Good Q&A from our friend David Sisk at CatsIllustrated.com:

WR Barry Jackson is among those freshmen who should see some playing time this season for UC. Rivals' Adam Gorney touches on Jackson and others in the conference to watch:

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Guys, I just got some intel on another big hoops target to watch for the Sept. 23 UC football game against Oklahoma. The Bearcats are making a big play for four-star guard Joshua Lewis. UC offered last month, but I didn't realize a connection I just found out about today. Lewis' dad and assistant coach Chad Dollar were teammates at USF in the early 1990s. So there's a MASSIVE bond already in place there that it sounds like has been there for a while.

I'll post more info when I get it, but I'll add Lewis to the names of guys I'm trying to get in touch with directly.
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It's early, but as I said in the INsider, UC has work to do here. I think Purdue and Iowa are the early leaders here. Herron is one that the Bearcats have tried to nail down a gameday visit for:

Chalk up yet another pre-season award for Corleone. He's a first-team AP selection:

Really in-depth story in ESPN on the demise of Virginia Tech football. I noticed this one part though:

The Hokies increased their football support staff salary pool from $1.9 million to $3.4 million. The assistant coach salary pool increased from $4.2 million to $5.6 million. But those numbers still fall short of other programs. Cincinnati, for example, has an assistant coach salary pool of $7.25 million. The Hokies' coordinators are not among the highest-paid in the ACC.

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UC among the last group of schools still standing for four-star Jase Richardson. The Bearcats are trying to get him to visit Sept. 23 with Tyler Betsey. But we'll see. If he does visit, that's a GREAT sign:

It's now set in stone that Betsey will officially visit UC Sept. 23 for the football game against Oklahoma. The Bearcats staff feels SUPER confident here and based on what I'm hearing from other sources, including within Rivals, UC is the favorite. He's already officially visited UCONN and right now, the UC visit is the only other one planned. I've gotta think if he wanted to go to UCONN, he would've already committed there. Betsey is right on the edge of being a five-star and I think with a strong senior season, will inch up and get that fifth star. This would be a massive get for the Bearcats. Now, the focus would be on landing a guard to go with him and Tyler McKinley. And again, Labaron Philon has emerged as a top target there, along with Jase Richardson.

I'll link this on the front page later, but Yahoo Sports' preview of the Big 12. UC not highly thought of right now, but I do think the Bearcats will at least get to a bowl.

Good read from Yahoo Sports on Brett Yormark's recent remarks on conference expansion. Appears no Gonzaga or UCONN for now:

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Hey y'all, on Friday UC offered Sumter (SC) 2025 DE Anthony Addison. I caught up with him earlier to get some more details.
Login to view embedded media The only other offer Addison has right now is from Liberty. And that came yesterday, a few days after the Bearcats. He's also been in contact with Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State, so no real big looks just yet.

Addison is absolutely under the radar right now. He told me UC and Coastal were the only two schools to reach out on Aug. 1, when the 2025 class could be contacted by college coaches. He told me he's talked quite a bit over the past few weeks with assistant coach Walt Stewart, who made the offer. But he's talked to other staffers and coaches, too. Addison has never visited Cincinnati, but said he plans to visit Nov. 4 for the Bearcats' game against UCF. That's a ways off, so I know UC would like to get him sooner, but we'll see if that changes.

I'm surprised Coastal Carolina hasn't offered, since it reached out and Addison told me he visited in June. The big difference, though, with the offers, is UC offered as a defensive end, which is Addison's position he's been playing. The others have all offered as a linebacker. I honestly thought it could be the other way around, but we'll see. The Bearcats could change their mind on that.

No other visits planned right now. So mighty early here, but worth keeping an eye on. Full story coming.

According to Brett McMurphy, UC will draw the Big Noon Kickoff slot on Fox when it hosts Oklahoma on Sept. 23. HUGE weekend for UC, which will have a ton of recruits in town. Premiere game that will now draw a national audience:
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Dontay Corleone named to the Lombardi Award list. Here's the release I got on the award:

The Lombardi Award™, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Houston, is pleased to announce the 80 players who will compete for this year’s coveted award. The Lombardi Award™ goes annually to the college football offensive or defensive lineman who exemplifies the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame Head Coach Vince Lombardi in addition to outstanding performance and ability.

