From our friend EdgyTim. Just visited yesterday and left with an offer:

Replaces Mark Speir, who left for Appalachian State. Here's the release from UC:

University of Cincinnati football head coach Scott Satterfield announced on Monday the addition of Brad Wittke as the chief of staff for the Bearcats football program.

“I’m excited to welcome Brad Wittke as the chief of staff of our football program,” Satterfield said. “Brad will work closely with me and together with our university administration on all aspects of our football program. He brings a ton of high-level experience in college football. I can’t wait for him to get started.”

Wittke comes to Cincinnati after serving as Syracuse’s associate athletic director for football operations. He also has experience as the director of football operations at Bowling Green as well as serving in the front office with the Arena Football League’s Pittsburgh Power and in operations roles at Eastern Illinois and Arizona State.

During his eight years with the Orange, he served as the administrative lead and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the football team, including budget management, capital projects, travel, meals and the team calendar – among several other duties.

While at Syracuse, Wittke worked closely with Nike to design the uniforms the Orange debuted in 2019. He led several major projects to enhance Syracuse’s football facilities and managed the logistics for Syracuse’s appearances in three bowl games.

Before joining the Orange in 2016, he served as Bowling Green’s director of football operations for one year.

Prior to joining the Falcons, he spent three seasons as the director of player personnel for the Pittsburgh Power. He also served as an operations assistant at Arizona State and worked as a graduate assistant for the basketball team at Eastern Illinois.

Wittke holds a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State and a master’s degree from Eastern Illinois.

He and his wife, Jane, have a son, Brooks, and a daughter, Leighton.

The Bearcats pulled away late second half in this one, after a fairly close one throughout. Jizzle James had 25 points:

Hey all, release was yesterday, but wanted to pass on the list of UC guys who will participate in the pro day organized by the Big 12:

The full list of participants has been released for the 2024 Big 12 Pro Day, presented by the Air Force Reserve. A total of 137 prospects will participate in the inaugural Conference-wide Pro Day which will take place in Frisco, Texas at the Ford Center at The Star from March 27-31.

The first-ever Big 12 Pro Day will be operated in cooperation with the National Football League. The Big 12 and NFL are partnering to reimagine student athlete evaluations with player skill assessments designed to maximize the prospect experience.

Additionally, NoBull, the Official Combine Training Partner of the NFL, has been named the Official Apparel Partner of Big 12 Pro Day. Athletes will receive performance gear for workouts along with other NoBull products throughout the week. The partnership will ensure that athletes receive an experience that closely resembles the NFL Combine.

The event will also feature Zebra Technologies, the Official Real Time Location Solutions Provider of the NFL. Zebra generates data for the NFL's Next Gen Stats platform, and will apply this same tracking technology to spotlight player performance at the Big 12 Pro Day.

On Thursday, March 28, Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers and Tight Ends will work out from 7:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. Running Backs will take the field from 10:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. followed by Defensive Backs from 2:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Saturday, March 30 will see Specialists work out from 7:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. followed by Offensive Linemen from 9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Defensive Linemen will be on the field from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. before Linebackers conclude the weekend from 2:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. (all times Central).

Player workouts will be open to the public Thursday, March 28 and Saturday, March 30 from 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT. Parking will be available in any of the public lots surrounding The Star.

Participating players are listed below sorted by position:

Quarterbacks
John Rhys Plumlee, UCF
Emory Jones, Cincinnati
Jason Bean, Kansas

Running Backs
Aidan Robbins, BYU
Deion Smith, BYU
Mark-Antony Richards, UCF
Ryan Montgomery, Cincinnati
Dylan McDuffie, Kansas
Elijah Collins, Oklahoma State
Emani Bailey, TCU

Wide Receivers
Javon Baker, UCF
JaJuan Forte, UCF
Corey Gammage, UCF
Daquris Wiggins, Cincinnati
Dimitri Stanley, Iowa State
Phillip Brooks, Kansas State
Erik Pizarro, Kansas State
Seth Porter, Kansas State
Arland Bruce IV, Oklahoma State
Leon Johnson III, Oklahoma State
Jaylon Robinson, TCU
Warren Thompson, TCU
Xavier White, Texas Tech
Devin Carter, West Virginia

Tight Ends
Isaac Rex, BYU
Alec Holler, UCF
Zachary Marsh Wojan, UCF
Michael O'Laughlin, Houston
Easton Dean, Iowa State
Mason Fairchild, Kansas
Ben Sinnott, Kansas State
Braden Cassity, Oklahoma State
Josiah Johnson, Oklahoma State
Curtis Raymond III, TCU
Jared Wiley, TCU
Baylor Cupp, Texas Tech
Noah Massey, West Virginia

