The signing date for high school football players is still more than seven months away but already the University of Cincinnati has filled 20 of its 25 scholarship slots for the Class of 2009.

Among those 20 commitments, which are non-binding until the player actually signs a letter-of-intent in February, are six players from Greater Cincinnati and 12 from Ohio. Seven more are from adjacent states Indiana and Michigan.

“That’s what we consider our home base,” said UC coach Brian Kelly. “There’s plenty of talent here.”

Kelly is prohibited by NCAA rules from commenting on individual players until they sign letters-of-intent.

It appears that UC is continuing to make inroads among the top local recruits.

Among the six local players, defensive back Chris Williams from Winton Woods, is the most highly rated as a 4-star recruit by Rivals.com. Linebacker Maalik Bomar (Winton Woods), offensive lineman Austen Bujnoch (Elder), defensive back Everett Horne (North College Hill) and wide receiver Josh Jones (Elder) are all 3-star recruits.

“There’s a lot of good football players in Cincinnati,” Kelly said. “I think we’re in on all of them. Are we getting them all? Certainly not. But Cincinnati is part of the BCS mentality now.

“We are definitely a player in that. Part of it is being in the Big East, but it’s also our facilities and winning football games. All three of those working together are part of the process when kids are considering BCS schools.”