Sad State of Bearcat Basketball

[leo from jersey]

Absolutely Rufus. UC is not going to do it with nickels and dimes from us ordinary folks or even their ballyhooed NIL program.UC has many billionaire alum. All you have to do is Google it. That is where the athletic department needs to be focusing their attention.A little help from the Kelce brothers could get the ball rolling.

It would be nice if one of their fiancés' would become a major fan. U of Mich has Larry Ellison whose wife is an alum

[bearcatlifer]

Absolutely Rufus. UC is not going to do it with nickels and dimes from us ordinary folks or even their ballyhooed NIL program.UC has many billionaire alum. All you have to do is Google it. That is where the athletic department needs to be focusing their attention.A little help from the Kelce brothers could get the ball rolling.

[Rufus]

I'm not privy to how much or how involved Fifth / Third is in UC athletics besides that of naming the arena on campus. But in light of how Mark Cuban is heavily involved in Indiana football and Cignetti, and the big donors mentioned above involved at St.Johns enabling them to bring in Pitino and even Papa John's relationship to Louisville, that's how UC is going to have to do things. As we know everything revolves around money today so we need to find money enough to attract / keep a reputable coach.

All that's needed is to find the right rich donor who would love to see his alma mater win a championship!

[longtimefan]

P.S. - with the exception of Abaev, most top 30ish players are looking to start in year 1 and move to the NBA quickly if highly successful in their freshman year.

Not all of them start, and just a few move to the NBA after year one.

[red_n_black_attack]

This is exactly what the basketball GM said is their recruiting philosophy. They will will only recruit high school players who can contribute in year 1 and fill out the rest of the roster via the portal. I took this to mean we could sign 5-7 high school guys if they are all top 50 guys, but probably only getting 1-3 in any given year, if any.

P.S. - with the exception of Abaev, most top 30ish players are looking to start in year 1 and move to the NBA quickly if highly successful in their freshman year.

[red_n_black_attack]

May I add that 2 HS recruits unless one is a superstar, is all that is needed. It is almost impossible to develop players who have gotten NIL and expect to play now for bigger NIL checks. The transfer system has ruined much player development.

This is exactly what the basketball GM said is their recruiting philosophy. They will will only recruit high school players who can contribute in year 1 and fill out the rest of the roster via the portal. I took this to mean we could sign 5-7 high school guys if they are all top 50 guys, but probably only getting 1-3 in any given year, if any.

[GoBearcats31]

In unrelated news, two UC students stole alcohol from Fifth Third Arena
https://www.fox19.com/2026/02/01/2-u...licks&tbref=hp


In further unrelated news, Fifth Third and Comerica are merging
https://www.fox19.com/2026/02/02/fif...rgest-us-bank/

[Carthage World]

Is UC a more attractive destination/job for the likes of Pitino at St.Johns? Is should be, better conference, and UC should have more $$ to offer Pitino!

We need a coach that can bring this program back to the level we're all use to seeing!

St. John's has a billionaire bankrolling their program now. They've surpassed UC in terms of financial support. 15-odd games/year at MSG is a nice plus too.

[leo from jersey]

May I add that 2 HS recruits unless one is a superstar, is all that is needed. It is almost impossible to develop players who have gotten NIL and expect to play now for bigger NIL checks. The transfer system has ruined much player development.

[leo from jersey]

Concerning the team giving up. Words can't express it. The play on the court does though.

UC can recruit top players especially in this new era. The problem is what I expressed in another post. While they have the money, they have not evaluated correctly ready to play players. The money wasted on Thiam and his handler. The money wasted on Skillings and his lack of improvement while satisfied with getting a new car. To the Cats credit, a National Championship winning coach has not gotten anything better out of him. I hope this GM (no longer new) has settled in and can astutely judge ready to contribute players. UC has some NIL money, It is good to see former Cats show up for the games. I am sure they will help with recruiting, but money seems to be the main if only motivator for the ones who are ready to star. The other recruits mention everything else because they can't demand top dollar.

CWM can recruit but more is needed in this day and age. UC needs a fresh voice to lead. They need a coach who is motivated to succeed and not just maintain his job. I think recruits, players, money people and fans can see this. I believe the school will embrace CWM if he turns it around. I just don't know if he can. Most want a coach in the tradition of past coaches although a winning one would be popular regardless of demeanor. What is not needed is a coach who may not be able to turn it around. This is exactly the same as getting recruits who are not able to contribute right away. We have had too many promises and they are empty promises lacking victories and dare I say it, championships.

This is a whole new world, but yet things stay the same. That being, proper evaluations for this age and then the proper utilization of that ready to win contribute of the well compensated talent.That applies to both the coaching staff and the players.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

I see no evidence that the team has given up. They generally play poorly on the road, but not for lack of effort. Haynes has not disappeared. He's working out with the team, within the constraints that the training staff have outlined for him. There's probably no reason for him to play this year, if he has any chance of gaining an additional year. I'm not one who looks for conspiracies when players are injured.

Why would a quality coach come here? It's to run a program in the best conference in the country, with outstanding facilities here, and a history of winning (until now). The program was in far worse shape in the 1980's (no NCAA bids for 15 years after 1977) but attracted a quality coach who rebuilt the Bearcats. It can happen again.

