Cincy on the Prowl
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Cincinnati Recruiting: A Few Quick Thoughts In The Hours Leading Up UC’s National Signing Day

By Chris Bains

2016 National Signing Day
2016 National Signing Day /
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We’re just a few hours away from Cincinnati’s 2016 National Signing Day, as the letters of intent should start flying in early tomorrow morning.

On Wednesday of last week we broad stroked this recruiting class; capacity and overall ranking, the current verbal commitments, and who to keep an eye on tomorrow. Honestly, we’re doing the same now. That’s just the kind of lackluster content you’ve expected from us and, what can we say, we aim to please.

Overall this should be a class aimed at adding depth, not immediate impact players. There should be more signees like an Evan Mallory and less like a Mike Boone or Bryce Jenkinson. In year four at Cincinnati, Tommy Tuberville and his staff have found their guys. They spent a year or so evaluating them as high school players and have plugged them into a well-established system. The exception, of course, is on the offensive side but if Zac Taylor intends to run a similar system as Eddie Gran, there shouldn’t be much change in their recruiting philosophies.

As such, we probably won’t see most of what should amount to 20-22 new Bearcats for a couple of years. The JUCOs and offensive players, maybe, but in general expect the majority of these players to be redshirted in the upcoming season.

With all that said, here’s the least you should know about the big day.

NATIONAL SIGNING DAY ESSENTIALS

THE CURRENT COMMITMENTS

  • 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
  • James Wiggins: 3-star defensive back from Homestead, Florida
  • Perry Young: 2-star safety from Birmingham, Alabama

THE HYPE VIDEO

THE LAST HOLDOUTS

  • KJ Sails: We mentioned him last week and he’s quite honestly still very high on UC’s most wanted list. Sails visited Maryland last weekend and apparently came away so unimpressed that he narrowed his final list to North Carolina and Cincinnati, ending the battle between the Tar Heels’ Gene Chizik and the Bearcats’ Steve Clinkscale. The highly sought after Florida cornerback will make his announcement tomorrow at 3 pm EST.
  • Deshaunte Jones: Ok, this one’s a bit of a long shot at this point. Although Jones is local and has visited UC multiple times, Matt Campbell at Iowa State struck again to seal a verbal commitment from him this past week after he took a trip to Ames. This late in the game, it’s likely the Colerain product signs with the Cyclones but you never know what tricks Tuberville has up his sleeves in this, the eleventh hour.
  • Devron Davis: This one’s not looking too good, either. Davis has over three dozen offers, most of which are from Power Five schools and Nebraska has recently turned up the heat on him. UCLA and Illinois are also very much in the mix and Cincinnati could very well be out of the mix at this point.
  • Tyquan Statham: A highly rated and highly recruited linebacker from Georgia, Cincinnati has been in on him since May 2014. Since then, Statham has seen his offer list grow to 10, not including the Bearcats. Those include Iowa, Boston College, Duke, and Wake Forest, which he visited this past weekend. At this point the linebacker is down to three schools, UC included, and will make his announcement tomorrow.
  • Marquise Smith: The Ypsilanti product only has a handful of offers, just Cincinnati, Central Michigan, Kansas, Syracuse, and Iowa State and he’s trimmed that to eliminate the Jayhawks. Now, going into National Signing Day, Smith will make a decision at 2 pm at his high school. Hopefully a recent visit to Clifton makes him pick the red and black.