UC signs 2 white kids (twin brothers)!

This ain’t your daddy’s Bearcats....

Bobby Brannen had twins?

Or is it Ketih Gregor's kids?

I’m trying to name another white boy and I’m drawing a blank. I think the TE from the football team played in Mick’s first season.

Ryan Fletcher was a Huggins guy. Mike Reichenecker was another. Jackson Juluson never turned out.

Conner Barwin was the football player with Mick. Good football player.

There was a walk-on guard in the early 2000’s. He was a friend of a friend and I met him at a bar once. Little guy....can’t remember his name. He played the last 30 seconds in blowouts.

Cool

kramer1 said:

There was a walk-on guard in the early 2000’s. He was a friend of a friend and I met him at a bar once. Little guy....can’t remember his name. He played the last 30 seconds in blowouts.

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Brent Pietrus? He was like a WR in the late 90s early 2000's, but was under Huggins still.

kramer1 said:

This ain’t your daddy’s Bearcats....

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Also, I've mentioned this to others, but 3 things that I find interesting with John Brannen:

Offense - that ball moves. There will be no more 25 seconds of dribbling around the 3pt line and then waiting to jack up a shot with 4 seconds left.

Sideline - For 30-some years, UC fans have watched as their coach has berated, yelled, screamed, and did everything but go Bobby Knight on a Ref by chucking a chair. John is very calm and calculated. Even when he calls a TO when he's not happy, he walks away from the huddle to compose himself.

White Boys - UC has 2 White guys on their current roster who actually play (not walkons who play in blowouts). Vogt, who starts, and Sorolla. Next year they will have 3 in the Madsen Bro's and Vogt. Frankly, as long as you can play, I don't care, but it's clear that the old "athlete first" mentality is not what CJB looks for in a kid. He wants kids who can shoot - and most white boys, even those who might be athletic - shoot the ball or they are 7'1 (See Vogt, Sorolla). The last white guy who played meaningful minutes for UC was probably Adam Hyrcaniuk (yes, I had to look up how to spell his name).

Yeah, these Bearcats are great.

Brannen has somehow figured out how to get the least amount of effort and production from his best player. But, hell at least the coach isn't mad.

cincygrad said:

Yeah, these Bearcats are great.

Brannen has somehow figured out how to get the least amount of effort and production from his best player. But, hell at least the coach isn't mad.

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They stink. Go UD, I guess. UC isn’t looking like an NCAA tournament team. The streak is in jeopardy.

Shoulda hired Van Exel...

kramer1 said:

They stink. Go UD, I guess. UC isn’t looking like an NCAA tournament team. The streak is in jeopardy.

Shoulda hired Van Exel...

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Yep.

Lots of folks criticized Michigan for hiring Howard. His team has lost a few recently, but they've played great against great competition. Penny Hardaway has it cooking in Memphis. Van Exel would have been a similar hire for the Bearcats. Meanwhile, we're stuck with a division 3 coach that doesn't coach defense. The program will be irrelevant within 5 years.

My god they suck.

Cumberland has totally checked out.

Vogt is good. Williams needs to switch to decaf. Adams-Woods is pretty good.

First, Van Exel was not the right hire. It was time to get completely away from the Huggins tree. Besides, Howard was part of the Fab5 at Michigan and was a national name. I love UC, but really no one gives dick about Van Exel outside of Cincinnati.

They weren't beating Iowa unless they were playing perfect. It was damn near a road game with the crowd makup. As for the rest of the games thus far: If Jarron were 100% healthy AND wasn't being a little bitch, they don't lose to BG or to Colgate. Whatever his issues were, they do seem to be in the past and he seems to be getting back on track a bit, but his injuries have prevented him from being in bball shape and it shows on the court.

Right now, what we are seeing is a bunch of guys recruited to run a "dribble for 25 seconds and then shoot and play defense" skill-set trying to run an actual offensive concept. It looks like things are starting to come around but the young guys Brannen has gotten to commit are promising. Harvey is a top 50 guy, Adams-Woods looks solid, Vogt can play - then you add in Gabe Madsen and Saunders who are both currently playing very well and have been rumored to potentially bump their ratings to get Gabe as a 4* to go with 4* Eason, and a high 3* for Saunders. Surprisingly, Mason Madsen has had several games where he's dropped 30+ points and is suddenly looking like a guy who could have gotten a decent D-I scholly somewhere.

The Non-Conference was brutal, the injuries to Jarron and others didn't help from an availability standpoint, or a practice standpoint to get into bball shape and to learn the new system. I think the NCAA is still in their reach, but they will have to round into for league play - which is wide open after Wiseman decided to bolt Memphis.

Lost to Tulane. 8-6. This team isn't going anywhere this year.

I hope you're right about the recruits, but I'm not seeing it. This is a team that plays in a second-rate conference, with a shoestring budget, and no real hook to consistently pull in recruits.

Is it Bob and Bill Smith ?

UC is a football school now. At least until Fickell bolts for a P5 job.

BKBroiler9000 said:

UC is a football school now. At least until Fickell bolts for a P5 job.

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When the basketball program is completely irrelevant, we'll look back and realize it was all due to the University's commitment to building a football program. Same thing happened at UCONN and at Memphis to some degree.

I just don't see the appeal with football when you're not in a P5 job.... The best UC could do this year was the Cotton Bowl. Is that really worth it?

Hard to win games when you best player in Jarron plays barely at an average level. Add that to the inconsistency from Tre Scott (one game 10 and 10, next game 3 and 6) and as those two go, along with Williams, the team will go.

Also - despite those woes, I think the biggest issue is the turnovers. At over 15 a game, and considering 3 close losses - you just can't allow the other team that many extra chances. Not only does it give them 6-12 extra points a game, it also takes away a potential 6-12 points a game - that's a 12-24 point swing in any given game.

Get the turnovers down to around 9 a game, and things should swing back up - as well as Jarron getting back to being Jarron.

I'm not sure if I'm happy or if I'm sad about Xavier's collapse..... They also seem to be on their way to irrelevance. It will be a sad day to go back to a Cincinnati where everyone is pretending to have always been a Buckeye basketball fan.

Maybe Chris Mack was a better coach than I realized.