POWELL, Tenn. — Ayden Greene did not always think Cincinnati would be the school for him.
"I had never been there or anything," Greene said. "I never even picture myself being in Cincinnati, Ohio, but God has crazy plans for people."
The Powell wide receiver and three-star recruit in the class of 2023 changed his mind immediately after a weekend visit with the Bearcats in early June.
"They blew me out of the water," Greene said. "Everything they're doing there is what I want and what I need to get to where I want to be."
Initially, Greene planned on waiting until the end of the month to make his decision after he had finished all his visits and weighed his options, but he said the people he met during his visit led him to reevaluate his original plan.
"It kind of shocked me," Greene said. "Everything about the people there is a big part of why I made my decision."
Cincinnati is coming off one of its most prolific seasons in program history. The team finished 13-1 and didn't lose a game until the College Football Playoff, which was its first appearance in program history. Greene wants to join the upward trajectory that the Cincinnati program has been on.
"I want to be a part of that building process," Greene said. "That meant something to me — being able to be a part of the building blocks that build them up to a top-ten program, not just a top-ten team."
Now that Greene's college commitment is out of the way, he still has some goals he wants to accomplish in his senior season with Powell.
"I want to break my touchdown record from last year, most receiving yards. I'd love to be a TSSAA Mr. Football finalist, that would be a dream of mine," he said.
Greene will graduate high school early in December 2022 so he can be an early enrollee at Cincinnati and get acclimated ahead of the fall.
"That way when the season does come around, I'm ready," Greene said. "I want to make a big impact as soon as possible."