Fast rising 2019 defensive tackle Jacob Lacey eager to visit Stanford

Most high school sophomores who are 6-foot-2 and check in at about 290 pounds would be happy if their only athletic pursuit was powering through offensive lineman. But Jacob Lacey, a 2019 defensive tackle from South Warren High in Bowling Green, Kentucky, also plays left field for his school's varsity baseball team.

Lacey spoke to Cardinal Sports Report after South Warren beat Logan County 3-2 in a walk-off win. "It's something I've played since I was little," he explained.

College coaches at schools such as Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and others have offered Lacey because he is no longer little, but he can move better than most linemen.

Stanford has yet to offer the Kentucky native, but he has talked to his father about attending the June 20 camp.

"I'm very, very, very interested in Stanford," he said. "I have grandparents who live in California, so going to Stanford would be a big plus to see them, because we haven't seen them in a long time. We're very interested. The defensive line coach (Diron Reynolds) said when he watched my film he really liked it. I really like the way they run their defense. Stanford is a great school. Who wouldn't want to go to Stanford?"

Lacey has not been rated by Rivals, but he is a top-150 prospect by one other publication in the early going. A lack of stars isn't slowing schools from showing interest, and Lacey said the feedback he's gotten from coaches is they like that he is "fast and explosive."

Lacey is likely one of the few high school linemen on either side of the ball who can impress football coaches if they were to watch him play baseball.

"Even though I love hitting that quarterback, anyone can truck a person over," he said. "But being someone who can turn my hips, flip and run is special, in my opinion."

Lacey admits he doesn't know much about the Stanford football program or the school beyond the prestige of a degree from the university. And he takes pride in his academics, so much so that he sounded disappointed that he had to correct a report that he has a 4.0 GPA.

"It's a 3.97," he said. "I got a B in a class my freshman year. It did not go right. I still had As but I didn't get the full effect. My GPA is very important. That still makes me angry today. Right now I'm getting ready for final exams and pre-AP chemistry is going to be a big one for me."

The one class he got a B in was in a 30-minute leadership course and he forgot to turn in an essay before he went to a football camp.

"My parents push me like crazy," he said. "The way my parents are is if you get a B you're grounded for a week or so. My brother (Brycen) is at West Point. To get into West Point he had to work hard on his grades. My whole family has a teacher in one of the generations. My mom, my grandmother, my great grandmother, they've all been teachers. So, we're very serious about grades in my family."

Lacey's father attended Eastern Kentucky University and his mother got her masters at Louisville. Most of Lacey's offers are from the Big 10(14), ACC or SEC. And with Brycen at West Point -- he is about to finish his first year -- it is easy to spot how Stanford is different from those places.

But distance isn't a concern for Lacey or his parents.

"Basically my dad said, 'Wherever I go he's going to move,'" Lacey said. "So wherever I go it won't be a problem. So, that is a blessing that he will let me pick wherever God leads me. Stanford will always be an option if I get an offer."

And if Stanford offered, how might Lacey react? "I don't think I'd be able to react. With all these offers coming in you get excited, but an offer from Stanford would be stuck in my brain for a very long time. Someone out of Bowling Green, Kentucky ... it would be very, very exciting. It would be something that probably I've never felt before."