Cincinnati recruiting: Weekly Whispers - UC leads for Joshua Dinson, Jarron Cumberland in ESPN100

Welcome to Down The Drive's new "Weekly Whispers" series which will run every Wednesday morning to keep Bearcat Nation updated on all of the latest news, notes, and gossip occurring in the Cincinnati Bearcats recruiting world.

UC leads for Dinson

When it comes to the 2017 football recruiting class, the Bearcats currently hold one commitment. That pledge comes from '17 ATH Jordan Merrell, a Florida prospect (Dillard High School), which shouldn't be a shock to anyone, as UC loves to recruit the sunshine state.

With that being said, another Floridian has had his eyes on Cincinnati as well. According to Corey Bender of Scout.com, the Bearcats are the current leader for '17 CB Joshua Dinson of American (FL). You can see the video of the news here.

I briefly caught up with Dinson who told me that the Bearcats are an up-and-coming program and that he sees an opportunity to play early, if he was to wind up in Clifton. The good news is, Cincinnati is sitting well despite the fact that he has never seen campus. "I never been up there yet, but I plan on taking a visit soon," Dinson said. As for a decision, don't expect one anytime soon. "I'm focused on my season. I'm going to let everything else fall into place and am not going to rush anything," he concluded.

The 5'9, 165-pounder is currently graded as a three-star prospect in his class. UC is standing out the Hialeah native over offers from the Kentucky Wildcats and the Syracuse Orange. As Bender mentioned in the video linked above, Auburn (among many others) would be the team to really worry about as his brother Jeremiah Dinson is a current member of the Tigers football team. We'll see if Head Coach Tommy Tuberville and the rest of the staff can work their magic and reel in yet another prospect from the state of Florida.

Cumberland in ESPN100, makes UC visit

Last Wednesday, ESPN.com released their new Top 100 recruiting rankings for 2016 and the list included the star of the UC basketball recruiting class -- '16 SG Jarron Cumberland of Wilmington (OH). The in-state prospect can be located at No. 65 on the rankings, which is good for a four-star grade. The praise that ESPN gave the 6'4, 200-pounder certainly boosted his 247Sports Composite ranking, which combines all four major recruiting services' rankings and combines them, as Cumberland is right on the cusp of securing his fifth star.

This past weekend, the Cincinnati commit made his way down to Clifton and spent time with some of the current Bearcat basketball players. According to his Twitter account, Cumberland was able to hang out with Troy Caupain, Gary Clark, Coreontae DeBerry, Octavius Ellis, Jacob Evans, Kevin Johnson, and Shaq Thomas.

Two hoops prospects secure UC offer

This past week the Cincinnati hoops coaching staff was active on the recruiting trail as they sent out two new offers. '17 PG Jordan Davis of Dutch Fork (SC) and '18 SF Nate Roberts of John Carroll (MD) were two recipients of Bearcat scholarship offers. Davis is a 6'4' guard who is also being courted by East Carolina, VCU, and others. You can check out his highlight tape here. As for Roberts, he is talented small forward and was even described by Corey Evans of Hoop Seen as a "sleeper from the DMV." Stay tuned to see if the Bearcats can position themselves to possibly reel in one of the two in the future.