The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-27-2018 06:07 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 09:45 PM)doss2 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:09 PM)bearcat65 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:02 PM)chatcat Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 06:41 PM)Not Duane Wrote:  Yup...the ONLY one...I believe...says something about the caliber of talent we've had...

....I know....they're nice kids and model citizens...give them participation medals.

Has Mick ever been in the home of a 5 star recruit?

Do you think a 5 star recruit would want to play in Mick's system?

Would a 4 star want to play for Mickey.

Haven't we recruited several four star guys over the past few years?

A couple. Unfortunately most of them have been outside the Top 100 and are right on that 4*/3* border. The last two classes (last years and now this one) have been bad.

(03-28-2018 10:10 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-27-2018 06:07 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 09:45 PM)doss2 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:09 PM)bearcat65 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:02 PM)chatcat Wrote:  Has Mick ever been in the home of a 5 star recruit?

Do you think a 5 star recruit would want to play in Mick's system?

Would a 4 star want to play for Mickey.

Haven't we recruited several four star guys over the past few years?

A couple. Unfortunately most of them have been outside the Top 100 and are right on that 4*/3* border. The last two classes (last years and now this one) have been bad.

the jury's still out on whether nsoseme is a poor man's bill russell

(03-28-2018 10:10 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-27-2018 06:07 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 09:45 PM)doss2 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:09 PM)bearcat65 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:02 PM)chatcat Wrote:  Has Mick ever been in the home of a 5 star recruit?

Do you think a 5 star recruit would want to play in Mick's system?

Would a 4 star want to play for Mickey.

Haven't we recruited several four star guys over the past few years?

A couple. Unfortunately most of them have been outside the Top 100 and are right on that 4*/3* border. The last two classes (last years and now this one) have been bad.

We've had plenty of four stars. Cumberland and Evans were four stars as were Justin Jenifer, Kyle Washington and Gary Clark.

Logan Johnson is a four star according to scout and right on the three/four edge for 247, Keith Williams was a four-star on 247. Diarra we've barely seen play, Nsoseme is an elite athlete and Trevor Moore was fine for a freshman. Unless your a top-tier team that's not bad.

(03-19-2018 10:45 AM)BearcatDave Wrote:  Remember what happened last time when Huggins opened a new arena...

Why in the world would UC want to bring Huggins back? We have the best basketball coach in America under 50 years old. I know a bunch of schools who would love to have his record and BB mind coaching their BB program. Stop living in the past.

(03-28-2018 10:10 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-27-2018 06:07 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 09:45 PM)doss2 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:09 PM)bearcat65 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:02 PM)chatcat Wrote:  Has Mick ever been in the home of a 5 star recruit?

Do you think a 5 star recruit would want to play in Mick's system?

Would a 4 star want to play for Mickey.

Haven't we recruited several four star guys over the past few years?

A couple. Unfortunately most of them have been outside the Top 100 and are right on that 4*/3* border. The last two classes (last years and now this one) have been bad.

Like the guy who's about to get drafted and the other guy who is one of the most accomplished players in Bearcats history?

bob huggins.

(03-28-2018 12:56 PM)MrCincy Wrote:  

(03-19-2018 10:45 AM)BearcatDave Wrote:  Remember what happened last time when Huggins opened a new arena...

Why in the world would UC want to bring Huggins back? We have the best basketball coach in America under 50 years old. I know a bunch of schools who would love to have his record and BB mind coaching their BB program. Stop living in the past.

I agree with not hiring Huggins back... though honestly, I'm certain that idea was just a joke and was not a serious suggestion.

However, I legitimately am curious as to your statement about knowing a bunch of schools that would love to have Mick. While I'm sure that plenty of low and mid-major programs would be thrilled to have Mick, I am not aware of a single P7 school that has tried to hire him away from us. His most notable suitor so far seems to be UNLV.

Why is that?

Do other schools feel like they would have no chance pulling him away from his alma mater? Unlikely.

Do other schools have no interest in his recruiting strategies, style of play, media personality, and postseason results? Possibly.

Or are we already paying him right at (or more) than he's worth, making him too costly for the return on investment? Probably, IMO.

Just my thoughts.

(03-28-2018 01:46 PM)TubaCat Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 12:56 PM)MrCincy Wrote:  

(03-19-2018 10:45 AM)BearcatDave Wrote:  Remember what happened last time when Huggins opened a new arena...

Why in the world would UC want to bring Huggins back? We have the best basketball coach in America under 50 years old. I know a bunch of schools who would love to have his record and BB mind coaching their BB program. Stop living in the past.

