I don't want to be part of the "glass half-full" crowd. Mick has taken this program from the gutter to the Top 25/Sweet 16.

But...

I remember reading an interview with Mick in which he said, and I'm paraphrasing, that the key to success as a high-major program is to recruit future NBA players. In six seasons, Mick has exactly one to his credit, falling short of his own standard.

I give him a pass for the first few years: he didn't have the cred to reel them in. But why not now? Mick has shown the ability to compete in the upper echelon of the BE, and put at least one player in the NBA, but where are the upgraded recruits? Our two best players are seniors, and there are no underclassmen who appear likely candidates to fill their sneakers.

Mick is to be commended for what he's achieved with limited talent, but the fact is that Huggs recruited better to CUSA than Mick to the BE. When's this gonna change?

Yancey was a highly rated recruit and is playing professionally overseas. Kilpatrick is only a junior, not a senior.

Give it time, last year was the first year we really got the Cincinnati name back in the media with the Big East tourney run and the sweet sixteen. These things take time. Mick was very close to landing Kemba Walker as well. When Mick took the job players like Jermaine Lawrence wouldn't have even considered UC. A few years of sustained success and we will start pulling in more of the upper echelon recruits.

(12-29-2012 03:52 PM)bearcats23 Wrote:  Yancey was a highly rated recruit and is playing professionally overseas. Kilpatrick is only a junior, not a senior.

Give it time, last year was the first year we really got the Cincinnati name back in the media with the Big East tourney run and the sweet sixteen. These things take time. Mick was very close to landing Kemba Walker as well. When Mick took the job players like Jermaine Lawrence wouldn't have even considered UC. A few years of sustained success and we will start pulling in more of the upper echelon recruits.

A lot of top 50 recruits considered Cincinnati right off the bat, the concern was coming up just short.

(12-29-2012 03:52 PM)bearcats23 Wrote:  Yancey was a highly rated recruit and is playing professionally overseas. Kilpatrick is only a junior, not a senior.

Give it time, last year was the first year we really got the Cincinnati name back in the media with the Big East tourney run and the sweet sixteen. These things take time. Mick was very close to landing Kemba Walker as well. When Mick took the job players like Jermaine Lawrence wouldn't have even considered UC. A few years of sustained success and we will start pulling in more of the upper echelon recruits.

OK..SK and Cash arrived in the same class, but SK got redshirted, right? That's why I was confused.

I was thinking about Yancey when I wrote my original post. He was a highly-sought-after recruit who became an important contributor...but now he's gone, and it looks like we don't have much to replace him with in the low post.

I don't really disagree with your post, though.

(12-29-2012 04:03 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 03:52 PM)bearcats23 Wrote:  Yancey was a highly rated recruit and is playing professionally overseas. Kilpatrick is only a junior, not a senior.

Give it time, last year was the first year we really got the Cincinnati name back in the media with the Big East tourney run and the sweet sixteen. These things take time. Mick was very close to landing Kemba Walker as well. When Mick took the job players like Jermaine Lawrence wouldn't have even considered UC. A few years of sustained success and we will start pulling in more of the upper echelon recruits.

OK..SK and Cash arrived in the same class, but SK got redshirted, right? That's why I was confused.

I was thinking about Yancey when I wrote my original post. He was a highly-sought-after recruit who became an important contributor...but now he's gone, and it looks like we don't have much to replace him with in the low post.

I don't really disagree with your post, though.

Cashmere Wright was in the class of 2008 and Kilpatrick was in the class of 2009.

(12-29-2012 04:04 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 04:03 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 03:52 PM)bearcats23 Wrote:  Yancey was a highly rated recruit and is playing professionally overseas. Kilpatrick is only a junior, not a senior.

Give it time, last year was the first year we really got the Cincinnati name back in the media with the Big East tourney run and the sweet sixteen. These things take time. Mick was very close to landing Kemba Walker as well. When Mick took the job players like Jermaine Lawrence wouldn't have even considered UC. A few years of sustained success and we will start pulling in more of the upper echelon recruits.

OK..SK and Cash arrived in the same class, but SK got redshirted, right? That's why I was confused.

I was thinking about Yancey when I wrote my original post. He was a highly-sought-after recruit who became an important contributor...but now he's gone, and it looks like we don't have much to replace him with in the low post.

I don't really disagree with your post, though.

Cashmere Wright was in the class of 2008 and Kilpatrick was in the class of 2009.

Thanks. It's coming back to me now...Lance and SK arrived together as highly-touted recruits, Lance played while SK redshirted.

(12-29-2012 04:09 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 04:04 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 04:03 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 03:52 PM)bearcats23 Wrote:  Yancey was a highly rated recruit and is playing professionally overseas. Kilpatrick is only a junior, not a senior.

Give it time, last year was the first year we really got the Cincinnati name back in the media with the Big East tourney run and the sweet sixteen. These things take time. Mick was very close to landing Kemba Walker as well. When Mick took the job players like Jermaine Lawrence wouldn't have even considered UC. A few years of sustained success and we will start pulling in more of the upper echelon recruits.

