'Up to me to make him proud': Hoover football dynamo Drew Logan hopes to honor his Uncle Jud's memory at Cincinnati

Hoover football dynamo Drew Logan had no way of knowing Jud Logan wouldn't be there for the announcement.

He takes comfort in knowing his uncle was there for the decision.

Drew formally accepted an invitation to join the University of Cincinnati football program as a preferred walk-on, two weeks after four-time Olympian Jud died of COVID-related complications from pneumonia.

Drew Logan spent Thanksgiving with 31 members of the Logan family at the home of another uncle, former Ohio State football captain Jeff Logan. This was before Jud fell ill.

"We had a talk about recruiting there ... Uncle Jud, Uncle Jeff and me," Drew said.

"Cincinnati came up. Uncle Jud asked me, 'Would you rather go to a smaller D-I school, or go to Cincinnati as a 'PWO?'

"With no doubt in my mind, I said, 'Cincinnati.' After Uncle Jud passed, that moment kept replaying in my head. It's up to me to make him proud."

Cincinnati had its greatest season in 2021, going 13-0 before falling to Alabama in the national semifinals.

Logan helped Hoover to the 2021 Federal League championship. The Vikings' 9-3 season included an eight-game win streak that ended with a 14-10 playoff loss to Green.

He was part of one of the region's better defensive fronts, tying Mike Shimek with a team-high 13 sacks and finishing second to Shimek (25) in tackles for loss, with 18. Logan also played tight end and some running back, scoring seven touchdowns as a ball carrier.

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"He was definitely one of those kids who could change a game," said one opposing head coach, GlenOak's Scott Garcia. "When you were on offense in the passing game, you had to account for him, chip him or double team him. He was kind of relentless."

Logan had a strong sophomore year, lost most of his junior year to injury, and came back strong as a senior.

"His ability was evident early on in his sophomore year," Hoover head coach Brian Baum said. "He had a confidence about him as a senior. He worked really hard in the weight room. He went out and played with reckless abandon."

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Ron Blackledge, a former 10-year assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers, caught several of Logan's games last season.

"He played with his hands very well," Blackledge said. "He runs very well. He can play multiple positions. Cincinnati is probably a good fit. Luke Fickell is a good coach who's done a good job with the program."

Scholarships are hard to come by amid COVID and transfer-portal issues. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Logan is betting on himself in going the preferred-walk-on route,

"I'm that type of guy that's going to earn a scholarship and earn the way into the rotation," he said. "I don't know when that's going to be, but my goal is to win a spot and to play on Saturday.

"I'm a team player. Anything you need me for, I'll do it."

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Logan, a standout in lacrosse, too, had an offer for that sport that included some athletic-scholarship money at Marquette. Despite the athletic money, he said Marquette, located in Milwaukee, would have been more expensive than Cincinnati. And he wanted to play football anyway.

He had the time of his life playing football for Hoover in 2021.

"It was a really fun year," he said. "It was a little sour of an ending. We weren't ready to be done. But props to Green for getting how far they did."

Logan loved his sport that was in season, up to the point of having to decide between football and lacrosse for college.

"Football gives me a different type of energy and connectedness," he said. "It's been in my blood. I've watched Hoover football and football in general my whole life.

"Choosing to pursue football in college wasn't that hard of a decision."

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@gannett.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Drew Logan a preferred walk-on for Cincinnati Bearcats football