Football recruiting heats up in Southwest Ohio

The winter weather made its presence known this past week in southwest Ohio, but college football recruiting was definitely heating up across the region with significant developments.

On Monday night, Colerain (Cincinnati) senior quarterback Tyler Williams verbally committed to Akron. Williams, who helped to lead Colerain to a 10-0 regular-season record, was the Cardinals' all-time leading rusher during his career.

Williams, who was the Cincinnati Enquirer Division I player of the year, is expected to play running back/wide receiver for the Zips after he also considered other Mid-American Conference offers.

"They feel he's the game-changer they need," Colerain coach Tom Bolden told the newspaper.



On Tuesday night, St. Xavier senior linebacker Steven Daniels verbally committed to Boston College. Daniels, one of the state's top players in the 2011 class, also considered Texas A&M, Kentucky, Louisville and West Virginia.

Daniels, who is 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, had 18 sacks and 34 tackles for loss this season – both school records.

Mark Porter, director of ScoutingOhio.com, said Daniels has "great speed and agility for a 240-pound player with the ability to chase ball carriers from sideline to sideline and also has the ability to anchor versus inside run plays."

On Wednesday night, Fairfield senior linebacker Marquise Vann (6-1, 225) verbally committed to Connecticut. Vann had committed to Minnesota this past summer, but considered other schools recently. He had 75 tackles and an interception this past season for the Indians.

On Thursday, Miami University head coach Michael Haywood was named the Pittsburgh head coach. Miami named Lance Guidry as the interim coach but it remains to be seen what impact Haywood's departure could have on recruiting.

La Salle senior quarterback Drew Kummer – the Greater Catholic League-South co-player of the year with Daniels this past season – was still committed to Miami as of Thursday, but La Salle coach Tom Grippa told the Enquirer Kummer would be willing to listen to other college interest.



FITZSTEPHENS RESIGNS
Fairfield football coach Aaron Fitzstephens recently decided to step down after two years as the Indians' coach. The Enquirer reported that Fitzstephens will pursue other opportunities outside of football. Fitzstephens led Fairfield to a 6-4 record in 2009 and energized the program after it struggled over the past several years.

Fairfield, Princeton and Harrison are among the Cincinnati-area schools with coaching vacancies as of this weekend.




Recruiting news

Taft junior defensive end Adolphus Washington recently added offers from Michigan State and Purdue. Washington, who is 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, is one of the nation's top players in the 2012 class. He also has offers from Ohio State, Alabama, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Texas, Boston College and several others. …Taft junior wide receiver Dwayne Stanford recently added offers from Michigan State and Purdue. Stanford, who is 6-4 and 190 pounds, also has offers from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Texas Tech. Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio visited the high school on Dec. 7, according to the Enquirer. … Milford softball player Sarah Alley has signed to play softball at Ashland University . Alley has a record of 43-18 with a 0.63 ERA in her first three seasons at Milford . She hit .468 last season for the Eagles.

Random thoughts
…Former Cincinnati Reds standout George Foster is the guest speaker at the Oak Hills Sports Stag Jan. 17. … Boston College sophomore linebacker Luke Kuechly, a former St. Xavier standout, was named to the Football Writers Association of America's All-America and Walter Camp All-America teams earlier this month. He was also a runner-up for the Butkus Award.



(Information from the Cincinnati Enquirer, Pulse Journal, ScoutingOhio.com, Dayton Daily News was used in this report)