Kentucky has basically owned in-state recruiting of late, but Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe has battled back, recently scoring commitments from Owensboro Apollo DT Harris Bivin and Frankfort ATH Quan Weaver.

Now, UK has a chance to further impress one of the state's top talents over the next two weeks.

UK will play host to Louisville Seneca dual-threat quarterback DaMarcus Smith, who will camp with the Cats each of the next two weekends. 

Smith (6-1, 180), who has become one of the state's most dynamic playmakers, said UK and UofL are pretty much neck and neck at this point should he decide to stay close to home.

"They're pretty even if I decide to stay home," Smith said. "But it's wherever I feel the most comfortable. I'm pretty much open to all the schools that are recruiting me. It's fun right now. A lot of new schools have contacted me: Florida State, LSU, Nebraska, Alabama, Arizona and Illinois. And Purdue offered a couple weeks ago."

Smith recently participated in former UK quarterback Ryan Hockman's Score 6 camp on UK's campus, will camp this weekend and will return for a 7-on-7 tournament next Saturday.

"I did okay," Smith said. "There was some good competition, but I feel like I represented myself well."

Last season, Smith completed 169 of 329 passes for 3,227 yards and 32 touchdowns for Seneca, while rushing 99 times for 457 yards and three touchdowns. He recorded seven 300-yard games for the RedHawks, hanging 302 yards on Class 6-A state champion Trinity and ran for over 100 yards against Eastern.

Early on, Smith has developed a great relationship with Joker Phillips.

"I'm real close with Coach Phillips," Smith said. "I talked with him before I went to the Score 6 camp and we touched base. I try to stay in touch with him once or twice a week."

Smith said he'd be keeping a close eye on how UK uses it's young quarterbacks Morgan Newton and Ryan Mossakowski and how they perform this season.

"I'm going to be observing that every time I watch them," Smith said. "That's going to be a major factor in my evaluation."

At one point, Kentucky may have been the favorite to land Smith, but the hometown Cardinals--where Smith has camped several times recently--have made up a ton of ground. 

"They had a passing league tournament and a skills camp," Smith said of Louisville. "I got to catch up with a few 2010 recruits that have already committed like Quan Weaver."

Smith said he has spent his summer trying to become a better leader and working on his decision making from the quarterback position.

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