Guys, thoughts on UC’s addition? Not a lot known about him, but has good size:

Prince Gillam Toyambi (toy-YAHM-bee), a 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward from Kinshasa, Congo, has joined the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball program after his decision to reclassify from the 2019 class to the 2018 class.

Toyambi, who began classes at UC on Wednesday, will have four years of eligibility beginning with the 2018-19 campaign.

“We are very excited about adding Prince to our program,” UC head coach Mick Cronin said. “Prince is a talented player and an exceptional person. He is an interesting young man who will make our program better on the floor and in the classroom. Prince has great hands and a soft touch for such a strong young player.

“His desire to come to Cincinnati now versus attending prep school shows his maturity as a young man,” Cronin added. “He understands that playing against his teammates here and getting started on becoming a player that can impact college basketball are the best things for him.”

Toyambi played well this summer for team “The Truth” at the NIKE EBYL and Peach Jam Invitational events in May and July, respectively. In 12 total games, Gillam averaged 17.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals while shooting 58.7 percent (88 of 150) from the floor.

Toyambi attended Fresno High School in Fresno, California.

He joins three other newcomers on the 2018-19 Bearcats roster: freshman guard Logan Johnson from Mountain View, California, freshman forward LaQuill Hardnett from Philadelphia and junior transfer guard/forward Rashawn Fredericks, a native of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, who played the previous two seasons at Motlow State Community College in Tennessee.

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Guys, just touched base with one of the Bearcats' newest offers, Tucker (Ga.) 2020 linebacker Aaron Key. UC is also his first offer.

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First off, key said that coach Luke Fickell is the one who personally offered him. Key said he was pretty impressed by that. "It means more because the head coach means he's actually looking at me, Key told me. Key said Fickell told him about the success the Bearcats have had putting guys in the NFL, which he liked to hear.

It's still mighty early here. Key doesn't know much more about UC than what he heard from Fickell. He's never visited before, but said he wants to after the season. His coach doesn't like the players visiting places during the season, at least the guys not seniors.

Key said he's also spoken briefly with coaches from Western Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Oregon, so there's some good early interest. Still incredibly early, but Fickell made quite the impression by personally offering.

Full story coming.

Full teleconference today from Fickell, on the UCLA win and the Victory Bell:
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From last night:
Full game recap: https://cincinnati.rivals.com/news/bearcats-with-statement-26-17-win-at-ucla
Post game video from Luke Fickell: https://cincinnati.rivals.com/news/video-fickell-post-win-at-ucla

This one is pretty simple

As of now, 2 pm ET on Friday, the line for tomorrow's game is UCLA by 14.5. Does UC cover? I think they do, as I said in my Q&A with BruinBlitz.com, our UCLA Rivals affiliate.

What does anyone else think? Can the Bearcats swing it the other way?

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Didn't get a chance to post this last night, but I spoke with Winton Woods (OH) three-star DE Anthony Booker. One of the Bearcats' remaining 2019 targets.

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On July 4, Booker released a top 10 that consisted of UC, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers, Ball State, Miami (OH), Toledo, Western Michigan and Western Carolina. We all know all 10 of those aren't still in it, but publicly, he's sticking to that list. WCU is FCS. Why would he take that over the FBS offers?

With UC, Booker said he's kept a good relationship with coach Luke Fickell and assistant coach Steve Stripling. He told me both coaches text him when they landed in California, to talk about their game with UCLA and ask him about his game tonight.

Stripling has been the main one recruiting Booker from the Bearcats. Booker told me, "I get a great vibe with Coach Stripling," and that sounds pretty genuine. But he also shied away from when I asked if it meant anything with UC being the 'local' team. "Playing in Cincinnati and around here, it’d be great. But it might not be the best fit," was his exact quote. With this, I get the sense that the Bearcats are a top 5 team, but he'd have to have a falling out with a few others before he would land at UC.

That said, Booker didn't divulge a ton on others. He did tell me Boston College and Western Michigan are the only two in his top 10 he hasn't seen and he wants to visit those next. WMU is especially interesting, because it's the only school that's offered his brother, Andrew Booker.

Kentucky wasn't mentioned here, but I know he's visited there the most. So that will be one to watch and keep an eye on. Booker did tell me Cincinnati is the school recruiting him hardest, which is one of the reasons the Bearcats are still hanging in here. This one will likely go til February.

Also worth mentioning here, Booker said he feels like he's 100 percent healthy. He tore his meniscus mid-season and tore a tendon on his finger that let him only play a few games last season.

Full story coming.

