Cincinnati Basketball: Bearcats will remain AAC contenders in 2019-20

Cincinnati Basketball has undergone several changes this offseason. Will they still be able to compete in the AAC next year?

Cincinnati basketball is about to enter uncharted territory this upcoming season with Mick Cronin off to Hollywood to join a storied UCLA Bruins program. A UCLA team that has just over half as many tournament appearances as Cincinnati but triple the Sweet 16 appearances in the last decade. Don’t get me wrong, Cronin’s success at Cincinnati has been nothing short of great, nine straight NCAA appearances for a non-power 5 school is certainly an awesome achievement.

Cronin has won his fair share of Crosstown Shootouts, as well as conference championships, however with the talent, some of these Bearcats rosters have had over the years, only one Sweet 16 appearances in those nine appearances just isn’t good enough. Bearcats fans want and deserve more.

John Brannen is the guy that will be tasked to living up to the already high expectations of Bearcats fans. Brannen joins the Bearcats from just down the road in Highland Heights and Northern Kentucky. Brannen led the Norse to an 81-54 record during his tenure as well as two NCAA tournament appearances in his four years including this past season.

Something kind of unusual about taking a job like this is that instead of needing a complete rebuild, Brannen actually inherits an extremely talented roster that should be ready to contend for the AAC and make the NCAA tournament immediately. Not only did Brennen inherit good talent, but he also wasted no time bringing in some of his own guys with the addition of new Bearcats in just a few short months. Freshman newcomer and four-star prospect Zach Harvey enrolled in June. Harvey is one of the best recruits Cincinnati has had in a long time and if he doesn’t redshirt, he’ll be an instant impact for the Cats. Jaevin Cumberland, cousin of Jarron Cumberland, also committed to the Bearcats, the Oakland grad transfer will be a good scoring threat and bring experience to the table.

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Of the returners, it will be the senior Jarron Cumberland that Brannen will be most excited for, his influence and leadership will be huge for the Bearcats if they want to go far this season. The 2019 American Conference Player of the Year will garnish a lot of attention from the national media in the preseason and deservedly so. The talented point guard dipped his toes in the NBA draft process this past year but ultimately decided to return for his senior season. A huge win-win.

Tre Scott returns as well, the redshirt senior started every game for the Bearcats last season, the talented 6’8 forward is someone who Brannen mentioned would be important for the team, look for Scott to take a step up and be another go-to option. Coming off averaging a near double-double in the AAC Tournament, Scott began to show glimpses of the player Brannen hopes he can be this season.

In an interview with Andy Katz in early July, Brannen mentioned that the Bearcats want to push the pace of the game even more by implementing more full-court press, over the years Cincinnati has been a team that has thrived in chaos and on defense under Cronin and it sounds like Brannen will be looking to build on that.

Brannen made a point to mention to Bearcats fans that his team will display the toughness that fans have been accustomed to seeing over the years, something that they’ve seen regularly from past head coaches Bob Huggins and Cronin. One thing Brannen had at Northern Kentucky that Cincinnati is notorious for being poor with is their ability to knock down the three balls. It will be interesting to see how Brannen adapts to that and whether or not that’s an area he’ll look to improve.

The American Conference is going to be difficult this season, in late July it looks to be a league that could have as many as four of five bids for the tournament. Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers have to be the clear front-runners to win the conference this season after putting together one of the top recruiting classes in the country. Look for Kelvin Sampson and the Houston Cougars to be relevant as always, coming off of a 33-4 season and advancing to the second weekend, they shouldn’t have a problem making a return to the tournament.

UConn has been written off the past few years but the rebuild is getting closer to completion, look for Hurley and the Huskies to also push for a tournament bid, the Huskies will try to go out with a bang in their last season in the AAC. You can never count out Wichita and there’s usually a surprise appearance from another team in the AAC.

Cincinnati might get off to a bumpy start as Brannen mentioned when talking to Andy Katz, but Bearcats fans should still expect a successful opening season. Cincinnati should be contenders in the AAC and anything but a 10th consecutive tournament appearance should be considered a disappointment. Give Brannen some time to instill his culture and his gameplan but there’s no doubt Cincinnati will continue to be that gritty team that has an uncanny ability to grind out those tough victories.