Signing Day 2K9

^Wide receiver recruit Jamar Howard


Wednesday February 4th was National Signing Day. This is the day when colleges across the nation sign high school seniors to sports scholarships. Signing high school recruits to scholarships is a very competitive process. When it comes to signing prospective high school football recruits, UC is generally far behind the likes of traditional “powerhouse” schools like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida, and Tennessee. Coming off its most successful season in school history, which was culminated by a heartbreaking loss in the Orange Bowl to Virginia Tech, the Bearcats looked to sign some talent to help replace ten starters on defense. Like in years past, the Bearcats relied heavily on local talent on this years’ Signing Day.

The Bearcats’ signing class ranks 60th overall, according to Rivals.com. UC also ranks fifth in the Big East in recruiting behind West Virginia, South Florida, Rutgers, and Pitt. UC landed 27 players, which included: no 5-star recruits, two 4-star recruits, and eight 3-star recruits. UC also was not able to sign any players ranked in Rivals’ top 100. One of the 4-star recruits is 5-11 defensive back Chris Williams from Cincinnati, who is the 25th best cornerback prospect in the country. 6 foot 4 wide receiver Jamar Howard from California is Cincinnati’s other 4-star recruit. Howard chose UC over scholarship offers by Indiana, Kansas State, Memphis, California, Minnesota, and Purdue. Some other major recruits are: outside linebacker Maalik Bomar, offensive tackle Austen Bujnoch, defensive tackle Ricky Harris, cornerback Everette Horne, defensive tackle Jordan Stepp, and inside linebacker Will Saddler. They will all step up in the next few years to help solidify a very young defense.

These rankings are all very arbitrary. Former UC standouts Mike Mickens, Terrell Byrd, Trevor Canfield, and Connor Barwin, all of whom have NFL potential, were all 2-star recruits coming into college. So, obviously, the numbers don’t necessarily mean anything. However, having players that are ranked high is a good indication that they will more likely than not have a reasonably successful college career.

In order to see how the numbers may or may not matter, look back at Rivals 2005 recruit class. Offensive tackle Eugene Monroe (3), linebacker Rey Maualuga (5), quarterback Mark Sanchez (7), running back Jonathan Stewart (10), wide receiver De Sean Jackson (18), Darren Mc Fadden (22) and Brian Cushing (53) are all either in the NFL or will be drafted this year. Other players like: defensive end Melvin Alaeze (4), wide receiver Fred Rouse (6), and defensive tackle Callahan Bright (14) did not meet expectations and surely do not have futures in the NFL.

The ‘Cats class is not ranked nearly as favorably as Ohio State’s, which has the third best recruiting class in the country according to Rivals.com. The Buckeyes landed two 5-star recruits and fifteen 4-star recruits, including: the second-best center, third-ranked outside linebacker, second-ranked fullback, and fourth-ranked safety in the country, among many other highly touted recruits. Looking at other local colleges, Indiana ranks 59th, Kentucky ranks 42nd, and Miami ranks 88th.

No quarterback was signed by the Bearcats, since Coach Kelly saw it as unnecessary. Junior Tony Pike will be the incumbent starter for next season. In addition to Pike, however, the team also retains Demetrius Jones (sophomore), Chazz Anderson (freshman), Zach Collaros (freshman), Brandon Kay (freshman), and Travis Kelce (red shirt sophomore). No running backs were signed either. John Goebel (junior) and (junior) Jacob Ramsey will return to the ‘Cats for their senior seasons. Redshirt freshman Isaiah Pead also looks to make a difference for the Bearcats. Freshmen Darrin and Trammell Williams and Luca Romeo are all also running backs still on the football team.

For the past few seasons, defense was one of the Bearcats’ primary strengths. Ten of eleven defensive starters will graduate by the start of next season, leaving a big hole where underclassmen must quickly step up to fill the void. In addition to the current underclass defensive players on the roster, this recruiting class will surely help UC’s defense remain one of the best units in the Big East.