The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks expressed satisfaction with his second recruiting class Wednesday, saying the Wildcats "covered basically every need."

Topping the list were Rafael Little, a highly recruited running back from South Carolina, and two standouts from Kentucky, all-state offensive lineman Micah Jones and receiver Lonnell Dewalt.

Now Brooks must start juggling. Kentucky announced 27 signings, but because of NCAA probation, Brooks has only 22 scholarships to offer. Five junior-college transfers who have enrolled at Kentucky have claimed five of those scholarships, which leaves 17.

Brooks said five of the incoming freshmen will be placed at a prep school or junior college or "grayshirted."

Grayshirts are promised scholarships but are asked to wait to enroll until the second semester as a full-time college student. The player's scholarship thus counts toward the following year's class.

Brooks declined to name the players who might be grayshirted but said those who might be knew that was a possibility.

"Because of the scholarship limitations the last two years, we've tried to be as creative as we can," Brooks said.

Little, a 5-foot-11, 195-pounder from Anderson, S.C., rushed for more than 1,500 yards each of the past two seasons and scored 90 career touchdowns. Recruiting experts rated Little as one of the nation's most versatile backs.

"I think he's going to bring instant competition to the running back position this fall," Brooks said.

The 6-6, 220-pound Dewalt, who attends Warren Central in Bowling Green, has expressed an interest in walking on Kentucky's basketball team. Brooks said he and basketball coach Tubby Smith agreed to allow Dewalt to try to play both sports.

The Wildcats will return only two scholarship quarterbacks from last season's 4-8 squad. Joining them are Joe Joe Brown of Cordele, Ga., and Ben McGrath of Moeller.