Cincinnati Bearcats Football: Recruit Akise Teague Shines in Big 33 Classic

Out of the 25 players in the Cincinnati Bearcats 2011 recruiting class, 21 of them are 3-star recruits or higher according to rivals.com. 

Having the opportunity to play in a BCS conference has helped recruiting immensely for Cincinnati. 

With 20 3-star players, Butch Jones has a pretty solid group in his first class. 

However, one of the four 2-star recruits caught everybody's eye last night with the performance he put on in the Big 33 Classic. 

The Big 33 Classic is a yearly battle that pits Ohio's best high school football players versus Pennsylvania's best. Two of the best states for high school football fight it out for pride and bragging rights. 

This year, Ohio came out on top thanks in part to future Cincinnati running back Akise Teague. 

Teague led Ohio to a 50-14 win with a pair of first-quarter rushing touchdowns and a 40-yard touchdown reception at the beginning of the third quarter. 

In all, he totaled 168 yards on 10 touches and earned MVP honors for Ohio. 

At only 5'8" and 178 pounds, Teague was not highly recruited out of Ursuline high school in Youngstown, Ohio.

He had offers from a few MAC schools, along with Wisconsin and Cincinnati, but chose to stay in-state and play for the Bearcats.

While his size may not be there, he has 4.4 speed and big-play ability as he showed with a 52-yard touchdown scamper last night.

The Bearcats most highly-touted recruit is running back Jameel Poteat who also happens to be a running back, meaning playing time may be difficult to come by for Teague. 

But, after what he showed last night, Cincinnati may have found a diamond in the rough and could have quite a running back tandem for the next four years in Clifton.