Offensive Linemen
Clark Barrington, Baylor
Paul Maile, BYU
Tylan Grable, UCF
Lokahi Pauole, UCF
Alexx Schmidt, UCF
Trevor Radosevich, Cincinnati
Jack Freeman IV, Houston
Patrick Paul, Houston
Michael Novitsky, Kansas
Dominick Puni, Kansas
Cooper Beebe, Kansas State
Christian Duffie, Kansas State
Hayden Gillum, Kansas State
KT Leveston, Kansas State
Andrew Coker, TCU
Brandon Coleman, TCU
Willis Patrick, TCU
Cole Spencer, Texas Tech
Rusty Staats, Texas Tech
Dennis Wilburn, Texas Tech
Zach Frazier, West Virginia
Doug Nester, West Virginia

Defensive Linemen
TJ Franklin, Baylor
Gabriel Hall, Baylor
Justin Sambu, Baylor
Jackson Cravens, BYU
Atunaisa Mahe, BYU
Tre'Mon Morris-Brash, UCF
Jowon Briggs, Cincinnati
Malik Vann, Cincinnati
Austin Booker, Kansas
Patrick Joyner, Kansas
Devin Phillips, Kansas
Khalid Duke, Kansas State
Anthony Goodlow, Oklahoma State
Nathan Latu, Oklahoma State
Tico Brown, TCU
Rick D'Abreu, TCU
Soni Misi, TCU
Myles Cole, Texas Tech
Jaylon Hutchings, Texas Tech

Defensive Linemen / Linebackers
Byron Vaughns, Baylor
Daniel Grzesiak, Cincinnati
Nelson Ceaser, Houston
David Ugwoegbu, Houston
Davoan Hawkins, West Virginia

Linebackers
Mike Smith Jr., Baylor
Maxwell Tooley, BYU
AJ Vongphachanh, BYU
Jason Johnson, UCF
Shaun Peterson Jr., UCF
Walter Yates III, UCF
Malik Robinson, Houston
Gerry Vaughn, Iowa State
Hayden Hatcher, Kansas
Rich Miller, Kansas
Craig Young, Kansas
Daniel Green, Kansas State
Xavier Benson, Oklahoma State
Jamoi Hodge, TCU
Tyrique Matthews, Texas Tech
Lee Kpogba, West Virginia

Defensive Backs
Kamden Garrett, BYU
Eddie Heckard, BYU
DeJordan Mask, UCF
Decorian Patterson, UCF
Jireh Wilson, UCF
Taj Ward, Cincinnati
Antonio Brooks, Houston
Malik Fleming, Houston
Brian George, Houston
Alex Hogan, Houston
Hasaan Hypolite, Houston
Ben Nikkel, Iowa State
T.J. Tampa, Iowa State
Kalon Gervin, Kansas
Kwinton Lassiter, Kansas
Kenneth Logan, Kansas
Andrew Russell, Kansas
Millard Bradford, TCU
Josh Newton, TCU
Mark Perry, TCU
Malik Dunlap, Texas Tech
Tyler Owens, Texas Tech
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, Texas Tech
Rayshad Williams, Texas Tech
Beanie Bishop Jr., West Virginia
Marcis Floyd, West Virginia
Malachi Ruffin, West Virginia

Long Snappers
Gavin Gately, Houston
Randen Plattner, Kansas State
Zeke Zaragoza, Oklahoma State

Place Kickers
Chase Contreraz, Iowa State
Seth Keller, Kansas
Alex Hale, Oklahoma State
Griffin Kell, TCU

Punters
Ryan Rehkow, BYU
Laine Wilkins, Houston
Jordy Sandy, TCU
Austin McNamara, Texas Tech

Also visited yesterday for practice
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Hey guys, here's my full story to follow up my previous INsider. Jones told me flat out that "I'm leaning towards Cincinnati right now." He'll visit March 29 and I'd expect a commitment to follow not long after, maybe even on the visit.

Big award for the Bearcats signee:
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I mean, WOW! What an ending and game winning 3 by Lukosius! Bearcats will host Bradley at 2 pm ET on Saturday.

Was previously reported last week, but details emeged today on the extension of the College Football Playoff:
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Four-star OL Adam Guthrie and a few other guys (Samuel Green, Cooper Enochs who aren't on Rivals) were at UC's practice today. I'll be catching up with Guthrie to see how the visit went over the coming days.
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Miller talked Tuesday with media, ahead of Bearcats hosting San Francisco at 9 pm ET tomorrow:

The 2026 class ranking has been expanded from 100 players to a full Rivals250: https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2026

Ten highest debuts: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-rankings-week-ten-highest-ranked-debuts-in-the-rivals250

Adam Gorney goes position-by-position: https://n.rivals.com/news/tuesdays-with-gorney-new-2026-rivals250-released

as his stock continues to rise

Just announced a bit ago, but UC got a 2, will host San Francisco
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More from Kansas City from our Cameron King, who's been covering the Big 12 Tournament all week for us:

From our guy Cameron King in Kansas City:

KU was without its stars, Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar and UC seized the opportunity. Full recap and post game here. More coming from our Cameron King as well:

From our Cameron King, who is in Kansas City this week for the Big 12 Tournament:

Got more coming from our man Cam King in KC, but here's the gamer and post game video:

Release just a bit earlier from the Big 12 and UC:

Cincinnati men's basketball grad student John Newman III was named to the Big 12's All-Defensive Team, while senior Aziz Bandaogo and sophomore Dan Skillings Jr. earned Honorable Mention nods in the Bearcats' inaugural season in the league.

