2006-2007 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 13) CINCINNATI

September 30, 2006


This is a tough one! With the amount of talent that has left the conference since last season, several teams will have very different looks, maybe none more than the Cincinnati Bearcat program. Mick Cronin takes over as the new head coach and is the 3rd person to hold that helm in the last 13 months. He replaces Andy Kennedy who did a tremendous job in holding things together after the dismissal of Bob Huggins late last summer.

Not only do the Bearcats have to replace coach Kennedy, but they also have to find replacements for productive, and experienced players, in Eric Hicks, James White, Jihad Muhammad, Armien Kirland and Chadd Moore as well as all-league freshmen Devan Downey and fellow freshmen Dominic Tilford and DeAndre Coleman who began the season last year on the UC team. Those players accounted for nearly 87% of their scoring in conference play last season.

A common question in the last couple years has been "how good are the JUCO ranks these days?" Well, the performance of this year's Bearcats will give us a good indication. With the explosion of prep schools catering to the post-graduate player in helping them get eligible, the JUCO ranks seem to be less and less of a source of talent for high-major programs. Cincinnati looks to buck that trend with the addition of seven new JUCO recruits that will be asked to play major roles on this year's team. What to expect from JUCO players is always a wildcard, so having Mick Cronin blending these seven newcomers together is going to be quite the challenge in such a short period of time.


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The backcourt is completely made up of newcomers. The player with the inside track at being handed the ball to run the point this season is Timmy Crowell, a JUCO transfer from Midland College. The Albequerque native averaged 11 PPG and led the WJCAC with 7.5 assists a game last year. He will likely be backed up by incoming freshmen Deonta Vaughn, a 6-foot guard who played a post-graduate year at Harmoney Christian in Cincinnati after growing up in Indianapolis.

On the wing, Jamual Warren comes in from Globe Tech in NYC. The JUCO transfer has long been on the Cincinnati radar from the days Bob Huggins coached the Bearcats. The Springfield, MA native averaged 22 PPG in being named the Region XV player of the year last season. Warren has already had a well-travelled career and will look to bring toughness and maturity to the UC backcourt. Marvin Gentry joins the Bearcats from McLennan Community College in Texas and was being recruited by Mick Cronin to Murray St before Cronin took the UC job. Gentry is a long and athletic 6'3 who has some defensive potential as well, which will be a needed commodity for the Bearcats this season.

6'6 and 225 lb John Williamson from Cincinnati St college looks to be their impact JUCO recruit at the small forward position this season. Williamson played for former Bearcat Andre Tate at Cincinnati State. Tate is now the Video Coordinator for the UC program. Last year, Williamson was a 1st team NJCAA Division II All-American while averaging 27 PPG and nearly 12 rebounds a game. He is strong and athletic around the rim and will be counted on in a big way this year to give their offense some punch.

The frontcourt got a big lift with the commitment of one of the nation's top JUCO big men in Hernol Hall, a 6'10 245 lb C from Lom Morris JC in Texas. The Costa Rican averaged 14 PPG and 10 rebounds last season. His size and defensive presence will be needed immediately by the Bearcats. He will be joined in the frontcourt by last year's holdover Cedric McGowan, a senior who came to UC last year from Kilgore College in Texas. McGowan was pressed into action immediately with the slim frontcourt depth of the Bearcats and had a productive season, averaging 7.4 PPG and 7.8 rebounds in conference play, teamming with Eric Hicks inside. McGowan only shot 38% from the floor and got to the line just 20 times in 16 conference games, beign just 6'6 and playing inside in the Big East does limit some of his effecitveness.

A pair of other JUCO recruits will also have an impact on the frontcourt this season. Marcus Sikes played last season at Mt. San Jacinto College in California after spending a season at Georgia in the SEC, averaging a couple points and rebounds a game as a freshmen. This is Sikes' 5th stop in the last five years as he also played a season at Notre Dame Academy in Middleburg, VA after starting out his HS career at Petersburg High in Richmond, VA. A late addition to the roster was 6'10 Adam Hyrcaniuk, a Polish native who spent last season at Trinity Valley CC after playing his freshmen season at Barton CC. The 6'10 Hyrcaniuk contributed 11 PPG and 7 rebounds a game last year.

A couple players with the program last season also return: 6'10 senior Ronald Allen and 6'10 redshirt-freshmen Abdul Herrera. Allen transferred in last year from NAIA Xavier in New Orleans after being dis-places because of Hurricaine Katrina. Allen likes to shoot some 3-pters and is not quite strong enough to make an impact in the Big East. Herrera is an intriguing prospect who sat out last year after not being cleared academically by the NCAA Clearinghouse. He offers size and potential to be a solid player. Possibly the best player on the roster is ineligible this year as Mike Williams, a former McDonald's All-American has transferred to UC from Texas. Williams will is a 6'7 power forward who never found a comfort zone at Texas, but will look to start over at UC and get his career back on track while working out with the team this season.


Cincinnati definitely has some talent and a few players with some impressive JUCO credentials. Now comes the Million Dollar question, can Mick Cronin mold a JUCO all-star team into a cohesive until to compete in the Big East? Can these players commit to playing defense and team basketball in a halfcourt setting that the Big East grind often becomes? They could...but, it will be a tall order in a short-period of time. The Bearcats have a schedule that is conducive to the team improving, as they do not have Connecticut or Marquette on the schedule. Home and home's with Rutgers and West Virginia will likely define their season. Georgetown is the other home and home opponent.

When the Cincinnati administration decided to part ways with Bob Huggins, it was a decision many knew would set the program back. Keeping Andy Kennedy on an interim basis for an entire season also killed recruiting for an entire year. Mick Cronin is a good coach and an excellent recruiter who worked tirelessly to fill their roster. It is my opinion he went to heavy on JUCO players in an effort for a quick fix. He now has a junior class with 7 players, which leaves his classes severaly unbalanced, it is a gamble, we will see how quickly it pays off. The JUCO game and the Big East is a big difference, I think UC is going to learn that lesson quite a bit this year. Hall and Williamson could have big impacts and will put up some numbers, but the overall consistency of this team is a question mark.

Projected Big East record: 6-10