Inside Slant
In many ways this was a disappointing season for the Bearcats.
Having landed a top recruit in Lance Stephenson, the all-time leading prep scorer in New York State history, to go with a veteran team, it was thought the Bearcats could challenge for a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Bob Huggins left.
But coach Mick Cronin could not find a way to win close games, had Stephenson struggle early, saw his star player, Deonta Vaughn, slip terribly in his production and didn't get as much out of Yancy Gates as some believed he would.
The result was a season that ended up in the NIT, not the NCAA tourney, and with a lot of rumblings in Cincinnati about Cronin's future.
While he survived the season, 2010-11 would appear to be the year when his building program has got to take hold and show tangible results or his future as coach of the program will be in jeopardy.
The basketball problems are magnified when held up alongside the bright light that grew out of the rebirth of the football program under Brian Kelly, nearly reaching the national championship game before Kelly left to coach Notre Dame.
Being a city school and a member of the Big East, the alumni and administration are eager to see the basketball team move in a positive direction.FINAL RECORD: 19-16, 7-11, t-11th in the Big East.
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Coach Mick Cronin's team was something of a disappointment but there have been glimpses of what might be in the future. The last couple of weeks of the season, freshman Lance Stephenson, the all-time leading scorer in New York State high school basketball, became comfortable taking over games. He averaged 16 points a game over the final seven games, coming off of two- and four-point performances in consecutive games. The other bright spot was that Yancy Gates became one of the conference's most promising big men, again late in the season when Cronin decided to let him get 30 minutes a game.
WHAT WENT WRONG: G Deonta Vaughn anticipated a big season as a senior. He would be the shooting guard, playing with a true point guard and with the most talented freshman coming into the Big East, Lance Stephenson. He would ring up the numbers. And then they played. The senior from Indianapolis, which was Oscar Robertson's home town, had burst on the scene as a freshman star, averaging 14.5 points a game. The next season he was an All-Big East performer averaging 17.3 points a game. But he slipped as a junior and last year was not good, his average down to 11 points a game. That, more than anything else, kept Cincinnati from reaching its potential. The only other major problem was that Lance Stephenson didn't really blossom until the last two weeks of the regular season, when he showed what he could do.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Going to the NIT was not what the guys envisioned. We were confident we could get the job done and get to the NCAA." Cincinnati coach Mike Cronin, quoted in the Cincinnati Enquirer, after losing to West Virginia and landing in the NIT.THE GOOD NEWS: Lance Stephenson, who many expected to be one and done after a spectacular high school career, is thought to be leaning toward returning to school for a second season. He showed his talent at the end of the season, which included an ability to take over games but he was raw. Combine him with the inside power of Yancy Gates, who is back and who Coach Mick Cronin realizes needs to be on the floor for 30 or more minutes a game, and Cincinnati has the makings of a team that can score and grab rebounds. Also, Rashad Bishop grew as a forward and could be a double-figure scorer while Cashmere Wright seemed to become capable at the point as the season wore on.
THE BAD NEWS: G Deonta Vaughn really struggled through his senior season and that retarded the Bearcats progress. With Vaughn not shooting well from the outside, the Bearcats had no real outside game and that doesn't seem to be any different moving forward. Cincinnati is going to have to find a reliable 3-point shooter to take some heat of Stephenson's ability to slash and Gates' inside power.
KEY RETURNEES: It's expected that Lance Stephenson, the highly-touted combo forward-guard out of New York, will return for one more year at the college level. He is the man the offense will be built around. Yancy Gates, a local product, is also back for his junior season after averaging 10 points and six rebounds a game. Cashmere Wright now has experience as a college point guard and perhaps best of all, Rashad Bishop made huge strides as a junior and could be a huge contributor as a senior forward.
ROSTER REPORT:
G Deonta Vaughn finished his career with a 28-performance against Dayton in the NIT to pass Danny Fortson for third place on the Bearcats all-time scoring list with 1,885. He had four more points than Fortson, who played three years from 1995-97.
G/F Lance Stephenson capped a promising freshman season in which he led Cincinnati in scoring with 12 points a game and came on strong at the end by being named the Big East's freshman of the year. Stephenson was also named to the Big East All-Rookie team.
Freshman G Sean Kirkpatrick from New York, who redshirted this year after averaging 28 points a game for four years at White Plains High before playing at Notre Dame Prep, will be eligible next season.
