Review of UC's top football freshmen

The Bearcats are starting to gear up for their first season under former Auburn and Texas Tech Head Coach, Tommy Tuberville. The opening of the football season is just over a month away, and training camp will start in the next two weeks to prepare for the first matchup against Purdue. The Bearcats have talent on the roster, but Tuberville's first recruiting class will be expected to compete for roles on the team as well. Here are some of the key prospects to look out for in UC football this season.

Travis Johnson-The top rated prospect that UC was able to corral in the class of 2013 is tight end Travis Johnson from Jesuit High School in Tampa. Johnson was originally considered a wide receiver when he first was on the map as a college recruit, but he added about thirty pounds and now is 6'4 and weighs 231 pounds. Johnson has terrific hands and will be treated like a Delanie Walker of the Titans or Ed Dickson of the Ravens. Johnson will be expected to line up all over the field for the Bearcats as a true freshman in the slot, on the outside, and on the line of scrimmage. The big question with Johnson is if he will be able to contribute in blocking for the running game. If he is able to do so, Johnson and Notre Dame transfer Jake Golic could be a nice one-two punch at the tight end spot.

Rodriguez Moore-The Bearcats desperately need a running back to replace George Winn in 2013, and the top back in Junior College football might do the trick. Rodriguez Moore has the right composition and track record to bring speed and catching ability out of the backfield. Moore will compete with Ralph David Abernathy IV for playing time. Abernathy IV should have the upper hand based on his production last season in kick returning, running, and receiving, but UC has shown a tendency to use more than just one feature back. Abernathy IV could be primed for a breakout season for Cincinnati after over 700 total yards and seven touchdowns in limited playing time last season, but it wouldn't hurt the Bearcats to have a complementary back like Moore.

Rasheen Jones-The hometown kid from Northwest High School could make his mark at outside linebacker next season. He displays the instincts and size to compete at the collegiate level. Jones can rush the quarterback with his 4.69 forty yard dash speed, and also offers run support to a defense that could use a leader at the linebacker spot. Jones had offers from Kentucky, Louisville, and West Virginia, and also had interest from Ohio State and Michigan, but chose to play for the Bearcats, and the team might reward him with playing time sooner rather than later.

Tyler Cogswell and Javon Harrison-No first year Head Coach wants to step into a situation without a quarterback that fits his offense. Tuberville made sure the Bearcats would be stocked with young signal callers for the future by bringing in Cogswell and Harrison. Cogswell is more your prototypical drop back passer with his 6'5, 230 pound frame. He has a strong arm and was originally committed to Arkansas before Bobby Petrino was let go by the school. Harrison was the successor to Braxton Miller at Huber Heights Wayne and fits the up-tempo style of offense that a lot of programs like to run. Harrison is built like Miller and displays some athleticism, but is not as explosive as Miller. Once Tuberville decides the direction his offense is headed, he will be able to decide which quarterback fits within the scheme out of the two players with distinct skill sets. Both quarterbacks should compete for playing time in the next three seasons, but it will be a long hill to climb to unseat Brendon Kay this season and Gunner Kiel, the former Notre Dame backup and top recruit, in 2014.

Cincy Sports Spot Awards: Part 1

The ESPY Awards show takes place tonight on ESPN heralding the best players, teams, and moments of the past year. Although there are no players from any of the Cincinnati sports teams nominated to receive awards on tonight's show, there are plenty of deserving players on professional and collegiate teams in the local area. Many players have risen to stardom and teams in the city like the Bengals and Reds have accomplished more than in the past twenty years with back to back playoff appearances and almost one hundred victories respectively. Now, Part 1 of Cincy Sports Spot's first annual awards for Cincinnati teams and players.

Best Athlete: Geno Atkins-Atkins collected 12.5 sacks to lead defensive tackles this past season, and could have easily been the Defensive Player of the Year if it wasn't for the amazing year JJ Watt had for the Texans. Atkins is already probably the best nose tackle the Bengals have ever had. Yes, that includes Tim Krumrie. He brings a rare skill set with his speed rushing and unbelievable leg strength. Atkins is almost impossible to block for an entire game.

Best Upset: Cincinnati over Marquette 71-69 (OT)-The Bearcats needed a signature win in mid January to make March Madness, and a victory over twenty-fifth ranked Marquette fit that bill. Sean Kilpatrick hit the game winning shot in that game with less than five seconds left during a dynamic scoring performance of thirty-six points. Kilpatrick hit five three pointers in the game for Cincinnati, who went on to make the tournament and lose to Creighton in the first round.

