2006-2007 Big East Preview: #14

#14- Cincinnati Bearcats

Last season: 21-13 (8-8), lost to South Carolina in the quarterfinals of the NIT.
Coach: Mick Cronin (1st year). 0-0 at Cincinnati.

A year removed from the stormy departure of Bob Huggins, Cincinnati is trying to get back on its feet again. The problem is, however, four starters are no longer on the roster. The Bearcats lost Eric Hicks, James White, Armein Kirkland, and Devan Downey. Downey transferred to South Carolina where he will have to sit out a year. Also gone from the 2005-2006 Cincinnati basketball team are Chadd Moore and Jihad Muhammad, two valuable players off the bench for Andy Kennedy's team last season. Kennedy himself moved on to coach in his home state of Mississippi, and a new era has been quickly ushered in at Cincinnati.

The Bearcats do return one starter, senior forward Cedric McGowan. (8.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) Center Ronald Allen, who played sparingly last season, will definitely have an expanded role this season. Cronin also got forward Connor Barwin to play, essentially borrowing him from the Bearcat football team. Abdul Herrera, a 6-10 sophomore, will need to contribute for Cincinnati to have any success.

Faced with hardly any top notch high school prospects to choose from, Cronin went the junior college route after losing highly touted point guard Eugene Harvey to Seton Hall. Cronin did fill his roster with an astounding six junior college players, including All-Americans John Williamson and Jamual Warren. Cronin recognizes his team will struggle this season, but he's looking to the future to bring Cincinnati basketball back where it once was. "I needed to find a team. I haven't coached these guys so I don't know what I have yet. We'll have nine new guys altogether....but we'll be competitive and grow on that. I'm sure there will be a lot of growing pains," said Cronin, clearly emphasizing the fact that he has a young, inexperienced team.

Cincinnati has three tough non-conference games, a showdown with cross town rival Xavier on Dec. 13, a visit to Ohio State on Dec. 16, and a tough final tune up for the Big East schedule on January 4th at Memphis. They were lucky in drawing Rutgers, West Virginia, and Georgetown as their repeat opponents during the Big East season. While they almost certainly have no chance against the Hoyas, the Bearcats should be able to steal a couple games from Rutgers and West Virginia. They should aim for a 3-3 record versus the repeat opponents, although 2-4 would not be all that bad. Aside from that, there are some winnable games on the schedule. However, I expect Cincinnati's inexperience and unfamiliarity with Cronin to result in a not so successful year. With nine new players playing together for the first time, it could also take this team a while to find an identity and get their chemistry rolling.

Projected record: 13-17 (3-13).
Postseason: None.