I agree with not hiring Huggins back... though honestly, I'm certain that idea was just a joke and was not a serious suggestion.

However, I legitimately am curious as to your statement about knowing a bunch of schools that would love to have Mick. While I'm sure that plenty of low and mid-major programs would be thrilled to have Mick, I am not aware of a single P7 school that has tried to hire him away from us. His most notable suitor so far seems to be UNLV.

Why is that?

Do other schools feel like they would have no chance pulling him away from his alma mater? Unlikely.

Do other schools have no interest in his recruiting strategies, style of play, media personality, and postseason results? Possibly.

Or are we already paying him right at (or more) than he's worth, making him too costly for the return on investment? Probably, IMO.

Just my thoughts.

Yeah, coaches who make the NCAA tournament every year are a dime a dozen. /s

My guess would be either Cronin has made it clear that he is not interested. Like Marshall at WSU or Mark Few at Gonzaga, Cronin seems content to stay here.

(03-28-2018 01:14 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 10:10 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-27-2018 06:07 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 09:45 PM)doss2 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 08:09 PM)bearcat65 Wrote:  Do you think a 5 star recruit would want to play in Mick's system?

Would a 4 star want to play for Mickey.

Haven't we recruited several four star guys over the past few years?

A couple. Unfortunately most of them have been outside the Top 100 and are right on that 4*/3* border. The last two classes (last years and now this one) have been bad.

Like the guy who's about to get drafted and the other guy who is one of the most accomplished players in Bearcats history?

Are you not following what is being said and what I'm replying to? He asked over the past few years. And I responded specifically talking about the last couple of recruiting classes (this current one and last year's). Nowhere did I mention the classes Evans and Clark were in, which were 4 and 5 years ago. Our recruiting has been trending down steadily each year.

(03-28-2018 02:11 PM)skyblade Wrote:  Yeah, coaches who make the NCAA tournament every year are a dime a dozen. /s

My guess would be either Cronin has made it clear that he is not interested. Like Marshall at WSU or Mark Few at Gonzaga, Cronin seems content to stay here.

I guarantee there's a market for a coach in his 40s coming off back to back 30 win seasons and 8 straight NCAAs. My guess is he's not going anywhere until Sammi gets older and has put that out there when asked. The Vegas think was a power play to get the arena finalized.

(03-28-2018 02:34 PM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 02:11 PM)skyblade Wrote:  Yeah, coaches who make the NCAA tournament every year are a dime a dozen. /s

My guess would be either Cronin has made it clear that he is not interested. Like Marshall at WSU or Mark Few at Gonzaga, Cronin seems content to stay here.

I guarantee there's a market for a coach in his 40s coming off back to back 30 win seasons and 8 straight NCAAs. My guess is he's not going anywhere until Sammi gets older and has put that out there when asked. The Vegas think was a power play to get the arena finalized.

It'll be interesting to see if the new arena boosts recruiting at all. I know he's mentioned that over the years as being a hindrance. Also, I'm wondering when this UA deal is going to help UC on the recruiting trail with kids on their sponsored teams. From the outside, it looks like the UA alignment has done nothing at all to help UC.

(03-19-2018 11:04 AM)DelhiBearcat Wrote:  Should have never got rid of him in the first place. It seems like just yesterday people predicted the last 12 years on this board. They were called Bob lovers, ironically enough by the same people who are taking their ball and going home since UC lost a tourney game.

That world class recruiting is going to kick in any day right? Couldn't have been recruiting for Huggins and Pitino that brought the talent in... Right?

Would love to hear one of those blowhards admit they were wrong just once, but as of 8:30 last night, most of them probably aren't on the board anymore. Babies.

Is this dude serious? You didn't post a single thing from September until now while UC won 30 games again and then you try and call this out?

See you after the next big loss I guess. I sure as heck won't see you after any wins clearly.

(03-28-2018 02:33 PM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 01:14 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 10:10 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-27-2018 06:07 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 09:45 PM)doss2 Wrote:  Would a 4 star want to play for Mickey.

Haven't we recruited several four star guys over the past few years?

A couple. Unfortunately most of them have been outside the Top 100 and are right on that 4*/3* border. The last two classes (last years and now this one) have been bad.

Like the guy who's about to get drafted and the other guy who is one of the most accomplished players in Bearcats history?

Are you not following what is being said and what I'm replying to? He asked over the past few years. And I responded specifically talking about the last couple of recruiting classes (this current one and last year's). Nowhere did I mention the classes Evans and Clark were in, which were 4 and 5 years ago. Our recruiting has been trending down steadily each year.