Guys, I talked to the publisher of Rivals' UCLA site, Rick Kimbrel, for details on what to expect from UCLA on Saturday:
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Guys, just to follow up on my INsider the other night. Here's the full story on Wright:
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Guys, I spoke last night with one of the Bearcats' top targets left on the 2019 board, Archbishop Alter (OH) three-star running back John Bivens. He has a top 6 that includes UC, but after speaking with him, he's basically down to four: UC, Kentucky, Louisville and Nebraska.

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It's been in other stories, but just a reminder before we talk recruiting, Bivens is recovering from a torn left ACL. It happened in week 8 of last season and he still has not been cleared to even practice. Bivens said he feels like he's "back to full," but he's hoping, best case scenario, he returns mid-season. And honestly, that's not a bad thing, because torn ACLs are just common any more and in this case, he'll have less wear and tear on that and the rest of his body in his senior season, before he gets to college. Also, it's kept a lot of big players out, recruiting-wise.

UC is the only place Bivens visited over the summer. He went to spring games at Kentucky and Nebraska, but nothing else during the summer itself.

With the Bearcats, Bivens said he's close with 2018 signees Tavion Thomas and Meechi Harris and both have told him a lot of good things about UC. Bivens said he also likes assistant coaches Joker Phillips and Gino Guidugli, who have been recruiting him. Bivens told me, "I get good vibes from both."

Bivens said a lot of the same stuff about Louisville, Kentucky and Nebraska, as I asked about all three, too. He likes how the coaches of all four staffs seem to care about him. He talked a little differently about Nebraska, only in that he likes the fans there and loved seeing and getting to know coach Scott Frost.

No visits set yet. He wants to see a Louisville game, since he hasn't been there yet. Kentucky is the one that is the biggest worry here for UC, while Nebraska is a darkhorse. There's just something about the Huskers that he really has responded to. Bivens also wants to decide mid-season, but we'll see what visits he can line up before then that would best help that decision.

Full story coming.

Coach Luke Fickell from today's teleconference. Reiterated no starting QB has named and went over a few other topics:
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Meant to post this late in the week, but some sad news about UC sophomore linebacker Tyquan Statham, who's hanging em up because of career-ending injuries:
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Guys, just talked to one of the Bearcats' 2019 targets, Lawrence Central (Ind.) wide receiver Donavan Wright. Cincinnati offered him earlier in the summer.

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Wright has four offers: Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green and Northern Iowa. And being the biggest of those offers, the Bearcats are in a good position. Wright visited UC multiple times this summer, last in June, to watch a camp. He had good things to say, like "I feel like it’s a great place to be," and "They have great energy there."

Assistant coach Joker Phillips and special teams coordinator Brian Mason have been the primary recruiters here. Both have played a role with Wright, who told me, "They shoot it to me straight." And, "I get a great vibe from them."

Still, as great as it sounds with UC, Wright is waiting on a power 5 to offer. Other than UC, the only other schools he visited during the summer were Indiana, Iowa and Purdue. All have told him they wanna see more, so it's TBD if any will offer. If they don't, UC sounds like the logical choice. If they do, then Wright will wait a bit to see if others come through and go with one of those power 5s.

He told me he wants to decide by week eight. But this one could go til February, depending on if others offer and when. Not sure if UC would be willing to wait that long. I don't think so, but we'll see. Could also be a commit, then see what else would come, decommit and commit elsewhere. A few scenarios that could happen here.

Chatted with Warren (Ohio) Harding three-star RB Kay'Ron Adams this week about his commitment plans. He's only days away from announcing and has Cincinnati in his top three, but has not visited yet so I would say it sounds unlikely for the Bearcats here. More, though, in the article linked below:

https://n.rivals.com/news/ohio-rb-kay-ron-adams-closes-in-on-decision

Just to follow my INsider from last week:
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Guys, just following up my INsider on him last week, here's the full story on three-star OL Walker Parks. UC still involved, but now more of a long shot after some big offers this summer:
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dipping into Chicago for this DE

https://cincinnati.rivals.com/news/illinois-de-hawthorne-joins-the-bearcat-family

Guys, you've probably seen it elsewhere, but wanted to post this press release info from UC on the basketball team's trip this weekend to Canada. Below is the release and video interview with coach Mick Cronin:

The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team travels north of the border for a five-day, three-game tour of portions of Canada, Aug. 4-8.

The Bearcats start in Montreal on Sunday, Aug. 5 with a neutral-site contest against the Ottawa Gee Gees at College Jean de Brebéu. Tip time is set for 2 p.m. ET. A video stream of the game will be available. Details to come.