Best Male College Athlete: Semaj Christon-Christon was largely left to lead the rebuilding Xavier Musketeers in 2012-2013. The Musketeers had to play two walk-ons throughout the season, and Top 100 recruit Semaj Christon was the standout as a freshman. Christon almost single handedly willed his team to victory against ranked teams Memphis and St. Louis with thirteen and twenty points respectively. Christon became the nation's second best point guard heading into the offseason right behind Marcus Smart after he averaged 15.2 points, almost three rebounds, and 4.6 assists. Christon can easily play his way into the top ten in next year's NBA draft.

Best Coach/Manager-Dusty Baker-As much as fans like to give Baker grief for some of his decisions in regards to lineups and pitching changes, not many people can argue with the results of a manager who has become one of the winningest managers in the history of baseball. The Reds finished with 97 wins in 2012, making the playoffs and winning the first two games before losing the next three to the World Series Champions. Baker currently has the Reds in a Wild Card spot with the Reds sitting pretty comfortably in third in the NL Central eleven games over the .500 mark.

Best Moment: Bengals defeat Steelers 13-10 in Week 16-Just before Christmas, the Bengals got an early present by clinching a playoff spot with a win over the Steelers. The game decided a Wild Card spot and clinched the Bengals' second straight playoff appearance for the first time since 1981-82. The game was extremely ugly and low scoring as the Bengals rushed for just fourteen yards, but Andy Dalton hit AJ Green near the sidelines at the right time with under a minute left in the game to set up a game winning field goal by kicker Josh Brown. What an exciting victory for a historically playoff starved Cincinnati Bengals franchise.

Best Comeback-Leon Hall-Hall suffered a season ending Achilles injury after playing in nine games in 2011, and made it back after a commendable rehab period to play in fourteen games in 2012. Hall collected two interceptions, including one for a touchdown against the Steelers, and also earned a pick against the Texans in the playoffs. Hall has become a marquee cornerback in the league, and he does it the right way by being a consummate professional. Look for Hall to only improve after a full year back from the injury.

Rich Hidy
Cincy Sports Spot

Kilpatrick stars in World University Games Prelims

Team USA kicked off the World University Games in Kazan, Russia with a pair of eye opening performances. USA faced the United Arab Emirates on Sunday and throttled UAE with a 140-46 win. Although the margin of victory in this contest seems outrageous, the largest margin of victory recorded in this tournament was 150 points by USA in the 1970's. 

Many players on the twelve man roster contributed to Team USA's success in the opener, but UC superstar Sean Kilpatrick shined against UAE. Kilpatrick came off the bench to lead all scorers in the game with eighteen points. Kilpatrick was extremely pesky on defense, not allowing his man to get past him and even forcing a turnover on a steal late in the game on an attempted pass. UAE couldn't compete against the Big East style of physical defense that Kilpatrick displayed throughout the game, and his energy as a dynamic sixth man played a large part in holding UAE to under fifty points scored.

The eighteen points came in a multitude of ways for the Bearcats' senior guard. Kilpatrick was an ultra-efficient seven of fourteen from the field and scored on fast breaks and from behind the three point line. Many of Kilpatrick's three pointers were from the corner on uncontested shots. UAE had a lot of trouble keeping an eye on Kilpatrick in the offensive sets USA executed, and Kilpatrick slipped to the openings in the defense and made his opponents pay four times from behind the arc. "We just wanted to keep the pedal to the metal because we know that any team here is good," Kilpatrick said following USA's victory. "So, it is great to send a message in the first game."

Kilpatrick's twenty-four minutes against UAE tied Indiana's Yogi Farrell for the most played by anyone on the roster, and Kilpatrick also recorded four rebounds and three assists. Just by watching the game against UAE, it looks like Kilpatrick has further polished a deadly three point shot since the season ended in March, and he is surely enjoying playing with talented distributors on the team such as Farrell and 6'6 point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who combined for over twenty assists in the game.

USA advanced to 2-0 in the tournament earlier today with a 96-53 victory over a more talented Czech Republic team. Doug McDermott and Luke Hancock showed off their skilled affinity for scoring with twenty-three and fifteen points respectively, and Hancock was five for ten from behind the three point line. Kilpatrick once again provided a spark in his fifteen minutes of action. Kilpatrick scored seven points in his nine shot opportunities from the field.

