Bearcat Basketball - 2020-2021

[Assembly Hall]

First Huggins was the issue. Then Huggins goes to WV and enjoys perennial success.
Then Cronin was the issue. Then Cronin goes to WV and enjoys perennial success.
Now Brannen was the issue, after enjoying perennial success at NKU.

Me thinks I see a pattern here.

Mick went to WV? Hmmmm.

[RedTeamGo!]

Cronin has had perennial success? He went to the FF this year but seems like UCLA fans were pretty restless about him prior to that.

I’d go after Archie, personally. He has proven he can win with a mid major in Ohio already. Indiana/B1G was too big for him, but AAC/UC would be perfect spot for him IMHO.

[Boss-Hog]

Cronin has had perennial success? He went to the FF this year but seems like UCLA fans were pretty restless about him prior to that.

I’d go after Archie, personally. He has proven he can win with a mid major in Ohio already. Indiana/B1G was too big for him, but AAC/UC would be perfect spot for him IMHO.

I'm not sure if this is meant to be an insult, but no one realistically thinks of UC as a mid-major. They're a two time national champion and the twelfth winningest program in college basketball with good facilities. No matter what conference they're in, that's not a mid-major, and I'd argue the AAC isn't a mid-major conference, either.

[BillDoran]

Read the most recent Justin Williams article and the Jay Brinker column. Feel up to speed.

Curious to know, do most UC fans think running Brannen off was the right move? If so, did you support his hiring in the first place?

[Boss-Hog]

Read the most recent Justin Williams article and the Jay Brinker column. Feel up to speed.

Curious to know, do most UC fans think running Brannen off was the right move? If so, did you support his hiring in the first place?

I think the administration handled it poorly, and I have long-term concerns with the AD. I like a lot of what Brannen did and thought he recruited well, but the number of players he recruited who left is a huge concern. He referred to some of the freshmen as the future of the program, and a couple of days after the season ended, they're in the transfer portal due to a poor relationship with him. Even if they're at least partially to blame, he's ultimately the one who recruited them. I wish it could've worked with him, but it's been obvious for the past few weeks it was a matter of when, not if, he'd lose the job. To answer your question, I did support his hire in the first place.

[Todd Gack]

First Huggins was the issue. Then Huggins goes to WV and enjoys perennial success.
Then Cronin was the issue. Then Cronin goes to WV and enjoys perennial success.
Now Brannen was the issue, after enjoying perennial success at NKU.

Me thinks I see a pattern here.

Huh?

[Todd Gack]

Cronin has had perennial success? He went to the FF this year but seems like UCLA fans were pretty restless about him prior to that.

I’d go after Archie, personally. He has proven he can win with a mid major in Ohio already. Indiana/B1G was too big for him, but AAC/UC would be perfect spot for him IMHO.

Cronin was extremely fortunate this year in the tourney. It's one year. His act will grow tiresome in LA. But he was definitely successful here too. He was an 11 seed who won 2 OT games against teams who choked against him. That's what the NCAA. tournament is about and he had none of that luck here at UC.

[BillDoran]

I think the administration handled it poorly, and I have long-term concerns with the AD. I like a lot of what Brannen did and thought he recruited well, but the number of players he recruited who left is a huge concern. He referred to some of the freshmen as the future of the program, and a couple of days after the season ended, they're in the transfer portal due to a poor relationship with him. Even if they're at least partially to blame, he's ultimately the one who recruited them. I wish it could've worked with him, but it's been obvious for the past few weeks it was a matter of when, not if, he'd lose the job. To answer your question, I did support his hire in the first place.

Agree with you on Cunningham. Thought this felt ham-fisted from beginning-to-end. Either can him or have an investigation. Letting him twist, suspending and drawing it all out was a mess. I kept waiting for something really damning to come out about Brannen (though overworking them is certainly disconcerting; I also assume it happens on 300 other campuses).

Like I said, I liked Brannen. I think we're going to have to adjust to a bunch of players leaving in the offseason. Losing guys you identify as keystones is certainly a problem, but increasingly each offseason is a reset of the roster. Going forward, I don't think it'll be uncommon to roll over half of the roster every November.

I'm also a believer in giving coaches more rope. It seems ADs often have hair-trigger wrt coaches. I get that their is an immense amount of pressure to win now, and I know Brannen wasn't Cunningham's guy, but this was a pretty ugly dissolution, and it definitely felt like UC was trying to trump up the charges, a la Tennessee and Pruitt, to get off the hook for any severance payments. Just a really bad look.

