Port Arthur sits at the far southeastern edge of Texas, where the Gulf air hangs heavy and the refinery flares burn against the evening sky. It is a place that knows how to make hard things look easy. Jermire Roberts Jr., a long, quick safety from Memorial, is doing his best to keep up the tradition.
Roberts is 6-foot-3 and 187 pounds, a 2029 prospect who has the unfortunate habit of arriving before you have decided where to look. He is the kind of defensive back who closes a gap the way a screen door closes on a summer porch, all at once and without much warning. Now the Kentucky Wildcats, never ones to dawdle when a player like that appears on the horizon, have gotten word to him early: there is an offer waiting in Lexington.
It is the latest
line on a growing résumé. Rivals ranks Roberts a three-star prospect, the No. 14 safety in the 2029 class, and the No. 23 prospect in the state of Texas. Kentucky joins Houston, Iowa, Texas A&M, Oregon, Texas Tech, and Baylor among his early offers, a list that reads like a map of where the Power 4 is looking in the Lone Star State, and that tells you plenty about how quickly his name is traveling.
The speed that shows up on a football field shows up on the baseball diamond too. Roberts is turning heads there as well, a two-sport athlete whose instincts, range and burst carry from one game to the other. Safeties are asked to read the ball off the bat of a quarterback and arrive at it before the receiver does. A kid who can do that with a baseball in the air has already started his homework.
For Roberts, the Kentucky offer landed with weight. "It means a lot to get an offer from Kentucky," he said. "They’re in the SEC, and receiving an offer from them this early shows they see the kind of player I can become."
He has been watching, too. What he sees in the Wildcats is a defense that plays the way he wants to play. "One thing that really stands out is how fast and physical the defense is," Roberts said. The program, he added, is drawing national attention, and he believes it is a playoff team this year. Conversations with Kentucky coach Odom did the rest of the work. "I love the fact that they are developing guys there," Roberts said.
Development is the word he keeps coming back to, and it is the one that should make coaches pay attention. This is not a teenager chasing a logo. He has a short list of things he wants and says them plainly. "What I’m most looking for in a program is a place where I can develop as a player on and off the field and be put in the best position to succeed," Roberts said. "I want a culture where I can compete and get better every day." Academics matter, and not only to him. "Academics are a big priority for me and my family," he said. "I want to be somewhere that has strong academic support and good resources."
It is a mature set of priorities for a player this young, and he is careful not to rank the offers on his board too soon. "Kentucky definitely is one that stands out," Roberts said, "and really all the schools that have offered me right now stand out in their own way."
What he wants next is the thing no highlight reel can supply: the feel of the place. A visit to Lexington is, in his words, "definitely a possibility." He wants to see the facilities and meet the coaches and the players. And then there is the part you cannot learn from a phone call. "I’d love to get on campus, see the facilities, meet the coaching staff and players, and experience the atmosphere," Roberts said. "Being able to hear the crowd get hype and the players get fired up after big plays."
That is the sound he is chasing, the roar that rises when a safety breaks on a ball and the whole stadium leans with him. Kentucky has put its name in the conversation early. The next move belongs to a 6-foot-3 kid from Port Arthur who has plenty of time, plenty of speed and, if his own words are any guide, a clear idea of what he is looking for.
Lexington, for now, is on the list. And what Roberts would find there is a program that has its own eyes on the biggest stage.
Roberts said he believes the Wildcats are a playoff team this year, and the College Football Playoff selection committee, for now, agrees. Kentucky checked in at No. 6 in the first rankings of the season, released Tuesday night, behind only Miami, Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama.
The next test comes quickly and it comes on the road. Kentucky travels to Knoxville on Saturday night to face No. 13 Tennessee at Neyland Stadium, with a 6:15 p.m. ET kickoff and playoff positioning riding on the result for both teams. It is the kind of atmosphere Roberts says he is after, a crowd getting hype and players fired up after big plays.
Roberts has years to decide where he is headed. Kentucky, ranked sixth in the country and bound for Neyland, is making sure he knows the Cats are in the conversation.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky makes move for Texas safety Jermire Roberts