I agree with you. In the grand scheme of things in college basketball, UC is one the winningness programs in college basketball history. Based on AI research, UC has the 12th winningest program in college basketball history with over 1900 wins. To me, that is a very impressive selling point to any recruit.

Rashad Cobb, UC guard who played under Cronin, once said that a recruit is looking for a number of things when he picks a school: 1) does the program win games? 2) Does the program routinely play in the NCAA Tournament? 3) Does the program get exposure and play on TV? Historically speaking, UC can check all of those boxes. I will take it one step further and add that UC also has its share of guys that have been drafted and played a significant amount of years in the NBA. For God sakes, UC has two NBA Hall of Famers.

Although Miller has not had much success in conference play, he has yet to have a losing season. It has been almost 2 decades since UC has had a losing record. The problem is Miller loses too many games.

I too believe that if UC can find a good fit in a coach, he would stay for many years. UC is a good destination for the right coach. One of the best conferences in the country and on national TV all of the time. The best recruits in the country want to play against the best on TV. You don't get too much better than the BIG XII.

UC has more than enough to attract good recruits if the coach is good.

[Rufus]

I see no evidence that the team has given up. They generally play poorly on the road, but not for lack of effort. Haynes has not disappeared. He's working out with the team, within the constraints that the training staff have outlined for him. There's probably no reason for him to play this year, if he has any chance of gaining an additional year. I'm not one who looks for conspiracies when players are injured .

I don't see any giving up in some of the players but what I do see see, which is even more depressing is players players feeling defeated before the game has started, especially against teams that are ranked higher than they and more especially against Houston. You can see the defeat in their demeanor. For example Day Day was so intimidated Saturday that he couldn't do anything in the game except turn over the ball. Baba Miller typically vanishes against the stiffer competition. But all of this is common knowledge to everyone at this point.

[leeraymond372@gmail.com]

Yes Huggins was satisfied here. But in that satisfaction he got complacent and too big headed. He had no desire to go anywhere else because he was confident that he could accomplish what he wanted ( NCAA ) championship here at UC. And he probably would have won one here if he hadn't been his own worse enemy. He almost won one at West Virginia too but still no cigar.
My point is that this is the type of coach we need now. Someone who wins wherever he's been but has no sights of a dream job. If he's confident that he can recruit, win, develope players and at least contend for a championship here as did Huggins, he would have no reason to leave as long as the pay were comparable to other places. If the two persons mentioned in this post previously are potential candidates for the UC job if it becomes available I would definitely want to know if there is a coaching job elsewhere that they secretly covet. Because as soon as that job becomes open you can be sure that his agent would be privy to it and then he would be gone in a heartbeat

As far as Cronin is concerned I don't think he actually bought in on UC's legacy enough to try to sell it. And at that point, Huggins' / Kmart's record / success was all that recruits were aware of. UC's NCAA championship and the Big O were way back in the rear view mirror. And He didn't have enough name recognition to bring in a lot of big fish. And I do think Cronin felt the frustration of the fans. If he were to return he could use the B12 as does Miller as a recruiting lure but I don't think he could recruit any better now than he did before because he really hasn't done anything significant while at one of the easiest schools in the nation to recruit to. Yes he's made the tournament a few times and one sweet sixteen, but UCLA is one of a few schools where the name and rep recruits itself. Like Kansas, Gonzaga, UConn, Duke and UCLA, and some others what kid does not want to play for these schools and be a part of their legacy? But what do I know?

Remember too that Cronin took UCLA to a Final Four the year after the COVID year. Also, during the short time that he has been at UCLA, he has had more guys to get drafted into the NBA than all the years that he spent at UC. I know that UCLA is a Blue Blood school, so the recruiting is a lot better there.

[swilsonsp4]

Whatever happens, UC basketball faces a long, tough road.

Perhaps, perhaps not. The issue I was addressing was why a quality coach would come here. If he's truly a difference maker, the transition will be much smoother and quicker.

[longtimefan]

I see no evidence that the team has given up. They generally play poorly on the road, but not for lack of effort. Haynes has not disappeared. He's working out with the team, within the constraints that the training staff have outlined for him. There's probably no reason for him to play this year, if he has any chance of gaining an additional year. I'm not one who looks for conspiracies when players are injured.

Why would a quality coach come here? It's to run a program in the best conference in the country, with outstanding facilities here, and a history of winning (until now). The program was in far worse shape in the 1980's (no NCAA bids for 15 years after 1977) but attracted a quality coach who rebuilt the Bearcats. It can happen again.

Coach Yates actually started the turnaround, bringing in better recruits like Roger McClendon, Lavertis Robinson, Lou Banks, Kieth Starks. But there came a time when he took the team as far as he could. When Huggins came on, he had a pretty solid foundation in place. (McClendon was gone by then.) and a good start at growing the program. It won’t be that way if a new coach replaces CWM, we’ll likely start with zero players, in the spring, and another long rebuild ahead. Thing is, with the current situation the player agents are already trying to cut new deals for our current roster, unafraid of any enforcement actions. Whatever happens, UC basketball faces a long, tough road.