CINCINNATI - Two top 100 quarterbacks from Florida -- Plant City's Bennie Coney and Daytona Beach's Trenton Norvell -- top the list of Cincinnati's 30-member 2012 recruiting class that has been ranked by one recruiting service as the best in school history.
Coney was ranked by ESPN as the No. 32 quarterback in this year's class, while Norvell was ranked 83rd. They are among nine members of the class who already are enrolled at Cincinnati.
Scout.com ranks the Bearcats' class 29th in the country, the program's first appearance in the top 30. Rivals.com rated Cincinnati 44th.
Cincinnati, a Big East co-champion, focused on improving its overall size, coach Butch Jones said during a press conference. The class, which includes two preferred walk-ons, features 16 defensive players, including eight defensive backs and five linebackers. The offense features four running backs, as Cincinnati tries to replace Big East Offensive Player of the Year Isaiah Pead, and four offensive linemen.
"The thing that's exciting for us is we were able to meet many of the needs of our program," Jones said. "One area in which we needed to get better was our overall size. One thing we've lacked is big-body types. The offensive line was a point of emphasis as far as increasing our size. We think we've brought in guys who are more ready in size and stature."
Among the running back recruits is Aaron Harris, a transfer from Southwestern Community College in California. He is expected to contribute immediately.
"He was high on our board," Jones said. "He's an individual who can come in and add maturity and stability at the running back position."
The Bearcats, who beat Vanderbilt in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., also landed two players from that city, which Jones said will become a "fixture" in the Bearcats' recruiting efforts.
"The Liberty Bowl cemented us there," Jones said. "When you have success on the field, it heightens awareness of your program."
Cincinnati also essentially traded recruits with Michigan. Detroit running back Dennis Norfleet would have been the highest-ranked member of the Bearcats' class before he decommitted on Tuesday to sign a letter of intent with the Wolverines. But Cincinnati's class included offensive lineman Caleb Stacy, who decommitted from Michigan two weeks earlier.
Also joining Cincinnati is defensive back Dylan Coombs, a son of Bearcats' associate head coach Kerry Coombs.
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UC issued the following release Wednesday afternoon:
University of Cincinnati head football coach Butch Jones announced 30 members of the 2011 recruiting class on Wednesday, Feb. 1, the beginning of the NCAA initial signing period for football.
In addition to the 28 signees, UC announced the addition of two preferred walk-ons.
“Today is a very exciting day in our football family as we officially welcome 30 individuals to UC,” Jones said. “There’s a lot that goes into a recruiting class and a lot of people here at the University of Cincinnati have done a great job in helping us attract what we feel is a class that fits the standards and expectations associated with the program.”
The signing class features 16 defensive players set to join UC. Defensive back (8), and linebacker (5) lead the way along with three defensive linemen. Of the 14 offensive players, four are running backs, four offensive linemen, three wide receivers, a pair of quarterbacks and a tight end.
“The class lends itself to filling many needs within our program,” Jones said. “We wanted to put an emphasis on team speed in general while addressing needs at defensive back and linebacker. We feel like we attracted a very high caliber of student-athlete in this class, which will continue to allow us to build a championship culture both on the field and in the classroom.”
UC added recruits from nine different states, including 11 student-athletes from the State of Ohio, 10 from within the Tri-State area and five products of Indianapolis. The Bearcats added commitments from California (1), Florida (6), Illinois (1), Michigan (1), Pennsylvania (1) and Tennessee (2).
“We are always going to take care of our home base here in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky,” Jones said. “From there we branched out into a 115-mile radius from our campus, to Indianapolis, through the state of Ohio and then we moved into other areas of the country, Cleveland, Detroit, Florida and Memphis.”
The recruiting pundits rank this UC class as the best ever. Scout.com slots the Bearcats at No. 29 and second the BIG EAST Conference rankings. This marks the first team UC has entered Scout’s Top-30 its best ever league ranking. Rivals.com ranks the UC class as No. 44 overall out of 120 FBS schools.
Nine student-athletes, Kevin Brown (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central), Deionte Buckley (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central), Jonathan Burt (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central), Errol Clarke (Miami, Fla,/Central), Bennie Coney (Plant City, Fla./Plant City), DeShawn Dowdy (Akron, Ohio/North),
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