and grayshirt because of a shoulder injury suffered last season. However, when UK had an available scholarship open, coach Rich Brooks had Aumiller come to campus in June.

“It is going well. I am getting my reads better. I got scout team/special teams player of the week two weeks in a row. I am getting better. You just kind of coach yourself on the scout team because the offensive coaches tell you where to line up and you just play,” he said.

He says winning the last two weeks has changed the atmosphere with the players.

“I think everybody is a lot more excited. You can tell in the meeting room that there is a lot more energy. People are starting to believe better. Some people were down after the losses, but now the confidence is back up,” Aumiller said. “We can get it really going now. Coach Brooks won’t let anybody let up, but it is on the players to do what they should.”

Aumiller goes against quarterbacks Morgan Newton and Will Fidler daily now that they are sharing time with the No. 1 offense.

“It seems like all the quarterbacks get better each week. Morgan is learning the offense better. The more experience he gets, the better he will be. He makes very good decisions, he throws a good deep ball and he can run well. That helps. He can launch it and stretch a defense. He threw it 60-something yards the other day right into the pocket of a guy. He just needs experience,” Aumiller said. “He needs to touch it up on the little short passes and get some more touch on the ball sometimes, but other than that he throws well.”

What about Fidler?

“He is not afraid to tuck it and run. He will pull it down and run. He showed that in camp. He’s a tough kid and he’s making progress, too. He can throw a really good ball, too,” Aumiller said.

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