Dixson commits to Cincinnati, for now

Flint (Mich.) Harmony Prep safety Keith Dixson made a verbal commitment to Central Michigan coming out of high school in the class of 2006.

His year at prep school opened his recruitment back up, however, but he never forgot what he liked about the coaching staff that recruited him. Now, a majority of that staff, lead by head coach Brian Kelly, is at Cincinnati and Dixson plans to follow them there.

The 6-2, 190-pound Dixson, who attended Carmen-Ainsworth high school in Flint before heading to Harmony Prep, made a verbal commitment to the Bearcats this past Saturday and is scheduled to take an official visit there the weekend of Jan. 19.

"I talked to Coach [Ernest] Jones who is my recruiter at Cincinnati. He asked if I had anymore visits and I said I had one to Western [Michigan]," said Dixson. "He said 'If you want to get the verbal out of the way, we still want you.' So I gave him a verbal and he knows I have a visit Friday.

"I was committed first to Central Michigan, then I had to go to Prep School, so my commitment was no longer good. This year, [Kelly] went to Cincinnati and that's where I am at now. I want to be with Brian Kelly because he is a good coach. I wanted to play for him at Central, so I'm going to follow him to Cincinnati."

Dixson was offered by a majority of the MAC Conference schools as well as Minnesota after he intercepted six passes this past fall at Harmony Prep. Western Michigan appears to be the only school that has a chance to steal Dixson away from the Bearcats, however, and that is a very real possibility.

"I committed to Cincinnati, but Coach [Bill] Cubit from Western Michigan just called me and told me he wanted me to come up there on an official visit just to make sure, so I am going to go ahead and do that just as a back up," said Dixson.

"They are talking pretty good stuff. I have a pretty good chance at starting next year and I'm from Flint, so they were talking about how it is closer. He was talking more academic stuff, graduation rates and everything, than football, so I just wanted to check it out."

Until his two visits to Western Michigan and Cincinnati are complete, Dixson's decision will not be made final. One of the reasons for his hesitancy to end the process with a decision for the Bearcats is his lack of knowledge about the school, outside of their coaching staff.

"At Cincinnati I really don't know too much," he said. "I don't know anything at all about Cincinnati, really, just the coaches."

At 6-2 and 190 pounds, Dixson runs a 4.47 40-yard dash and has a 225-pound bench press max. Harmony Prep plays mostly junior colleges and a few Division 2 and 3 jayvee teams.