He’s set the all-time rushing record at Kentucky, been part of UK’s first 10-win football season in 41 years and earned All-American honors. If that’s not enough, he’s also had his own autograph tour to give Kentucky football fans one more chance to be with him.

Junior running back Benny Snell Jr. might not be as highly regarded in NFL mock drafts as teammate Josh Allen – the consensus national defensive player of the year – but Snell became the face of the UK football program with his outgoing personality and ability to close out games like he did for the Cats in the Citrus Bowl victory over Penn State.

“He is on another level of happiness,” said April Snell, Benny Snell’s mother. “He is living what you have to call a dream. All the years he has put into what he does and to go through a season like this and get recognized as a team and individual for what you have accomplished, it’s just great. The icing on the cake for all that is that he’s also healthy. No injuries at all.

“The next level (NFL) is going to be a little stressful because none of us know what to expect. I am a college mom. Every day I am happy and knew what was coming for the most part. Now my son starts another journey. But we are just so excited and proud of him. He really wanted to get that rushing record. He tried not to talk about it, but for us to be there to see him achieve it (in the Citrus Bowl when he broke Sonny Collins’ record) was something we’ll never forget.”

Snell has left a legacy at Kentucky that few players have because of the way he connected with fans similar to what Randall Cobb and a few others did in recent years.

Matt Walter of Danville took his three children – ages 11, 8 and 7 – to Snell’s autograph session at KSBar & Grille in Lexington. He went a day early to get a ticket to assure they would have a spot in line and his son, who wore a Snell jersey most of football season, came with a “SnellYeah” tattoo drawn on his stomach like the player has.

Snell pulled out his cellphone and took a picture with the 7-year-old fan before he autographed a football that Townsend Walter already had signed by Josh Allen at Fan Day.

“I have been to autograph signings where players just went through the motions and you could tell they were there to make money. Benny took time with every single person there. He was telling his handlers not to take pictures with their phones, but to use the fans’ phones so they would have a keepsake,” Matt Walter said.

“He was just soaking it all up and I heard from people there who had to wait a lot longer than we did to see him that he did not wear down or get frustrated. He’s just connected with fans. Benny is just special.”

His mother totally agrees and couldn’t be happier that he got to have an autograph tour to connect with fans.

“He brought confidence to the Kentucky football program. Other players did, too, but Benny is more vocal about it,” April Snell said. “He just loves to interact with fans. He has fun taking pictures, or Snellfies as he calls them. He had a great time with the autographs because any time he’s around UK fans, he’s going to have fun.”

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Jemarl Baker Sr. has not made the trip from California to Kentucky to see his son, redshirt freshman Jemarl Baker, play since the preseason Blue-White Game. However, he’s making the trip to Lexington on Jan. 26 to see the Cats host Kansas.

“We are very excited about that game for sure,” Baker Sr. said.

That excitement elevated when his son finally got healthy enough to play. He did not play in the first eight games after the knee issue that forced him to redshirt flared up. However, he’s now not only playing, but impressing coach John Calipari with his overall play that has proven he’s more than just a shooter.

“All he wants to do is win,” Baker’s father said. “That’s the way he was raised. He gets just as much enjoyment out of a pass or defense as he does scoring. He just plays. If you need him to score, he’ll score. He will give you ball movement if you need that. If you need him to shut down a player, he can do whatever.

“I always knew he needed to be a point guard who could shoot like a two guard. He plays the point, but the goal was to always (have) him shoot like a two at the same time. But he has really good court vision, too, and is a good passer as people are seeing.”