Cincinnati Men's Basketball Recruits Ranked Fifth

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The University of Cincinnati's men's basketball recruiting class has been judged the fifth-best in the nation by All Star Sports Publications.

The ranking, made by recruiting guru Bob Gibbons, makes the Bearcat newcomers a consensus top 10 recruiting class. Future Stars, compiled by Van Coleman, and Hoop Scoop, whose editor is Clark Francis, previously ranked the Bearcat newcomers as the nation's ninth-best recruiting class.

Cincinnati's recruits were bested only by Duke, North Carolina, Michigan State and Villanova in the Future Stars ratings. The recruiting service rated Eric Hicks as the No. 47 high school prospect, Chadd Moore No. 50 and Armein Kirkland No. 138. Tony Bobbitt and Kareem Johnson were ranked No. 5 and No. 15 among the junior college prospects to sign with schools.

In previous recruiting analyses:

• Hicks was ranked No. 40 by Brick Oettinger's PrepStars and No. 44 by Dave Telep's TheInsidersHoops.com. The 6-6 forward from Greensboro, N.C. was No. 88 by ESPN.com.

• Moore was ranked No. 58 by PrepStars, No. 62 by ESPN.com and No. 79 by TheInsidersHoops.com. Moore, a 6-2 guard from Huntsville, Ala. who played at Oak Hill Academy, was rated the No. 10 high school senior point guard prospect by Prepspotlight.com.

• Kirkland, a 6-7 guard from Tyler, Texas, was No. 96 according to ESPN.com and No. 122 by PrepStars.

• Tony Bobbitt was the No. 6 rated junior college prospect according the PrepStars. Bobbitt (Daytona Beach, Fla./College of Southern Idaho) was named to the junior college All-America first team by FutureStars with Kareem Johnson (Eufaula, Ala./Chipola College) earning second-team honors.