2012 Recruiting Class is Signed and Sealed, But There is More Work to be Done

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Today is my Christmas. Well it’s really like my 5th Christmas behind real Christmas, Opening Day, bowl season in college football, and March Madness. But I love recruiting and I was as giddy as a school girl watching the LOI’s roll in (yes I watched the webcam). It’s one of my favorite things about college football. I’ve been following it for years from the time when 90% of Cincinnati’s recruits were given the obligatory rank of ’40’ from ESPN for prospects who were so under-the-radar that analysts had not evaluated them.

I think the following quote from this comical recruiting piece sums up my emotions towards recruiting perfectly:

"A player brought out of high school is, for seven months at least, perfect in his blankness. He has never lost a game. He has never fumbled away a conference title, nor showed up gimpy and hobbled to a rivalry game. His grades are perfect, and he has never been pulled over by police glassy-eyed on a scooter. He is all shining potential, the first date, the perfection of uncut cake in the bakery case."

That’s true of most prospects before they hit the field in college programs. The possibilities for them are endless and that’s what makes recruiting so exciting all-be-it somewhat nonsensical because of the uncertainty of their future. That being said we turn our attention to the latest Cincinnati Bearcats recruiting class and all the uncut cakes that now line our bakery case:

National Signing Day didn’t start off on the right foot with news that Dennis Norfleet flip-flopped to

Michigan in the 11th Hour

. But the day turned around quickly when news of Ti’on Green

sticking with Cincinnati

came through. West Virginia was going hard at him in the final weeks leading up to NSD but he stuck with the Bearcats. The Bearcats even picked up a surprise commitment from

Illinois FB/LB Franklin Bruscianelli

who will likely walk-on at UC.

Here are some highlights of him

during his senior year at Montini Catholic.

Some interesting news from today is the future of Lester Liston Jr. As I’ve been saying, he has had some grade issues and will spend a year at a secondary program before trying to get back into Cincinnati. I originally thought he was going the JUCO route but was mistaken and he will actually be attending a prep school in Virginia. This is different from Junior College where he only has to stay there for 1 year and it will not count against his NCAA eligibility. Whereas at a community college, Liston would have to stay there for two years and have to reapply for a regular college after his sophomore season. In addition, he will only have 2 years of eligibility remaining as opposed to 4 coming out of a prep school. This is great news for the Bearcats and I fully expect Liston to attempt to resign with UC next year.

As we wrap up the day, there are some loose ends that need to be cleaned up. First to Kenneth Bynum. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he will be taking in the University of Tennessee this weekend and will decide after his visit. It’s anyone’s guess as to who he will sign with come Monday. Secondly, the Eric Kinsey announcement seems to be a big cluster right now. At one point rumor had it he was announcing tonight at 7 PM EST. Then Rivals.com continuously switched his commitment from ‘unsigned’ to ‘signed his LOI’ with West Virginia and Cincinnati at two different times. I’ll keep an eye on this status as the day progresses and post any announcements that may come from him.

Overall, this was by far the best recruiting class in the history of Cincinnati Bearcats football. You’ll hear that phrase a lot in the coming days as most of us who follow recruiting are just gushing over these prospects. Stay tuned to Bearcats Nation as I will have deeper breakdowns of this class and how some of these new Bearcats will progress at UC.