My bad. Misread the context.

(03-28-2018 02:33 PM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 01:14 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 10:10 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-27-2018 06:07 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(03-26-2018 09:45 PM)doss2 Wrote:  Would a 4 star want to play for Mickey.

Haven't we recruited several four star guys over the past few years?

A couple. Unfortunately most of them have been outside the Top 100 and are right on that 4*/3* border. The last two classes (last years and now this one) have been bad.

Like the guy who's about to get drafted and the other guy who is one of the most accomplished players in Bearcats history?

Are you not following what is being said and what I'm replying to? He asked over the past few years. And I responded specifically talking about the last couple of recruiting classes (this current one and last year's). Nowhere did I mention the classes Evans and Clark were in, which were 4 and 5 years ago. Our recruiting has been trending down steadily each year.

I don't agree that recruiting has been trending down steadily each year. As a matter of fact, it's been arguably the best stretch of recruiting in the Cronin era. The past several years have yielded excellent starting players in each class (Gary Clark '14, Jacob Evans '15, Jarron Cumberland '16). 2013 brought Jermaine Lawrence into the fold who turned out to be a 5* disappointment more than anything, but that class also brought us Troy Caupain. This is without discussing the quality depth that has also been brought in during these classes.

The classes of 2010-2012 are what really killed us. The top ranked recruit for two of those years were Justin Jackson '10 and Titus Rubles '12. We had two 4* in 2011 which resulted in one of our best classes under Cronin, but they were Shaq Thomas and Jermaine Sanders.

I think 2007 was Cronin's highest-ranked, but they were Anthony McClain, Darnell Wilks, and Alvin Mitchell. Those guys just never figured it out.

In 2006, we got commitments from 8 players (one was Deonta Vaughn). That just goes to show how far things had fallen and how many spots we had to fill. You may recall such names as Marvin Gentry, John Williamson, and Adam "Bankshot" Hrycaniuk.

If anything, we're trending upwards, becoming more consistent, and are targeting guys that have the ability to create points. Jury is still out on 2017, but there is a lot of potential between Keith Williams, Diarra, Moore, etc. This is the baseline we should expect for recruiting moving forward (and it should be better due to the new arena).

Yeah, our last two rosters have been Cronin's most talented. That's likely to change next year, but maybe we should wait before deciding recruiting is trending downward

(03-28-2018 04:18 PM)crex043 Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 02:33 PM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 01:14 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 10:10 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(03-27-2018 06:07 PM)crex043 Wrote:  Haven't we recruited several four star guys over the past few years?

A couple. Unfortunately most of them have been outside the Top 100 and are right on that 4*/3* border. The last two classes (last years and now this one) have been bad.

Like the guy who's about to get drafted and the other guy who is one of the most accomplished players in Bearcats history?

Are you not following what is being said and what I'm replying to? He asked over the past few years. And I responded specifically talking about the last couple of recruiting classes (this current one and last year's). Nowhere did I mention the classes Evans and Clark were in, which were 4 and 5 years ago. Our recruiting has been trending down steadily each year.

I don't agree that recruiting has been trending down steadily each year. As a matter of fact, it's been arguably the best stretch of recruiting in the Cronin era. The past several years have yielded excellent starting players in each class (Gary Clark '14, Jacob Evans '15, Jarron Cumberland '16). 2013 brought Jermaine Lawrence into the fold who turned out to be a 5* disappointment more than anything, but that class also brought us Troy Caupain. This is without discussing the quality depth that has also been brought in during these classes.

The classes of 2010-2012 are what really killed us. The top ranked recruit for two of those years were Justin Jackson '10 and Titus Rubles '12. We had two 4* in 2011 which resulted in one of our best classes under Cronin, but they were Shaq Thomas and Jermaine Sanders.

I think 2007 was Cronin's highest-ranked, but they were Anthony McClain, Darnell Wilks, and Alvin Mitchell. Those guys just never figured it out.

In 2006, we got commitments from 8 players (one was Deonta Vaughn). That just goes to show how far things had fallen and how many spots we had to fill. You may recall such names as Marvin Gentry, John Williamson, and Adam "Bankshot" Hrycaniuk.

If anything, we're trending upwards, becoming more consistent, and are targeting guys that have the ability to create points. Jury is still out on 2017, but there is a lot of potential between Keith Williams, Diarra, Moore, etc. This is the baseline we should expect for recruiting moving forward (and it should be better due to the new arena).

