Cincinnati Recruiting: Taking The Pulse Of UC’s 2016 Class A Week Before National Signing Day

Believe it or not National Signing Day is but a week away. After a season of Cincinnati’s coaches (well, all but three of them) spending days on the road trying to stroke the egos of 16- and 17-year old kids, it all ends by Wednesday February 3rd. Then they get to start all over again on Thursday.

It truly is a never ending process and one that hopefully, for Tommy Tuberville’s staff in particular, will start to bear fruit in the upcoming seasons. But it all starts with next Wednesday. Let’s take the pulse of the UC recruiting as it stands right now.

THE CURRENT CLASS

Cincinnati’s 2016 class currently boasts 17 commitments. According to UC, they’ll probably max out around 22-23 signees, which will be a bit on the smaller side considering the Bearcats signed 26 players last season. Those first few classes in Tuberville’s tenure were more used for filling gaps in the depth chart and finding key contributors who could play as underclassmen. This class is meant to add long-term depth.

As such, there are far more under-the-radar prospects who have caste their lot with Cincinnati than we’ve seen in years past. But that hasn’t seemed to be an issue for the Bearcats when those players hit the field (see: Boone, Mike). However, that along with the low number of commitments has kept UC low in the rankings. Currently Cincinnati sits at 81st out of 128 schools in college football according to 247 Sports and seventh in American Athletic Conference, behind the likes of Tulane and SMU.

Taken at face value, that’s concerning considering they’re normally ranked in the 60’s, at worst. Again, though, the Bearcats should rise as they add more prospects in the coming days and you just never know what Tuberville’s staff has up his sleeve for Wednesday. They were able to snag four-star tight end Travis Johnson and high three-star wide receiver Kahlil Lewis in their recent National Signing Days.

THE COMMITMENTS

17 total, including four Junior College transfers, three early enrollees, and a Canadian. Feel free to check out their full recruiting profiles via the embedded link in their name where applicable.

• Sean Bailey: 3-star offensive linemen from Suwanee, Georgia
• Zach Bycznski: 3 star center from Berea, Ohio (Early Enrollee)
• Kendall Calhoun: 3-star offensive tackle from Scranton, Pennsylvania (JUCO)
• Gerrid Doaks: 3-star running back/wide receiver from Indianapolis, Indiana
• Devin Gray: 3-star wide receiver from Rocklin, California (JUCO)
• Eric Jenkins: 3-star cornerback from Van Nuys, California (JUCO)
• Bruno Labelle: 6’4″, 211 lbs tight end from Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (Early Enrollee)
• Malick Mbodj: 3-star wide receiver from Lithonia, Georgia
• Marcel Paul: 2-star wide receiver from Detroit, Michigan
• Davin Pierce: 3-star cornerback from Brenham, Texas (JUCO, previously committed to UC in 2014 class)
• Michael Pitts: 2-star defensive end from Stone Mountain, Georgia
• Elijah Ponder: 2-star defensive end from Avondale Estates, Georgia
• Jake Sopko: 2-star quarterback from Avon, Ohio
• Ty Sponseller: 3-star linebacker from Mason, Ohio
• Tyrin Summers: 3-star wide receiver from Clewiston, Florida (Early Enrollee)
• K’Von Wallace: 2-star safety from Highland Springs, Virginia
• Perry Young: 2-star safety from Birmingham, Alabama

HOPEFUL LATE ADDITIONS

• KJ Sails: The “headliner” or “last piece of the puzzle”, if you will, Cincinnati made his top four along with South Florida, North Carolina, and Maryland. Sails is set to visit Maryland this upcoming weekend. Should he come way still undecided, the Bearcats have as good a chance as any of those schools to sign him on Wednesday. A high three-star prospect who was a bit of a late bloomer in the recruiting process, Sails boasts over three dozen offers, including from several Power Five programs. UC’s been fighting tooth and nail for his services for several months now so you’d think the young cornerback would make careful note of that.
• Deshaunte Jones: A local prospect from the powerhouse Colerain High School, this is another player Cincinnati’s been recruiting for quite a while. Jones has visited UC several times over the last year on both official and unofficial visits so you have to figure he’s grown comfortable with the campus and the coaches. That is, except for the fact that Eddie Gran, who was his primary recruiter, is now a few hours South in Lexington. The only other things standing in the Bearcats’ way are Georgia Tech, who also offered Jones and brought him to Atlanta for a visit, and Ohio State. Now, the Buckeyes haven’t extended an offer but are clearly interested in him. We’ll just have to wait and see if OSU sneaks in an offer closer to National Signing Day if one of their targets higher up on the recruiting board commits elsewhere.
• Josh Johnson: A three-star running back built in the mold of a Giovani Bernard, if that helps paint the picture for Cincinnati fans. Johnson has UC among his top schools along with Louisville and Michigan State. But, like with Jones, he was recruited by Eddie Gran who’s now at Kentucky and doesn’t actually boast official offers from the Cards or Spartans. This could be yet another player who’s decision will come down to (there’s a theme here) National Signing Day.
• Devron Davis: Here’s another high three-star recruit Cincinnati’s been going after hard in the last few weeks. The JUCO cornerback from Merced College in California boasts upwards of 50 scholarship offers including the likes of Oregon, Nebraska, and Illinois. Unfortunately, those make up Davis’ top choices in addition to UC. The good news for Bearcats fans is that he’s been recruited by a coach still on Cincinnati’s staff and visited Clifton just this past weekend. So Davis has UC top of mind. Unfortunately, he’s heading out to Lincoln this weekend to see what the Cornhuskers have to offer. It looks like this commitment might come down to National Signing Day.