OK..SK and Cash arrived in the same class, but SK got redshirted, right? That's why I was confused.

I was thinking about Yancey when I wrote my original post. He was a highly-sought-after recruit who became an important contributor...but now he's gone, and it looks like we don't have much to replace him with in the low post.

I don't really disagree with your post, though.

Cashmere Wright was in the class of 2008 and Kilpatrick was in the class of 2009.

Thanks. It's coming back to me now...Lance and SK arrived together as highly-touted recruits, Lance played while SK redshirted.

Yeah Cash and Yancy were two highly recruited players in the 08 class. Cash tore his knee and took a redshirt.

(12-29-2012 04:17 PM)natibcats22 Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 04:09 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 04:04 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 04:03 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 03:52 PM)bearcats23 Wrote:  Yancey was a highly rated recruit and is playing professionally overseas. Kilpatrick is only a junior, not a senior.

Give it time, last year was the first year we really got the Cincinnati name back in the media with the Big East tourney run and the sweet sixteen. These things take time. Mick was very close to landing Kemba Walker as well. When Mick took the job players like Jermaine Lawrence wouldn't have even considered UC. A few years of sustained success and we will start pulling in more of the upper echelon recruits.

OK..SK and Cash arrived in the same class, but SK got redshirted, right? That's why I was confused.

I was thinking about Yancey when I wrote my original post. He was a highly-sought-after recruit who became an important contributor...but now he's gone, and it looks like we don't have much to replace him with in the low post.

I don't really disagree with your post, though.

Cashmere Wright was in the class of 2008 and Kilpatrick was in the class of 2009.

Thanks. It's coming back to me now...Lance and SK arrived together as highly-touted recruits, Lance played while SK redshirted.

Yeah Cash and Yancy were two highly recruited players in the 08 class. Cash tore his knee and took a redshirt.

I suppose what I'm concerned about is the possibility that the 08-09 classes will prove to have been a high point in Mick's recruiting.

To some extent I share the recruiting concerns expressed here.
It's unfair to compare this to the C-USA days though. The Big East does not allow academic non-qualifiers; a staple of days gone by and of many programs in non-BCS conferences. Recent experiences at X suggest other issues come with these recruits despite being quite talented on the court.
It's a real concern though when Providence and St. John's are reeling in top classes and UC struggles to get a post player with any offensive skills. Not to be doom and gloom though--if not for Kilpatrick's shooting slump this UC team would have blown out X and Marshall and beaten UNM by a half dozen to remain undefeated. They're two points from a perfect record.

I wonder if the Shoe is hurting recruiting at this point...she's a good old girl but her best days are gone baby gone.

I rarely hear bad things about the kids we sign. many here claimed they were hidden gems. One would've expected Guyn to take cash and his rickety knees starting spot by now. Oh and Shaq will be a star as soon as he hits the floor.

Ribbing aside, UC was a hard sale for mick when he got here and when he finally got things going--this conference crap pops up. Dude can't win.

I've been critical of mick in the past, but I hope he's not getting tired of UC's drama and start answering calls from other AD's.

My biggest concern is big men. Other than Yancy, Mick seems to miss out on the impact big men. He's done well recruiting guards though.

the recruit that we lost that chaps my rear the most recently has been Chane Behanan

(12-29-2012 09:03 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  the recruit that we lost that chaps my rear the most recently has been Chane Behanan

Agreed, he has become a total beast. UL will probably destroy us with Chane, Gieng and Harrell.

(12-29-2012 09:03 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  the recruit that we lost that chaps my rear the most recently has been Chane Behanan

You know what burns my rear?

A fire about waist high.

(So dumb I had to post it.)

I think our recruiting has been pretty good. Mick hasn't had to deal with any 1 and done's on the roster. I'd like to see more skilled and higher basketball IQ's at the center / power forward positions but that may happen sooner than we think. Mick's done a great job and I just think the recruiting results have worked pretty good for UC at this point. It's nice not having our rival fans calling us thugs anymore.

(12-30-2012 10:52 AM)BearChatter v2.0 Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 09:03 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  the recruit that we lost that chaps my rear the most recently has been Chane Behanan

You know what burns my rear?

A fire about waist high.

(So dumb I had to post it.)

the only way that uc could have probably kept Behanan at cincy was to helped his family found a new apartment after their terrible fire. But, that might have been a recruiting violation to have done that. ONCE he moved from Cincy, the wolves circled the prey. I blame Louisville for that one.

We really need a big time PF/C signee....

Guyn didn't hardly play (if at all) against NM. Kind of surprised me.

Will Caupain start from day 1 at PG?

I have to admit, I kind of hope so if he's not a complete disaster.

Guyn....where do we start. Kid plays solid to good defense, so that's a plus. I'm hoping he develops some offense before his number is called to lead this team, but clealry he does not nor will have have Cash's stroke.

Cash has been the best pg we've had in forever....an actual point guard that hits three's and scores...amazing.