[Todd Gack]

I think the administration handled it poorly, and I have long-term concerns with the AD. I like a lot of what Brannen did and thought he recruited well, but the number of players he recruited who left is a huge concern. He referred to some of the freshmen as the future of the program, and a couple of days after the season ended, they're in the transfer portal due to a poor relationship with him. Even if they're at least partially to blame, he's ultimately the one who recruited them. I wish it could've worked with him, but it's been obvious for the past few weeks it was a matter of when, not if, he'd lose the job. To answer your question, I did support his hire in the first place.

I exactly like you. I've supported all of their hires. Mick was the right hire. Brannen was the right hire but a combination of COVID and Mick essentially not recruiting younger guys to develop for the program made it, unfortunatley, a bad spot for Brannen. Let's be honest, it's not like UC is the only program with issues with transfers.

[Boss-Hog]

I exactly like you. I've supported all of their hires. Mick was the right hire. Brannen was the right hire but a combination of COVID and Mick essentially not recruiting younger guys to develop for the program made it, unfortunatley, a bad spot for Brannen. Let's be honest, it's not like UC is the only program with issues with transfers.

I agree. I think Cunningham jumped the gun when he freaked out about the transfers, but what is unique to UC is these guys are intending to transfer because of their relationship with the coach. It's not over lack of playing time, as I suspect is the reason for most entering the portal elsewhere, but a poor relationship with they coach who recruited them. I do think without COVID Brannen is the coach for at least another year.

[RedTeamGo!]

I'm not sure if this is meant to be an insult, but no one realistically thinks of UC as a mid-major. They're a two time national champion and the twelfth winningest program in college basketball with good facilities. No matter what conference they're in, that's not a mid-major, and I'd argue the AAC isn't a mid-major conference, either.

It was not an insult. My favorite team, the Dayton Flyers, is a mid-major.

I understand historically UC is a major program. I think right now they are a mid-major. Their two national championships were 60 years ago. They used to be in the Big East, they are not any longer. The AAC is not a major conference. You can make the argument, but I can also argue water is purple, doesn’t make it reality.

Again, it’s really not an insult. Archie took another Ohio mid-major to the elite 8 within the last decade. To put this in perspective, UC has not been to the sweet 16 since 1996.

[Revering4Blue]

For what it's worth, I consider the American and Atlantic 10 conferences as one tier higher than mid-major, but one tier lower than the top-tier CBB conferences.

Power Conference

ACC, B1G, Big East, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

Fewer than four annual NCAA bids per conference is the exception rather than the rule.

High-Major

American, Atlantic 10 and Mountain West.

In particular, Cincinnati, Dayton, Houston, New Mexico and San Diego State are considered better jobs (with higher program ceilings) than several Power Conference jobs. But the conferences generally never receive more than three annual NCAA bids, if that.

Mid-Major

Two NCAA bids per conference, if that, are about what you can expect annually.

West Coast Conference and Missouri Valley, for example. Mark Few and Gonzaga are obviously proof positive that elite programs, elite jobs and elite conferences are NOT mutually exclusive.

Single - Bid

Self explanatory, as multiple annual bids from said conferences are exceptionally rare.

Mid-American and this incarnation of Conference USA, for example.

In any case, the ceiling for the Cincinnati Hoops program is considerably higher than Sweet 16 bids every now and then. They simply need the right coach in place.

[texasdave]

There are rumblings that it could well be Erik Martin as Head Coach with Nick Van Exel on his staff.

[Boss-Hog]

It was not an insult. My favorite team, the Dayton Flyers, is a mid-major.

I understand historically UC is a major program. I think right now they are a mid-major. Their two national championships were 60 years ago. They used to be in the Big East, they are not any longer. The AAC is not a major conference. You can make the argument, but I can also argue water is purple, doesn’t make it reality.

Again, it’s really not an insult. Archie took another Ohio mid-major to the elite 8 within the last decade. To put this in perspective, UC has not been to the sweet 16 since 1996.

UC was in the Sweet 16 in 2012 vs Ohio State and in 2001 vs Stanford, so I have no idea where you got that from unless you meant the Elite 8. Basically, it sounds like you think any conference or program outside the Power 5 is a mid-major, so we can just leave it at there because we're obviously not going to agree on this one. Revering4Blue already summarized my thoughts pretty well other than to say the AAC has gotten as many or more teams in than the Big East, SEC and PAC 12 on numerous occasions in their short history.

[Assembly Hall]

I, for one, would love to see UC in the B1G.