This year’s watch list is filled with talent from many schools and conferences, making for an exciting voting process. To be considered for the Lombardi Award™, players must be an NCAA FBS College Football team member and meet the following qualifications:

Be a down Lineman, end to end, either on offense or defense, setting up no further than ten (10) yards to the left or right of the ball at the time of the snap.

• Be a Linebacker on defense, setting up no further than five (5) yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
• Must not come out of the offensive backfield and set up on the line of scrimmage as a Blocker or a Receiver or listed in the program as an Offensive Back or Receiver.
• Be eligible to participate in the current season.

The voting process will follow this schedule.

• October 18 - 30, 2023: Vote to determine Semi-finalists.
• November 1, 2023: Semi-finalists announcement
• November 2 - 13, 2023: Vote to determine Four Finalists
• November 15, 2023: Four Finalists announcement
• November 17 – December 4, 2023: Final vote to determine the winner.
• December 6, 2023: Lombardi Award™ Winner announced.

A mid-season watch list will be released on Oct 13 to reflect any updates to the current list.

Full List sorted alphabetically:



Jaylon Allen, Memphis, Gr., DL

Joe Alt, Notre Dame, Jr., OT

Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas, So., OT

Jaishawn Barham, Maryland, So., LB

Graham Barton, Duke, Sr., OT

Cooper Beebe, Kansas State, Sr., OG

Brock Bowers, Georgia, Jr., TE

Jacob Busic, Navy, Sr., DE

Barrett Carter, Clemson, Jr., LB

DeWayne Carter, Duke, Rs. Sr., DT

Abdul Carter, Penn State, So., LB

Brandon Coleman, TCU, Sr., OT

Junior Colson, Michigan, Jr., LB

Marley Cook, Middle Tennessee, Rs. Jr., DT

Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati, Rs. So., DL

Tyler Davis, Clemson, Gr., DT

Justin Dedich, USC, Rs. Sr., OC

Brandon Dorlus, Oregon, Sr., DE

Ethan Downs, Oklahoma, Jr., DE

Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Georgia, Jr., LB

Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State, Gr., LB

D'Mitri Emmanuel, Florida State, Rs. Sr., OG

Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State, Jr., OT

Troy Fautanu, Washington, Jr., OT

Jaylan Ford, Texas, Sr., LB

Javon Foster, Missouri, Gr., OT

Zach Frazier, West Virginia, Jr., OC

Tailese Fuaga, Oregon State, Jr., OG

Dallas Gant, Toledo, Sr., LB

AJ Gillie, Louisana, Rs. Jr., OG

Delmar Glaze, Maryland, Rs. Jr., OT

Cedric Gray, North Carolina, Sr., LB

Michael Hall Jr., Ohio State, Jr., DT

Christian Haynes, UConn, Rs. Sr., OG

Jason Henderson, Old Dominion, Jr, LB

Branson Hickman, SMU, Jr., OC

Jaylon Hutchings, Texas Tech, Gr., DL

Nick Jackson, Iowa, Sr., LB

Donovan Jackson, Ohio State, Jr., OG

McKinnley Jackson, Texas A&M, Sr, DT

Kris Jenkins, Michigan, Sr., DT

Michael Jurgens, Wake Forest, Rs. Sr., OG

JT Killen, Coastal Carolina, Rs. Sr., LB

J.C. Latham, Alabama, Jr., OT

Laiatu Latu, UCLA, Sr., DE

Beaux Limmer, Arkansas, Rs. Sr., OT

Christian Mahogany, Boston College, Gr., OG

Jonah Monheim, USC, Rs. Jr., OT

Jordan Morgan, Arizona, Sr., OT

Gabriel Murphy, UCLA, Rs. Jr., DE

Jer'Zhan Newton, Illinois, Jr., DT

Maema Njongmeta, Wisconsin, Rs. Sr., LB

Mike Novitsky, Kansas, Rs. Sr., OC

Drake Nugent, Michigan, Gr., OC

Thor Paglialong, Air Force, Sr., OC

Josh Pearcy, Rice, Rs. Jr., DE

Harold Perkins, LSU, So., LB

Owen Porter, Marshall, Rs Sr, DE

