AAC Basketball: 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

12. Jarron Cumberland

A Top 75 prospect in the class of 2016, Cumberland originally made the trek from Wilmington, Ohio to Cincinnati. He was recruited by Mick Cronin and played for him for three years. An important backcourt presence, Cumberland’s final year came as a point guard under new head coach John Brannen. While the Bearcats have taken a step back in recent seasons, Cumberland was certainly one of the big pieces in that most recent run of success.

Coming off the bench as a freshman, Cumberland was already averaging more than 8 points a game and his role on the offense only grew as time went on. He was a major factor during his junior season, Cronin’s last with the program, averaging 18.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. He had a 27-point, 11-rebound effort as a sophomore in a Tourney win over Georgia State and won AAC Tournament MVP honors in 2019 with a 33-point performance against Houston in the title game. He’d average 4.9 assists per game in that final campaign as well.

Cumberland’s final two seasons were very productive and he was named AAC Player of the Year as a junior, finishing 3rd in the conference in points and high up in various other metrics. He was actually First Team All-AAC in each of those final years and had impressive ratings on both sides of the ball. He did take a slight step back production-wise as a senior as the point guard, but still did plenty enough in his career for the Bearcats.