By LARRY VAUGHT

Once the family decided that Kentucky met all the “criteria” they were looking for in a college, there was no reason for talented junior Jon Davis of Louisville Eastern High School to wait any longer on his college decision.

“We had been looking at a lot of things,” said Reggie Davis, Jon’s father and an assistant coach at Eastern. “We had looked at Stanford, Duke and Vanderbilt, but he can also get a very good education at Kentucky and if he’s going to stay in Kentucky, a Kentucky education will do more for him than a Stanford education I think because of the connections he’ll have.”

While the family liked UK coach Rich Brooks and future head coach Joker Phillips, they were also impressed with the Kentucky fans.

“You folks love your team win or lose. Some schools we were looking at had fans that got on the coach and players when they lost. At Kentucky, you can tell everybody loves the program. That impressed us,” Reggie Davis said.

Jon Davis is regarded as one of the premier junior players in Kentucky. The 6-3, 240-pound Davis gave up baseball last summer so he could visit a number of schools and get a head start on his recruiting.

“He has looked at a lot of places that offered him,” Ken Whalen, Eastern’s head coach, said. “He likes the academics at UK because they suited his needs. He likes the idea of playing in the SEC. Those things swayed him to go ahead and commit.”

He’s projected as a likely tight end in college. He can run the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds.

“If you get the ball near him, he’ll catch it,” Reggie Davis said. “Like any player, including Randy Moss, he’ll drop some balls, but normally if the ball is close to him, he’ll catch it. One thing we liked about Kentucky was the way they used their tight ends. He’s going to be a tweener — not a huge tight end but bigger than a wide receiver. They get their tight ends out on linebackers and we liked that.”

While there have been some comparisons between Jon Davis and former UK standout Jacob Tamme, Whalen says most coaches in Louisville compare him to Michael Bush, a former standout at Male and Louisville who is now playing for the Oakland Raiders.

“He’s 6-3, 240 and can run. He was MVP of the national underclassmen combine in Norman, Okla. “He’s very strong. It’s more natural than from living in the weight room. He knows he needs to get in the weight room and he’s not shy about doing it.”

Davis, who starts on Eastern’s basketball team, is a versatile player. Eastern played a 3-3-5 defense and against running teams he played outside linebacker and against passing teams he moved to safety.

“Some schools have talked about making a defensive end out of him and putting more weight on him,” Whalen said. “He could play other positions than just tight end in college if needed. But I think he’ll be a great tight end in a movement type game like what Kentucky uses.

“We obviously have him do everything. We have him run and catch. He has those great hands, but he also runs very good routes. The biggest reason I like him is that he’s not afraid to block. He will block a linebacker or defensive lineman. He already has a college body even though he’s basically always played three sports. Basketball is good for his agility and conditioning, and he was a good baseball player.”

Kentucky initially offered Davis a scholarship after his sophomore season. “He had some great highlights then, too,” Whalen said.

Whalen says Jon Davis is superb off the field, too.

“He’s a great kid with great parents. He carries over a 3.0 GPA (grade-point average) in our advanced program. He’s very coachable. He’s never a problem on the field. He’s almost too good to be true,” Whalen said.

Davis’ father says his son has a passion for football, but is not an overall outgoing person.

“He’s an introverted, quiet kid. He doesn’t say a lot,” Reggie Davis said. “But he loves to play football.”

Reggie Davis noted that almost as soon as his soon gave his verbal commitment to UK just a day after Louisville hired Charlie Strong as its new coach, speculation began on whether he would eventually change his mind before signing with the Cats in February of 2011.

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