Keith Randolph Jr., Illinois, Jr., DT

Tate Ratledge, Georgia, Jr., OG

Luke Reimer, Nebraska, Sr., LB

Chop Robinson, Penn State, Jr., DE

Ja'Tavion Sanders, Texas, Jr., TE

Jackson Sirmon, California - Berkley, Rs. Sr., LB

Brevyn Spann-Ford, Minnesota, Gr., TE

Kingsley Suamataia, BYU, So., OT

Junior Tafuna, Utah, Jr., DT

Bralen Trice, Washington, Sr., DE

Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson, Jr., LB

JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State, Jr., DE

Dallas Turner, Alabama, Jr., LB

Princely Umanmielen, Florida, Jr. ,DE

Sedrick Van Pran, Georgia, Rs. So., OC

Jared Verse, Florida State, Rs. Jr., DE

Nathaniel Watson, Mississippi State, Gr., LB

Marlowe Wax, Syracuse, Jr., LB

Damonic Williams, TCU, So., DT

Mykel Williams, Georgia, So., DL

Mekhi Wingo, LSU, Jr., DT

Zak Zinter, Michigan, Sr., OG

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Guys, I caught up with one of UC's recent offers, 2025 offensive lineman Cam Herron. He's up to a dozen offers now, including from Duke, Indiana, Boston College and Iowa.
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Herron told me he's only been to UC once, earlier this spring. So he doesn't know much. He told me he knows about Sauce Gardner and Jason Kelce. Surprisingly, not Travis (LOL). That said, the Bearcats are still in a great spot because he said he's talked to every coach on the staff, including his primary recruiter, Nic Cardwell. Herron said he hears from somebody on the staff almost every day by text or DM. With Cardwell, Herron said the one thing that stood out most from their talks is when Cardwell told him he has all the O-linemen over to his house every Thursday. Herron LOVES that bond.

No visits recently, but Herron said he had planned and had to cancel a trip to Purdue a few weeks ago for a barbecue. Not sure why, but he didn't make it. Still, Herron said he wants to see the Boilermakers this fall, along with UC, Iowa, Indiana, Western Michigan, Louisville, Ohio and Akron. He said he loves the history the Hawkeyes have with offensive linemen, but he does also like Purdue a lot, too.

So, no visits set yet, but the Bearcats are in a good early spot. Just gotta get him to campus.

Home and home series between Bearcats and Yellow Jackets. First game will be Nov. 22 at Fifth-Third Arena, return game next season in Atlanta. Full release below from UC:


The University of Cincinnati men's basketball program has announced a home-and-home series with Georgia Tech. The first installment will be Wednesday, Nov. 22 in Fifth Third Arena, with the 2024-25 return in Atlanta at a date to be determined.

UC leads the all-time series 8-3, with the last meeting an 87-70 win in the 1996 Sweet 16. Both teams were also Metro Conference rivals from 1975-78. Cincinnati went 2-0 against the ACC last season, defeating Louisville in Maui and Virginia Tech at home in the NIT.

The Bearcats and Yellow Jackets are also the nightcap of a volleyball doubleheader against Kansas (1 p.m.).

Bearcats not in there, but four from the Big 12 are: Texas (No. 11), Kansas State (No. 16), TCU (No. 17) and Oklahoma (No. 20). The Bearcats host the Sooners Sept. 23, UC's first Big 12 game. Full poll link here:

Jason-

Just curious on who you think the Bearcats main targets are for the 2024 class.

Tyler McKinley- committed.

How do you think the bearcats are looking with Jayden Quaintance and Jase Richardson?

I’ve seen your thoughts on Tyler Betsey and Labaron Philon.

Thanks!