Recruiting Roundup: Multiple High-Level Homecoming Visitors, B-Ball Recruiting Ranking Update

The Bearcats men's basketball program is on a heater right now.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Oct 7, 2022 10:35 AM EDT

CINCINNATI — From our first check-in on the basketball recruiting rankings to some four and five-star talents visiting on homecoming weekend, it's all covered in the latest Recruiting Roundup.

We start with official and unofficial visits for a few big names. According to Bearcat Journal's Chad Brendel, UC basketball is hosting four-star commit Rayvon Griffith and four-star target Tyler Mckinley on official visits this weekend.

Griffith was the first player to jump aboard the Wes Miller train in this cycle and he'll surely be trying to convince McKinley to come along with him. The big man recently transferred from Walnut Hills (Ohio) to Link Academy (Missouri).

Mckinley averaged 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last season, and 247Sports Composite has him ranked as the 74th player in the 2024 class. He is the site's ninth-ranked center and No. 2 player in Missouri.

Brendel also mentioned some unofficial visitors in new four-star commit Jizzle James and 2025 four-star center Malachi Moreno, who Miller offered in August.

He wasn't ranked at the time of the offer, but people are taking notice now. According to 247Sports, Moreno is the 45th-ranked player in the class and the 10th-ranked center.

Moreno is a walking double-double whenever he touches the floor at 6-foot-11. He has sweet feet on post moves and the length to bang with all types of big men in the Big 12.

He clearly needs to put on a little weight for some of those larger matchups, but that will come, and he's performed well against high-level competition his age. You can't teach the type of soft touch Moreno displays on the offensive end.

On the rankings front, ESPN unveiled a new data set with UC sitting at No. 19 nationally in 2023 following the James commitment.

"The Bearcats made a late push into the first edition of the rankings with the addition of Edgerrin James in early October," Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi wrote. "James, better known as 'Jizzle' and the son of former NFL star Edgerrin James, is a tough, fearless, 6-foot-1 point guard who stays in attack mode. He's the second ESPN 100 commitment in the 2023 class for Wes Miller, who also landed four-star wing Rayvon Griffith in the spring. Griffith played on a loaded grassroots team in the spring and summer, but stood out due to his explosiveness and ability to make plays in the open floor."

Here's where UC sits on the other major services: 247Sports (26th), On3 (28th), and Rivals (15th). That averages out to a consensus ranking of 22nd nationally. A pretty strong start in Year Two for Miller.

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