Kilpatrick and Team USA will look to continue their hot start to the tournament with a matchup against Sweden on Wednesday. Kilpatrick is averaging 12.5 points per game against the top college aged talent in the world, and USA certainly needs his tremendous scoring ability to continue to advance through the upcoming later rounds when the opponents begin to get stronger. Kilpatrick is one of the top scorers in UC program history, and he won't shy away from any chances to put the ball in the hoop.

Rich Hidy
Cincy Sports Spot

Kilpatrick represents Bearcats in World University Games

Sean Kilpatrick isn't enjoying a typical summer for a college basketball player. Instead of playing in the local Deveroes Summer League and training in Cincinnati this year like many of his teammates and Xavier foes, Kilpatrick secured a spot on the prestigious 2013 USA Men's World University Games team roster. Kilpatrick celebrated Independence Day overseas while representing his home country on the court. The 2013 World University Games take place in Kazan, Russia, and run from the prelims on July 7 through the final round on July 16. Kilpatrick is one of 12 collegiate upperclassmen on the team coached by Davidson's Bob McKillop. Michigan's John Beilein and South Carolina's Frank Martin are assistants on the staff.

The roster is made up of established and rising stars in the college ranks. The most notable player on the team is Creighton's incoming senior, Doug McDermott. However, McDermott is surrounded by a supporting cast of elite college players like Kilpatrick, Indiana sophomore Yogi Ferrell, Louisville's National Championship hero Luke Hancock, and New Mexico 7-footer Alex Kirk.

Kilpatrick is competing with some of the best of his peers and is gaining some unbelievable experience before returning to UC in the fall. Kilpatrick is currently practicing against a couple of players who can clog the lane like McDermott and Kirk, and his job is to discover how to score on the big men by driving into the lane in practice and how to apply his skill set to the actual tournament. When Kilpatrick attacks the hoop well and doesn't settle for jump shots, he can really be an efficient scorer. Kilpatrick will also benefit from learning from a National Championship coach like Beilein.

Kilpatrick's experience in Russia could help him immensely in preparation for his senior season. The experience will help him take a more active leadership role that Mick Cronin will surely expect him to embrace with Cashmere Wright and JaQuan Parker graduated. The more Kilpatrick can play and get his feel for the game going even in the offseason, the better. Kilpatrick is a streaky player who becomes a more adept scorer as the game goes on. He will benefit from learning to compete against new opponents from around the world that he hasn't seen tape of or played against before instead of the typical Big East opponents he has been used to battling over his first three seasons at UC.

Team USA kicked off the tournament with an exhibition round against UNICS, a Russian Pro Club, on July 4. Luke Hancock was the leading scorer for USA in the victory, 96-60, with 14 points, but Kilpatrick held his own and contributed for 19 minutes. Kilpatrick didn't try to force the issue by taking only five shots, but he made two of them and had seven total points along with four boards and three assists.

Fans of Kilpatrick and the other college stars on this year's Team USA roster can track the progress of the group on usabasketball.com. USA is in Pool C along with countries such as Australia, Canada and Sweden. USA should be able to roll over the competition on talent alone, but if this team led by Kilpatrick and McDermott can develop team camaraderie, the summer hoops tournament could be very enjoyable to watch.

Best Twitter accounts for Cincinnati athletes

Twitter has become the premier social media site on the internet. Along with millions of other users, athletes get involved in the Twitter game to interact with fans and promote their names and the brands associated with them. LeBron James and Tiger Woods each have millions of followers. Cincinnati has many prominent athletes who use Twitter quite frequently. Here are the 10 best Twitter accounts for Cincinnati professional athletes that are sure to give fans a positive return on their follow:

1. Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP)-Phillips does a great job interacting with fans and keeping a light hearted attitude towards Twitter. He truly appreciates the loyal fans that he has who reach out to him on Twitter. Phillips likes to give a preview of each series on Twitter, and tweets about his interactions with Reds fans before the games.

2. Carlos Dunlap (@Carlos_Dunlap)-Dunlap is one of the more underrated Twitter users in Cincinnati sports. He tweets a lot of inspirational quotes and fills fans in on his workout regimens. His motto on Twitter is "Rise and Grind," which he uses as motivation to train harder and harder each and every day.

