Cats Illustrated caught up with Class of 2016 Kentucky signee Jordan Griffin early this week and the four-star Jonesboro senior covered all bases.

Griffin finished the 2016 recruiting cycle as Kentucky's second-highest ranked high school recruit behind only Landon Young. Griffin was Kentucky's most heralded out-of-state recruit in the class just signed, and there was some drama late in the process given the fact that he officially visited Auburn.

But fast-forward to today and all of that drama can be shrugged off. Griffin, the player who originally committed to Kentucky all the way back in October of 2014, held firm with Kentucky.

Now he's just starting his offseason workout regimen that the Kentucky coaches gave him and all of the other recruits.

"Only certain workouts are changing from what I'm used to," Griffin told Cats Illustrated this week. "It's not too big a difference. I'm just focused on improving on all my aspects of getting bigger, faster and stronger, just doing those things everybody wants to do."

Given Griffin's lofty ranking it would seem a no-brainer that he would be capable of playing as a true freshman. Then again, he's joining a defensive backfield at Kentucky that has more young talent than at any point in modern history. Kentucky was starting four freshmen in the secondary at times in the 2015 season, and that says nothing of players like Marcus Walker, who didn't even get onto the field.

"Either way, any decision you make, you've got to go in and compete for a spot," Griffin said. "I do feel like I have a chance to come in and compete. That's what I'm really looking for."

In fact, the competition is a positive for Griffin, as he believes it will push him and the other defensive backs to play better than they otherwise would.

"The competition is definitely going to be at an all-time high," he said.

It will be a friendly competition for Griffin. He's on good terms with Tobias Gilliam and Davonte Robinson, the Cats' other two defensive back signees from the 2016 class.

Griffin is also close with the defensive backs already in the program. Marcus Walker is the defensive back at UK that Griffin is closest with. He's also on very good terms with Kendall Randolph and Chris Westry, and knows Jared Tucker as well.

He's excited to be part of such a talented group of newcomers-to-be in the secondary.

"Those guys definitely have some talented skills," Griffin said of Gilliam and Robinson. "So I can't wait to work with those guys."

Kentucky recruited Griffin to play the field corner position and that's still the plan.

For the entire duration of Griffin's time as a recruit he was planning to play directly under Derrick Ansley, the Cats' defensive backs coach for Mark Stoops' first three years in Lexington. In fact, Ansley's departure for Alabama didn't happen until after National Signing Day.

Griffin doesn't hide the fact that he was disappointed.

"It was tragic," he said, emphasizing how devastated he was. "It was definitely something I was hoping I wouldn't hear. Then again, one man doesn't stop the show. It's definitely still a blessing to have this opportunity. And now it's time to go to work. It's nothing I can sit and dwell on or stay mad about. It's go time. It's time to get going."

Ansley did address the rumors before. When Cats Illustrated reported that Ansley was a wanted coach in the SEC East, and rumors continued, Ansley did speak with Griffin and others about reports.

According to Griffin, Ansley had multiple SEC opportunities before leaving for Alabama.

"I just know about two encounters that he had with Georgia and Auburn," Griffin said. "I knew about those and I knew he wasn't taking those. I didn't know anything about Alabama."

One reason Griffin has been able to move on, thinking of a future in Lexington without Ansley as his position coach, is Mark Stoops. Kentucky's head coach has an extensive personal and professional history when it comes to coaching defensive backs.

"His history with defensive backs definitely speaks for itself," Griffin said. "He's a very loyal coach and he's very right to the point also. He's a great human being and he definitely has a great heart. He definitely speaks the same language I speak so we have great communication."

Griffin said he's also excited that Steven Clinkscale will be Ansley's successor at Kentucky.

"I met him when I was at Cincinnati my eleventh grade year," Griffin said. "I don't really know him real well but we had met before. I definitely remember him being a straight to the point kind of coach. He definitely seems like he has a lot of years in coaching. I'm really excited to sit down and actually go over things with him."

Although Griffin expected Ansley to be his position coach when he signed with Kentucky on the first Wednesday of the month, he did entertain interest from Auburn. He officially visited the Plains just before National Signing Day and told Cats Illustrated what he was thinking when he was there.

"They came around and started recruiting me my junior year," Griffin recalled. "So there was that, but also the whole aspect of my family being from Alabama and also Auburn being close to home. I was born in Georgia but my family's from Montgomery. And it's close. I wouldn't say I knew the coaches personally but I did know them, kind of. Just knowing those people and everything else made me want to explore it and look at it a tad bit to see what was going on.

"Once I got up there, I just knew where I wanted to be. I can't lie. (Auburn's) a special place. But I kinda felt like Kentucky was the best place for me to be at," he said.

Jonesboro's football team finished 11-2 in the 2015 season. They reached the AAAA state championship in Georgia where they fell short, losing to Cartersville 38-14. In spite of that disappointing end to the season -- and Griffin's prep career -- the future Wildcat doesn't have any regrets.

Individually Griffin had 68 receptions for 1,008 yards and 10 touchdowns, leading Jonesboro in those categories. Many of those catches, yards and touchdowns came during the pivotal moments of some of Jonesboro's biggest games.

"It was definitely a record-breaking season for my teammates and myself," Griffin said. "My teammates and my coaches, I just give all praise to those guys. Without those guys I wouldn't be where I am. Those guys made me better and make me who I am. I made specific plays where they needed me to, and I did my best, but without them I wouldn't have been a position to do any of that."