Roney Lozano’s path to the University of Cincinnati was a very interesting one that got even more interesting the closer it came to national signing day (February 3).

The Florida defensive tackle spoke at length to Bearcat Lair about the days leading up to his big decision.

After having an offer from only Florida International for months, Lozano saw his recruitment blow up after sending out a highlight tape at the conclusion of his senior season.

Michigan State, Cincinnati and Maryland all invited the little known defensive tackle for official visits to their campuses less than a month before national signing day, and when the Spartans abruptly cancelled their invitation, Cincinnati was a more than willing replacement.

Lozano arrived in Clifton the weekend of January 15 and left behind a verbal commitment to become a Bearcat, which usually ends the recruiting process, but not this year.

Despite the verbal pledge, Lozano’s recruitment was far from over. In fact, it was about to get red hot.

The two-way starter at American Senior High School in Hialeah, Florida had already scheduled an official visit to Maryland for the following weekend, and although he thought about cancelling that visit, he really couldn’t. Lozano had not yet taken a standardized college entrance exam and was scheduled to take the SAT in College Park, Maryland that next weekend.

With a 2.9 GPA, Lozano wanted to see if he could get the qualifying 820 SAT score so he could forget about the academic part of his recruitment. To no one’s surprise, Lozano enjoyed the official visit, and the Terps’ coaching staff intensified his recruitment.

“I went up to Maryland, and they greeted me and treated me nice,” said Lozano. “They gave me a half tour of the campus because of test, but it was a good visit.”

At the time, Lozano informed Bearcat Lair that he was still committed to the Bearcats, but the Terps weren’t finished making their case.

“My defensive line coach in high school was recruited by the same coach that was recruiting me to Maryland so my coach told me he was a great coach, and they were the type people I needed around me and would treat me the right way. I definitely took that into consideration because my coach is like a father figure to me so that’s what really started making me confused.”

At about the same time, Miami of Florida was making a strong push to keep Lozano in state, but the defensive tackle didn’t like the fact it took the Hurricane staff so long to notice him.

“When Miami and some of these other bigger schools started contacting me, I felt there was nothing for me to even look at. They (Miami) have been right here with me, and it shouldn’t have been that hard for them to reach me earlier. I actually met one of their recruiters my junior year, and I couldn’t understand why it took them so long to come offer me. I definitely felt I was their back-up plan.”

Despite being late to the party, the Hurricanes still extended an offer.

“Yes. They came in and talked to me and said they had a spot left, and blah, blah, blah.”

Although Miami knew there were some hurt feelings due to their early absence, the Hurricanes didn’t discourage easily and were doing everything they could to make up ground and possibly flip Lozano. But the big Columbian says he never reneged on his verbal pledge to UC.

“I didn’t take back any part of my commitment to Cincinnati because when I went up there, I felt like I could really see myself being there.”

Even though the Bearcats remained in the catbird seat, others were gaining ground.

“I wanted Cincinnati to know that I was really interested in them, more than I was in other schools. That’s why I gave them my commitment, but at the same time, a lot of other coaches were pushing me hard, and their schools were also looking good. I did start to wonder if I made the right choice because I had coaches and friends all talking to me. It was pretty rough.”

And to make matters even more confusing, Texas Tech almost got involved in the days leading up to National Signing Day. Lozano explained.

“The guy who made my highlight tape (Derrick Williams) sent me a message on Facebook telling me that he had gotten a call from Texas Tech, and they needed a defensive tackle. He told them he had a good guy in mind and wanted to know if I wanted my tape sent to them. I told him I really didn’t want to make the decision any harder and already had good choices so just leave it at that.”

Even Florida International, who had been the first to offer Lozano, refused to walk away from their BCS prospect without a fight and managed to get Lozano to take an official visit to their campus. But in the end, there were just too many heavy hitters competing against them, although Lozano said he felt bad about eliminating the Panthers.

“I felt bad about that because back in the beginning when I didn’t have anyone, I was excited about them. It just felt good to have one (scholarship offer). I really thought at one point that I was going to go to Florida International, but I wanted to go somewhere and play against better competition although I do think they are on the rise.”

When asked if there were any other schools that tried to get involved late, Lozano replied. “The big one that came out of nowhere; they were there early but came back was Wake Forest. Their coach told me they originally didn’t think they had enough scholarships, but now they’ve got one-blah, blah, blah.”

Lozano said one school trying to get involved in his recruitment actually offered to send a hat, but he was more interested in thinning his herd and not adding to it.

Although there was plenty of stress involved in making his decision, there were also some funny moments.

The Bearcat defensive lineman speaks three languages-English, Spanish and French, but his mother sometimes struggles to understand English. When Coach Jones brought Lozano’s future position coach Steve Stripling along for their in-home visit a few weeks ago, the enthusiastic Stripling took to the floor and began coaching-up Lozano, all the time talking faster and faster. Lozano’s mother was perplexed by what was happening in front of her eyes and requested Coach Jones resume the meeting and do so at a slower pace and off the floor.

Lozano explained his reasoning for ultimately signing with the Bearcats. “I really went with my gut. When I thought about all the schools, it just felt right with Cincinnati.”

He also admitted that UC’s need at defensive tackle played a large part in his decision making process.

“That was one of the biggest things I looked at. They are going to need a three technique. I studied their past games, and their d-line struggled at times so I felt like I could compete maybe for playing time.”

As he reflects back on all the recruiting events of the last month, Lozano admits being surprised by how popular he became.

“I think about it every day, every day. Me and my mom sit here and we talk. We’re amazed.”

The upside for this 6’ 3”/265 pound defensive tackle is immense when taking into account his inexperience. He has been playing football for only a few years and playing defensive tackle for just one. Because he is so unfamiliar with the nuances of the game, he hates playing video games against his teammates.

“I’m still finding out rules about the sport. I can’t play with my friends on Madden because they all kick my butt. I don’t know how to do defensive coverages or none of that.”

Becoming a football player wasn’t even his decision; it was his mother’s.

“The only reason I started playing was because my mom was pushing me because I was getting tubby and lazy around the house. She wanted me to go out and do something.”

He chuckled as he recalled his first season of football as a freshman living in Kansas City. “I was one of those big kids that stand on the sideline. I didn’t even know how to put on my gear.”

But as a sophomore after the move to Miami, Lozano actually became a starter, if only by default. “I started at right guard because we had no one else.”

He may have been a starter, but the frustrations of playing against much more experienced personnel almost caused him to quit the game.

“When we played teams like Miami Northwestern, it was ridiculous. The game was so fast, and I didn’t think I fit in. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to play anymore because those guys were so good.”

After starting at offensive tackle as a junior, Lozano was forced to go both ways last year and finally got his introduction to playing defensive tackle. But even though every school was recruiting him for the defensive side of the football, some believe his play at offensive tackle last year was so good that he actually outplayed 4 star defensive end and Auburn commit, Corey Lemonier.

The mild-mannered defensive tackle reluctantly admitted that he didn’t call all the schools in contention for him informing them of his final decision, and explained why.

“I’m not going to lie. No I didn’t. I felt one of the coaches was pretty firey, and if I told him, he’d cuss me out or something.”

Even the UC coaching staff didn’t know they’d be getting Lozano’s letter of intent until approximately 30 minutes prior to his signing the document, probably the most fitting end to this interesting and unlikely recruiting story.