Big 12 Basketball: Breaking down the 4 reported expansion candidates

Cincinnati Bearcats

Cincinnati is another program that many believe is heading in the right direction, especially after hiring one of the best young coaches in college basketball, Wes Miller. Surprisingly enough, Cincinnati’s Basketball program has a long-standing history of success dating back to the 60’s.

They’ve won two National Championships in back-to-back years (1961,1962), were NCAA tournament runner-ups in 1963, and have made it to six final fours in their program’s history. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, they haven’t made an Elite 8 since 1996 and haven’t had much to brag about the last twenty-plus years. The good news for Bearcat fans: Wes Miller is a really good coach and he’s already shown some encouraging signs without having a single game under his belt.

Miller inherited a program with a ton of uncertainty, the previous coach was placed on administrative leave after reportedly not getting along with his players which led to six Bearcats entering the transfer portal. Miller hit the ground running fast and has seemingly left all of the doubt surrounding the program’s future in the rearview mirror.

Since Miller was hired, Cincinnati has been able to land transfers from Mississippi State and Clemson. They’ve secured a commitment from a 3 star top-150 prospect in the class of 2022 and have been on numerous prospects cut lists in the class of 2022. This is certainly encouraging for the Bearcat fanbase and I’d expect Miller to recruit at a high level once he gets things rolling.

At UNCG, Miller inherited a program that was 159-212 since 1999 and turned them into a consistent 20+ wins a season team while also reaching the NCAA tournament twice since taking over. For perspective, UNCG has only played in three NCAA tournaments in their program’s history and Miller led the Spartans to two of them. Miller also was able to finish in the top-75 in adjusted defensive efficiency the last four seasons at UNCG per KenPom which is absurd for a team that lacks recruiting appeal.

Wes Miller should also have an easier time recruiting to a conference like the Big 12 with plenty of national exposure. It wouldn’t surprise me if Miller gets the Bearcats into the top-25 in future seasons and the future of their programs looks bright moving forward.