Yeah, it seems like Cronin has done better at not just getting high rated guys, but getting guys who work in his system and with his style of coaching. There are plenty of examples of 4* and even 5* players who have looked good on paper but not so much on the team.

I'd rather judge players once they actually step on the court. Williams, Diarra and Nsoseme look like elite athletes who have to figure out the game (some more so then others) but have NBA potential if they hit their ceiling. Moore plays tough-D and if he starts hitting 3's like he did in HS will be an excellent player for us.

Johnson is rated as a 4* by quite a few services and Hardnett is a 6-9 guy who can handle the ball and shoot.

None of them scream recruiting failure. The lack of a 4* doesn't mean the guy is a failure. A 4* doesn't mean success. It's about getting guys who play well in the system and work well with the coaches to develop to their potential and Mick seems to be doing just fine at that.

I think we did a good job from Troy's class through Jarrons. Besides Troy we had a good idea before they came in that Gary, Jacob, and Jarron were going to be great players and Troy you knew pretty early he was going to be a good one. No one in this year's freshman class is that caliber of player early in their career, maybe we get lucky and someone really develops their game. I haven't heard a ton of buzz about the incoming freshmen but if one of them isn't a diamond in the rough there's a good chance we've put up consecutive classes without guys who can be the go to guys on a top 25 caliber team. We need to sign a difference maker this spring and we need a big class next year.

(03-28-2018 06:50 PM)RealDeal Wrote:  I think we did a good job from Troy's class through Jarrons. Besides Troy we had a good idea before they came in that Gary, Jacob, and Jarron were going to be great players and Troy you knew pretty early he was going to be a good one. No one in this year's freshman class is that caliber of player early in their career, maybe we get lucky and someone really develops their game. I haven't heard a ton of buzz about the incoming freshmen but if one of them isn't a diamond in the rough there's a good chance we've put up consecutive classes without guys who can be the go to guys on a top 25 caliber team. We need to sign a difference maker this spring and we need a big class next year.

It's hard to tell the caliber of players of guys on the bench. Gary, Jacob and Jarron were all guys we hoped would be great, but we also needed them to be great. Any team that relies on incoming freshmen (even 5 stars) to be major contributors is taking a risk.

The team is at a point where freshmen and even sophomore's aren't going to get a ton of minutes - that's not a bad thing. Looking at next years team, the only spot there might be an opening for a freshman starter is if Evans goes pro and even then there are two potential replacements (Moore and Williams) on the roster already. There's less excitement about an incoming freshman who's going to be sitting on the bench then there is an incoming likely starter (or at least a guy expected to play major minutes).

Guys on the bench don't develop as quick, but they also don't have as many growing pains once they start getting major minutes.

I like the young guys on this team Moore has a nice looking shot. Williams brings lots of potential and can get to the basket. the big guys are raw but I think they will be asked to play defense and rebound. Most of all I see the team running more with a guard based offense. The big will score in transition and on offensive rebounds

(03-28-2018 06:50 PM)RealDeal Wrote:  I think we did a good job from Troy's class through Jarrons. Besides Troy we had a good idea before they came in that Gary, Jacob, and Jarron were going to be great players and Troy you knew pretty early he was going to be a good one. No one in this year's freshman class is that caliber of player early in their career, maybe we get lucky and someone really develops their game. I haven't heard a ton of buzz about the incoming freshmen but if one of them isn't a diamond in the rough there's a good chance we've put up consecutive classes without guys who can be the go to guys on a top 25 caliber team. We need to sign a difference maker this spring and we need a big class next year.

I thought UC lacked an impact newcomer. Cane Broome wasn't consistent and the freshmen looked overmatched at times. I am concerned that the current group of players that joined the program last year are nothing better than role players. I can't speak of the class joining the Cats next year because there could be some some player movement that requires UC to add a few more guys.

My biggest critique of the current coaching staff is that they haven't been able to build on their success and bring in one to two impact players every recruiting cycle. I believe the conference and arena situation hurt recruiting. Oddly enough, the stability of the program hurts because there just isn't a lot of playing time for guys that want to start when they walk on campus.

My second biggest critique of the coaching staff has been non-conference scheduling. Things are looking for good next season as Ohio State, UCLA, and Xavier dot the home school. Miss State is also a solid road game. I believe the tournament they are in next year is an upgrade in terms of name teams; however, overall the staff has been unable to sell the program to high profile events. As long as UC plays in the American, UC needs to limit their buy games to four each season. Go out and play Gonzaga, St. Mary's, UNLV, Nevada, SDSU, Dayton, VCU, and like level teams to supplement the higher profile games.