Cincinnati Basketball: 5 questions facing the Bearcats for 2018-19
Who emerges as a frontcourt star?
Considering there is not a single returning major rotation player (15+ minutes per game) that is taller than 6-foot-5, Cincinnati will need at least one player to have a breakout year in the frontcourt. In my opinion, there are three legitimate potential stars at the power forward/center positions this season: Tre Scott, Nysier Brooks, and Mamoudou Diarra. Each of these players brings a little something different to the team and should see plenty of minutes throughout the year. Yet, they also all lack a ton of collegiate experience and they are going to be thrust into much bigger roles this season.
Starting with Scott, the 6-foot-7 junior is likely to be the starting power forward for the team this season. After playing 10+ minutes per game in each of the last two seasons, he has the most experience of this group but has never played a substantially large role (13.3% usage rate in 12.5 mpg last season). Despite not having one spectacular skill on the court, Scott does a lot of things well. He is an aggressive rebounder, sound defender, and consistently finishes on shot attempts.
Next up, Nysier Brooks looks poised to start at center during this campaign. A true big man with his 6-foot-11 frame, Brooks played less than 10 minutes per game last season but saw the court in all 35 contests. Another rising junior, Brooks is a solid defender inside who also rebounds quite well. He averaged 10.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per 40 minutes last season.
To round out this crew, Mamoudou Diarra is a rising sophomore who looks poised to see a major increase in playing time as a reserve big. At 6-foot-10, he brings plenty of size and projects as a potential really good player down the road. However, it is hard to get an idea of just how good he will be because he only appeared in seven games last season. But, if we really want to overreact (and why not), he did post 17.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks per 40 minutes (although on 35.0% from the field) in those seven contests.