A trip to Ottawa highlights the schedule on Monday, Aug. 6 with Cincinnati taking on Carleton at their home venue, the Ravens Nest, at 7 p.m. ET. This is no video stream available for this game.

The competition portion of the trip concludes Tuesday, Aug. 7 when the Bearcats visit McGill's Love Competition Hall for a 7 p.m. ET contest. A video stream of the game will be available. Details to come.

This week's trip to Canada marks Cincinnati's second during the Mick Cronin coaching era (since 2006-07). The Bearcats played three games north of the border in August 2010 against McGill, Carleton and Ottawa.
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Guys, I'm following up on guys from the summer, now that the AAU season is over. One player I know UC checked in on was three-star two-guard Dajuan Gordon, who played this summer with Team Rose out of Chicago.

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For now, the Bearcats aren't in much pursuit, but I wanted to see where Gordon was in his recruitment. he said he now has 20 offers, most recently from SMU, Xavier and Nebraska. Gordon didn't mention favoring any school or schools, but the one he kept bringing up in conversation was Xavier. So it sounds like the Muskies have a slight lead here.

As far as UC goes, Gordon said the Bearcats' staff has reached out to his AAU coach, Jerrell Oliver. And Gordon is interested, should UC pick it up much, but that's about it right now. The Bearcats have not offered. They got one of the top guards they wanted this week, in Samari Curtis, who we had an INsider on Monday before he committed. But we'll have to wait and see where they are once the team gets back from its trip to Canada. Don't expect a ton of movement right now because of that. But expect UC to get back into hosting a few recruits in the weeks following the team's return on Wednesday.

Full story coming on Gordon.

as Jason sort of predicted

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Guys, I talked earlier with 2020 three-star OL Walker Parks. He transferred schools this summer from Lexington Christian (Ky.) to crosstown Frederick Douglass (Ky.). He's also been a rather hot commodity this summer, adding offers from Clemson, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.

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The last time I spoke with Parks, back in May, he had just visited UC. He did talk mostly about the news offers, as well as Virginia Tech, but he told me the Bearcats are still an option. Parks said he still talks regularly with assistant coach Ron Crook and they have a good relationship. Parks' new teammate is also UC commit Cameron Jones. Those two aren't too tight yet, but it's still worth noting. Parks told me he definitely wants to get to UC this fall to watch Jones play, so you can bet Jones will be on Parks.

Still, it sounds like realistically, the Bearcats are probably fifth right now, behind Clemson, VT, Notre Dame and Kentucky. Remember, Parks is a legacy at UK, where his dad played in the early 1990s. Parks has been to UK a lot through the years, so he's plenty familiar. Strangely, though, Parks said he's never been to a Wildcats game as a recruit and wants to do that this fall. He's always just gone with his dad, as fans.

The school that sounds clearly out in front is Clemson. Parks talked more about the Tigers than anyone else. Probably twice as much more. He loved plenty about his time there in June, when he participated in a three-day camp and was offered during the camp.

So, lots of games coming for Parks this fall. Expect him to go to games at each of the five schools I mentioned as in the best position: UC, Kentucky, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame. Stranger things have happened, but Parks has had a good summer, gotten some big offers and it looks like those offers are the ones in the best position.

Full story coming

Just to build on the previous INsider, the full story on Curtis, who's visiting UC tomorrow:
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Guys, I text messaged last night with the Bearcats' latest offer, Christ The King (NY) offensive tackle Adam Elgammal. I hate texting, but he said his phone was broken and would only allow him to text. He could answer my call, but said he couldn't hear anything I said.

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Anyway, UC is only Elgammal's third offer, behind Temple and Monmouth. I get the sense that he likes those two, but is waiting for something more. Those are backups.

Last week, he went to UC on Thursday, then Kentucky and Louisville on Friday. Elgammal told me he liked what he saw at UC. He liked the field, the weight room and the academic center. Assistant coach Gino Guidugli has been the primary recruiter here and Elgammal told me he likes the vibe he gets from Guidugli.

Elgammal spent the most time at Louisville, because he camped there. It sounds like he liked the visit. He only went on a quick tour with the Wildcats.

Still relatively early here. Elgammal said he wants to decide after the season. Smart, since he's hoping schools needing OL will reach out if he has a good year. You can get to be in demand if there aren't many OL still available and a few teams need one. I think Elgammal has the potential to be that guy, so we'll see. Right now, the Bearcats are in a good spot, since he's visited and they've offered. But we'll have to wait and see how serious they are about him.

Full story coming.