Cincinnati Recruiting: Weekly Whispers - Elijah Ponder commits to UC

Welcome to this week's installment of "Weekly Whispers," our weekly series in which we keep Bearcat Nation updated on the latest recruiting news for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Lets see what happened this week on the recruiting trail.

Ponder verbals to UC

Last Wednesday, coming after the latest "Weekly Whispers" piece, Cincinnati reeled in a commitment from '16 DL Elijah Ponder of South Cobb (GA). The 6'3, 255-pounder chose the Bearcats over offers from Air Force, Georgia State, Navy, Ohio, and many more. Always keeping tabs on Ponder by showing interest throughout the process was Duke, Iowa State, Syracuse, and a few others. Ultimately, the work that Kenny Ingram -- Ponder's primary recruiter - and the rest of the staff put together in this one was enough to get the Georgia native to become a member of the UC 2016 recruiting class.

Ponder is currently graded as a two-star prospect in the class. He is also ranked as the 2,113th best player, the 113th best defensive end, and the 188th best prospect from the always loaded peach state. Down The Drive will attempt to speak with the Eagles standout to discuss his UC pledge later this week. Until then, you can check out the newest Bearcat in action below courtesy of Hudl:

Spotlight on Paul and Sopko

Scout.com dropped two new "Scout Spotlight" pieces this week and '16 WR Marcel Paul and '16 QB Jake Sopko -- both of who are Bearcat commits -- were ones that were portrayed. Paul, a 6'1, 170-pounder from Cass Tech (MI), described his game as "unique" and "aggressive" in the video. The pass-catcher also mentioned that he is looking for "good coaching, good players, good education, and good environment" in his future school -- which at this moment, would be Cincinnati. In Sopko's spotlight, he compares himself to current Atlanta Falcon QB Matt Ryan because of his ability to manage the game. You can check out Paul's version here and Sopko's here.