3. Sam LeCure (@mrLeCure)-LeCure talks mainly about the Reds on Twitter, which is ideal for the Reds fans that follow him. He will often tweet about the games following their conclusion and describe what the team did right or wrong depending on the result. LeCure also is known for his #5things campaign, which highlight anything on his mind in bullet-point format.

4. Jay Bruce (@JayABruce)-Bruce isn't afraid to speak his mind and clash with fans on occasion on Twitter. He recently went on a Twitter rant after fans gave him grief about a supposed lack of ability to hit in clutch situations. Bruce has the last laugh on these fans as he is experiencing the best season of his career at this time. Bruce also does his best to get the word out via Twitter about the upcoming All Star Game and fan voting. Bruce also tweets about other sports besides the Reds. He is a fan of the NBA, and frequently voiced his opinions during the Finals between the Spurs and Heat.

5. David Pollack (@davidpollack47)-Pollack isn't a current player in the NFL, but he hasn't been out of the league for too long and is a top notch analyst for ESPN College Football. Pollack did a great job by proposing a creative challenge on Twitter for his followers to run at least one mile every day without any excuses. Many of his followers joined him in the challenge.

6. Sean Kilpatrick (@SeanKilpatrick_)-Kilpatrick answers most of his fans' tweets and fills his followers in on his offseason schedule when he is not on campus at UC. Kilpatrick recently was named to Team USA U-21, and has been tweeting a lot about his experience on the team.

7. Todd Frazier (@FlavaFraz21)-Frazier, much like LeCure, talks a great deal about the Reds on Twitter. He is a really good follow for anyone who wants to know a player's perspective after a win or a loss.

8. Vontaze Burfict (@King55Tez)-Burfict always tweets what is on his mind. He is good friends with a lot of the Bengals players on Twitter like Geno Atkins, Dunlap, and Jermaine Gresham, and frequently tweets at them. Burfict will only gain followers if he continues to produce on the field.

9. Semaj Christon (@SemajChriston)-Christon is consistently inclined to answer fans' questions on Twitter, and uses the platform to talk about the Musketeers. Christon's name on Twitter is "m.j,"which probably means his idol and role model in the game of basketball growing up was Michael Jordan.

10. Chad Johnson (@ochocinco)-Johnson has the most followers out of any other athlete in this list by far, but he is a classic example of someone who misuses the site to the detriment of his team. Johnson was always getting in trouble with the coaches of the Bengals regarding his Twitter account, and it probably played a large part in his exit of the league. Johnson does it all on Twitter; interacts with fans, tweets about his McDonald's food runs, and brags that he is currently over 200 pounds of muscle. Some fans probably enjoyed that the former Pro Bowl wide receiver was offline for a week while he served his jail sentence.

UC Football: ND transfers have chance to excel

The Cincinnati Bearcats are starting fresh this season under new Head Coach Tommy Tuberville, who bolted Texas Tech to take the job with the Bearcats after the departure of Butch Jones. Tuberville has experience with successful teams; he coached the Auburn Tigers to a 13-0 2004 season and a 11-2 2006 season. Tuberville enters 2013 with a lot of returning talent. Brendon Kay returns at quarterback for the Bearcats after he showed flashes of brilliance last year. Ralph David Abernathy IV also has a chance to be special at the running back position with his electrifying speed.

The Bearcats will enter the 2013 season with a new tight end, a transfer player from Notre Dame. Jake Golic will be in line for the starting gig in 2013 after playing 3 games in 2010 for the Irish. Golic is a big target at 6'4, 245 pounds, and has played in a winning system. He should be a good blocker at the very least for the Bearcats, who could use some experience at the tight end position. Golic will understand what it's like to play Cincinnati football since he is coming to the team from Brian Kelly's system, a system he perfected while at the helm for the Bearcats.

Gunner Kiel, the top quarterback in the 2012 recruiting class, also opted to transfer to UC after he thought he wouldn't be able to start at Notre Dame, buried behind Everett Golson and Tommy Rees on the depth chart. Kiel will have to sit out this season due to the transfer rule, but when he is eligible, Kiel will be an impact starter for the Bearcats with 3 years of eligibility. Kiel is mobile and has a powerful arm, perfect for Tuberville's offense. He will have plenty of time to learn the new offense, and since he grew up in Indiana, Kiel will be close to his home in Cincinnati. Kiel will undoubtedly be UC's best quarterback since Tony Pike as soon as he steps on the field, and in due time, I believe he will be the best quarterback to ever put on a UC uniform.