For years the UC Bearcats struggled to lock down the best high school recruits the Cincinnati area had to offer. Even during the Brian Kelly years when they were regularly ranked in the top 25 and going to BCS Bowls, UC was constantly overlooked by top local talent. Adolphus Washington (Taft) went to Ohio State, Monty Madaris (Moeller) went to Michigan State, Dwayne Stanford (Taft) went to Oregon, Luke Kuechly (St. Xavier) went to Boston College, Andrew Hendrix (Moeller) went to Notre Dame. The list goes on and on.
Cincinnati’s had their share of local players stay home, such as Patrick Coyne (Badin) and Solomon Tentman (Roger Bacon) but never anyone who truly wowed analysts on several levels.