Bearcats follow banner season with subpar recruiting

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, February 29, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

Cincinnati Bearcats
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(Fourth in a series on Big East football recruiting.)

The University of Cincinnati played football like an up-and-coming program last season, finishing 10-3 and hanging a 31-21 defeat on Southern Mississippi in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.

Based on the list of 2008 prep signees, however, recruiting seems to be lagging behind the on-field product.

If you're into Rivals recruiting stars, the Bearcats signed just five players with three of them -- a couple of wide receivers (D.J. Woods of Strongsville, Ohio, and hometown recruit Nick Truesdell) and a trio of defensive backs (Floridians Dominique Battle and Patrick Lambert as well as New York product Ike Iloegbu).

Woods arrives with 4.4 speed and red flags all over him. For one thing, he committed to Cincinnati after first de-committing from Nebraska and then from West Virginia. Plus, he missed a good chunk of his senior high school season with a blood clot (now surgically removed).

Still, the 6-foot, 170-pounder took full advantage of the 35 balls he did catch, averaging 21.4 yards per reception and scoring eight touchdowns.

The prize of the Bearcat litter might be Battle, a Floridian rated by Rivals as the No. 40 cornerback in the country. He played both ways in high school and combines 4.49 speed with aggressiveness.

Lambert is expected to grow into an outside linebacker, while Iloegbu played mostly quarterback in high school.

As for Nick Truesdell, another wideout, he's 6-7 and may well become a tight end.

What the Bearcats really needed were running backs, with their top three ball carriers from 2007 -- Bradley Glatthaar, Butler Benton and Greg Moore -- now used up.

The recruit with the best chance to take advantage of this void is Detroit product George Winn, of whom SI.com's recruiting writer said: "He runs with conviction."

(Given the off-field problems with college football these days, perhaps I should add that they were referring to conviction of purpose on Winn's part, not criminal convictions).

Jared Rains of Aliquippa, Pa., son of a former Bengal, is also considered a solid inside runner. Darrin Williams, another Motor City export, seems to have the most breakaway speed (4.4), but he's only 5-6 and 156.

With Demetrius Jones transferring in from Notre Dame and former starter Dustin Grutza still around, the Bearcats should be set at quarterback for awhile even with Ben Mauk having been denied another year of eligibility. Nevertheless, the lone 2008 quarterback recruit -- Brandon Kay of Marine City, Mich. -- is reputed to be a classic pocket passer with a big arm.

The Bearcats took a graduation hit on the offensive line, but only brought in two for that unit -- 6-7, 245-pound Sean Hooey (one sees lots of extra food helpings in his future) and Dan Giordano (6-4, 244).

Eleven of the 24 UC recruits came from Ohio.
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