Newman, the heart and soul of the Bearcats, was one of five honorees on the All-Defensive unit. Among his many accomplishments against top assignments in the nation's best conference was holding No. 15 Texas Tech's leading scorer to 5-of-19 shooting in the road win. His 41 steals are second to Day Day Thomas, and he also has seven blocks. Even on the offensive end, he is shooting 10.2 percent higher than his 2021-22 campaign. The master's grad's return from the season-long injury in 2022-23 has been a source of pride within the program and greater community. He earned his bachelor's degree from Clemson in three years, then earned a master's at UC last May.

Bandaogo began his year with a bang after missing the first four games due to his NCAA waiver appeal in blocking a shot, slamming an alley-oop and helping force a shot-clock violation in Cincinnati's 35-point win over Georgia Tech. His presence in the paint included 1.6 blocks per game, the most by a Bearcat since Chris Vogt in 2019-20, and double-doubles in top-15 road wins at BYU and Texas Tech. He is shooting 65.2 percent from the field and averaging 7.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

Skillings leads the Bearcats in scoring, including 12.8 ppg in league play. His 6.4 rebounds overall are also second on the squad. All nine of the sophomore's career starts have come in Big 12 play, highlighted by 24 points at No. 14 Baylor. He posted a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double against No. 10 Iowa State and had 10 rebounds versus Oklahoma State. Skillings scored in double-figures 12 times out of 17 conference contests in addition to numerous highlight-reel plays. His 29 points off the bench against Stetson marked the most by a UC reserve since Tony Bobbitt in 2002.

The trio have also helped UC to rank 13th nationally in rebounding margin, up from 101 last year and 211 in 2021-22.

Cincinnati (18-13) opens Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship play Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET against West Virginia in Kansas City.

I mean, where has this been all season? I know WV isn't a great team, but everything went right for UC today.

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Hey all, I caught up with an interesting recent offer for UC, Winton Woods (OH) guard Kameron Mercer. He got an offer from assistant coach Andre Morgan on Jan. 8.
Login to view embedded media The interesting thing first off, is that not only is Mercer in just eighth grade, but he can't play varsity basketball yet. I'm not sure if it's a Winton Woods thing or district thing (happy for someone to shed some light), but he's not allowed to play varsity until he gets to high school.

Apparently, Mercer has been talking to Morgan since late November. But what's happened is Morgan went to Winton Woods to check in on signee Tyler McKinley and Mercer caught his eye. The offer came on jan. 8, from Morgan and coach Wes Miller as well. I'm told from sources in the UC program that the staff LOVES Mercer. I've seen a few places online that Mercer is No. 1 in the state for 2028. Not sure about that, but the UC staff will keep contact as much as possible. They're limited in contact, since he's so young and UC or anyone else can't give him game tickets either.

Still, Mercer seems very interested in UC. He told me he's never been to a Bearcats game, but hopes to get to one of the games left this season. Specifically, Mercer said he really likes Morgan. He told me he sees Morgan as "like a mentor to me." I also liked that Mercer told me Morgan told him, "He'll make sure there's no other school that recruits me harder than UC."

Mercer said he still doesn't know a ton about UC, as he really hasn't gotten into recruiting. He did tell me since he started talking to the Bearcats staff, he and his dad have watched almost every game on TV.

Couple of things to note here: Mercer has never been to a UC game, but did go to two on his own with his dad last season at Xavier. He hasn't heard from that staff, however. His brother is Jaylen Mercer, who has a UC offer for football and visited last weekend. And Kam will be playing this summer for All Ohio Red on the EYBL circuit.

Full story coming.

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Hey guys, I caught up with one of UC's recent offers for 2025, three-star OL Will Kemna. UC offered him on Jan. 5.
Login to view embedded media Kemna is a little light, at 255 pounds, but he's 6'5" so the frame is there. Still, Kemna has just three offers: UC, Nebraska and Kansas State. And he told me he really hasn't heard from the Wildcats in a while.

With the Bearcats, Kemna hasn't visited, but he's talked regularly with assistant coach Nic Cardwell, who made the offer. Sounds like it's not 100%, but VERY likely that Kemna visits UC for junior day Jan. 27. He'll be at Nebraska this weekend.

Kemna seems to have hit it off well with Cardwell. He said Cardwell talked a lot about the run-blocking they do, how they've had success with some linemen in the program. I'll talk about it in the story I write, but Kemna posted a photo of Jason Kelce in announcing his Bearcats offer. He's well aware of Kelce's history at UC. But it will be big to see how his visit to UC goes.

Nebraska is in the drivers seat right now, I think. It's much closer to home and the Huskers offered last fall. That visit there this weekend should go well, so important UC can follow up with a visit. Not sure what would keep him from visiting next weekend except winter weather, if it comes through.

Full story coming.