Cincinnati lands commit from top-5 2023 prospect in Ohio

Trevor Carter, one of the top juniors in Ohio, says he’s staying in-state to play for the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Carter of Ironton (Ohio) High ranks as the No. 5 2023 player in Ohio, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Carter, who is 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, announced his commitment to the Bearcats in a social media post Tuesday morning.

“Beyond excited to be a Black Cat,” Carter said in the post.

Carter also thanked Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell, defensive coordinator Mike Tressel and Trevon Pendleton, his high school coach, in the post.

When asked why he committed to Cincinnati, Carter said he was sold on the Bearcat coaches.

“Coach Fickell, Tressel and (Pat) Lambert communicate with me regularly and they make me feel like Cincy is a second home already,” Carter said.

“Cincy also has several academic options I’m very interested in. The gameday atmosphere in Nippert Stadium is electric. Cincinnati is close to home, so friends and family will be able to watch me play home games.”

Despite being just a junior, Trevor Carter already had a long list of scholarship offers. He is the highest-ranked recruit Cincinnati has landed since the Bearcats signed four-star quarterback Evan Prater in 2020. Prater was ranked as the third-best Ohio player in the On3 Consensus.

Along with the Cincinnati offer, he had major offers from Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Michigan, Northwestern, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Notre Dame and Ohio State were also showing him early interest but had not offered yet.

“I decided to fully commit last week midweek,” Carter said. “I had planned on committing in person at the SMU game on the 20th but I was too excited to wait. “The schools that made it most difficult were Kentucky, Tennessee, WVU, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Northwestern.”

Trevor Carter first 2023 Cincinnati commit

Trevor Carter is a tremendous start to the 2023 recruiting cycle for Cincinnati. He is the first commitment in the class and will be a name other top players the Bearcats target can get excited about.

Cincinnati’s 2022 recruiting class has 14 commitments, including four-star prospects DL Derrick Shepard of Dayton (Ohio) Archbishop Alter and CB J.Q. Hardaway of Phenix City (Ala.) High. More than half the 2022 class is from the state of Ohio, including On3 Consensus three-star OT Ethan Green of Freemont.

The 2022 Cincinnati class is at No. 51 in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking. The Bearcats’ class ranks behind only UCF in the Group of 5, but well ahead of Power 5 programs like Virginia, Minnesota, Oregon State, Colorado and Illinois. Cincinnati often battles Minnesota and Illinois for recruits throughout the Midwest.