Can Ricky Brown reignite BC's recruiting in Cincy?

BC has always recruited the Midwest Catholic schools. TOB continued that tradition, but also put an emphasis on his hometown of Cincinnati. It made sense. There is a strong group of Catholic schools there and he knew the territory. Once he added other Cincy staffers like Dana Bible and Don Horton, it made that much more sense to focus on the area. And it paid off. Every year BC found quality recruits who were overlooked by Ohio State and Notre Dame and got them to come to Boston. Even after TOB left, Jags and Spaz kept hitting the area. While BC still has some Cincinnati guys on the roster, it has been less a point of emphasis. Maybe that will change now the another BC-Cincinnati guy Ricky Brown is on the staff.

On the current roster, only two guys remain from the Cincinnati area -- Ben Glines and Truman Gutapfel. With Gutaphel set to graduate, it will be down to just Glines. During the peak TOB days, we would average about five or six guys from the area and have multiple starters. BC still recruits Ohio, but our current roster has more guys from the Columbus and Cleveland areas, than in the southwest portion of the state.

I know in the big picture it doesn't matter where the guys come from. We just need people who can play. But when you have a successful niche and a quiet pipeline, it seems shortsighted to walk away from it. Also it seems natural to let Brown try to recruit his hometown. I don't know if he will have the same network TOB had, but Brown's own story: "I'm an Ohio kid who went to BC and became an NFL veteran" is compelling. It will always sell better at a St. Xavier kid than it will to some recruit who doesn't know Brown and can't relate to his experience.

I couldn't find a comprehensive list of BC players from Southwest Ohio since TOB came on board, but I did find all the guys from the area who made all conference teams (below). It would be nice to add a few more to the list.

Former All ACC Players

• Pat Ross 
• Dejuan Tribble 
• Alex Albright 
• Clif Ramsey 
• Matt Tennant 
• Luke Kuechly 
• Steven Daniels

A new commit and other links

Florida Offensive Line prospect Wyatt Knopfke verballed to Addazio Monday. Knopfke also had offers from Miami and Kentucky.

The Giants brought KPL in for a workout. As we know there is a long history of the Giants taking BC guys.

BC is also the first to offer Cincinnati-area WR Chase Pankey.

As expected Joe Rahon will complete his college career back on the West Coast.

Addazio picks up a Cincy kid

St. Xavier Athlete Ben Glines (6-1, 200) verbally committed to Boston College today, per St. X coach Steve Specht
— Mike Dyer (@MikeDyer) April 27, 2014

When you have certain productive recruiting territories, you need to do you best to harvest and defend them. The Cincinnati area -- with its strong Catholic School league -- has been a great source of talent through the years. I worried that Addazio might not place the same emphasis on it that TOB and his successors had. However, we got some good news Saturday when Ben Glines committed. He's listed as an athlete now but will probably play on the defensive side of the ball. He might not be as heralded as some of our previous St. X recruits, but it is important that we stay relevant in the area.

Welcome aboard Ben.

Keeping a presence in Cincy and other links

Shortly after the staff was assembled, Addazio also introduced their respective recruiting territories. Ohio was listed but there was no special mention of Cincinnati. Since Southwest Ohio has been a critical pipeline for BC for nearly 15 years, I had hoped that we would protect our base there. Now it looks like we are still going to hit our traditional feeder schools as BC has offered St. X's Nick Carovillano

Most of you probably read this by now, but Addazio's Q&A with ESPN is worth your time. Even though he has yet to even coach a game, I feel like I've changed my opinion on Addazio a dozens times. It will probably wear thin after a while, but for now I still like his passion and confidence.

Women's Hockey tied Vermont.

BC is going to be part of next Fall's 2k Sports Classic.

Lacrosse lost to Ohio State.

The baseball team lost to East Carolina on Friday.

The second half of this article mentions Montel Harris's talking point to the GMs at the Combine. It is a pretty simple explanation.

Mining Cincinnati again and other links

Since TOB's first days at BC, Cincinnati has been a vital recruiting area for BC. Being the "other" Catholic school helped us make inroads in the area's deep and talented Greater Catholic League. At first we turned guys who didn't get offers from Notre Dame and Ohio State into contributors. In later years we took some of the best talent in the area. When Ben Sirmans left there was concern about keeping a foothold in the area. To remain relevant BC is hitting the area hard again. During this week's visit we offered St. Xavier WR Trey Kilgore and La Salle DB Jaleel Hytchye. While the coaching staff was in town looking for future Eagles, former Eagle Luke Kuechly was working out for the Bengals. Luke also visited Buffalo. Mel Kiper thinks Carolina will take Kuechly with the 9th pick.

Closer to home, BC offered a scholarship to Maryland RB Rachid Ibrahim.

Even with a drop off in talent on offensive line, Rivals still recognizes our history with offensive tackles.