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RE: Local Recruits 2017 - 2019
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2...d_mak.html
Quote:Big-time college football recruiting in Ohio: Did Cincinnati prove it can change things for Ohio State?
By Ari Wasserman, cleveland.com
September 15, 2016 at 10:10 PM, updated September 15, 2016 at 10:45 PM
CINCINNATI -- More than 70 high school football prospects lined up behind the north end zone at Nippert Stadium on Thursday night 20 minutes before kickoff, but there was kind of a tactical error.
Why on earth wouldn't Cincinnati's recruiting staff have those prospects standing on the south side by the student section? There were about 5,000 students already in attendance with many more on the way, and all were wearing black and banging together those thundersticks.
You want those prospects to feel that energy, especially on a night like Thursday when the Bearcats hosted No. 6 Houston. It was a different energy in Cincinnati than usual.
It was big-time college football in Ohio.
And it wasn't at Ohio State.
"The city of Cincinnati will rise and back UC if it gives them a reason to," Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller coach John Rodenberg told cleveland.com. "Cincinnati is a winning town. You go to a Reds game right now, last night, I don't know if there were 6,000 people there (for a last-place team). Cincinnati is a really fickle town. If you're winning, you're in great graces. If you're not, well ..."
This is less about the Bearcats winning and more about hope.
The hope is that Cincinnati will be invited to join the expanding Big 12, a change that would make nights like Thursday regular. Houston made for a big matchup, but think about the future world in which Cincinnati is inviting Oklahoma, Texas, TCU and Baylor to Nippert every year. In that world -- which could soon be a reality -- Cincinnati has more interesting games than Ohio State at times.
Scene from Nippert for UC-Houston
What do official visitors love? Big atmospheres. Good games. And a chance to win a national title. The Cincinnati of the American Athletic Conference -- the one that exists now -- doesn't offer any of those things.
The Cincinnati from Thursday night offers the world, and the Bearcats are already trying to capitalize on it.
Cincinnati had almost 80 prospects and a few big-time visitors Thursday, including four-star cornerback Amir Riep of Cincinnati Colerain, an Ohio State commit, and three-star defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins of Cincinnati Winton Woods, who just earned a Buckeyes offer.
"It's exciting for Cincinnati," Winton Woods head coach Andre Parker told cleveland.com. "Ohio State is always going to be king in Ohio with Urban Meyer and what they are all about, but with a move to the Big 12, Cincinnati can make things more difficult on them and other Big Ten schools recruiting Ohio."
Parker is right on. He literally couldn't have said it better.
Urban Meyer isn't intimidated by Cincinnati. If he were, would he get up in front of the Columbus media and endorse the Bearcats' potential move to the Big 12? Let's be clear: Cincinnati isn't going to start taking kids away from Ohio State.
Ohio State's unique recruiting advantage
Ohio State's unique recruiting advantage
Ohio State's big recruiting advantage could be the main reason the Buckeyes have an argument for being the must indestructible program in college football.
But as for the complications part, Cincinnati could be a small roadblock for Ohio State, especially when you look at the Buckeyes' past recruiting in the Cincinnati area. Before Meyer took over and hired Kerry Coombs -- a former Cincinnati-area head coach -- there was a disconnect between the Buckeyes and the Queen City. Notre Dame was arguably the city's college football program.
What if the Bearcats join the Big 12? What if they are Cincinnati's in-state school? That could certainly make things harder for Ohio State.
Right now, an elite Cincinnati prospect who wants to stay home goes to Ohio State. In a few years, a special type of Cincinnati prospect who wants to stay home could go to Cincinnati.
Cincinnati to Cincinnati. That could be a thing.
"Every since the Big East folded, they have just struggled to get their identity back," Rodenberg said. "And it's crushed them. The city will follow UC if UC can play well (in big games) and get into the Big 12. That's what happened with the Big East. UC was winning, people cared."
Aeneas Hawkins
Let's get to the specific example of the type of prospect Ohio State could potentially lost to a Big 12 Cincinnati: Hawkins.
A three-star prospect who just earned an Ohio State offer, Hawkins is a loyal Cincinnati kid who's father played for the Bearcats. Though he the Buckeyes are high on him (they did offer him early in his junior year), Hawkins knows far more about Cincinnati than he does Ohio State.
He comes to Cincinnati games all the time. He lit up before the game seeing the atmosphere.
"This is way better than it usually is," he told cleveland.com.
What if this is how it usually is? Cincinnati had a little over 40,000 people in the stands, and its atmosphere was certainly on par with what you'd find at premier games for middle-of-the-run Big Ten programs. Picture a big game at Maryland.
Cincinnati-Houston
Cincinnati had a packed house of more than 40,000 people for its game against Houston on Thursday night. The Bearcats hosted about 80 prospects for visits.
Bill Landis, cleveland.com
"They still have a chance right now as they are," Hawkins said, "but if they got to the Big 12 and had the chance to pull big-named guys out of Ohio consistently that normally Ohio State or teams like that would pull, then obviously that would make them even more attractive than they are to me already."
Right now, no matter what Hawkins says, Ohio State has to be viewed as the team to beat in his recruitment. When the Buckeyes offer a kid in Ohio, you know the result.
But a Big 12 version of Cincinnati will make it harder to get the early commitment from certain Cincinnati recruits. More work on Hawkins, less time for Ohio State to spend on other prospects.
Or maybe Hawkins will be the first to chose Cincinnati over Ohio State. It will happen eventually.
Ohio State is the undisputed King of Ohio.
But for the first time in forever, the Buckeyes could have some in-state competition.
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Local Recruits 2017 - 2019
