Coach Mick Cronin has big plans for Cumberland. Next season he’ll tailor the offense more to the 6-foot-5 player by implementing screens like he did with Sean Kilpatrick. It’s part of a personnel-adapted affront in which UC will retain its defensive tenacity but exhibit more speed, with more pick-and-roll on offense. Cumberland’s versatility last season was underscored by his 40.1 percent shooting and perimeter daggers in an average of 28.9 minutes. He parlayed his court vision into a team-second 2.9 assists and one steal per game.
“Jarron, he’s a problem. He can score, he can pass, he’s a very intelligent defensive player. Now for me it’s just transitioning him into where he realizes that he’s got to play well for our team to win. That the other guys aren’t there. He’s got help on this team but they don’t have the experience his help had last year. That’s my job, helping him slide over into the starring role,” Cronin said.
Cumberland isn’t the loudest of leaders – he leaves that to Trevon Scott – but he conveys his messages to teammates just the same. He lives with junior college transfer Rashawn Fredericks and freshmen LaQuill Hardnett and Logan Johnson and has spent summer nights explaining the finer points of Cronin’s instructions.
Cronin also said the Bearcats will be much more athletic next season, even if they aren’t as experienced.
“We’ll run faster, jump higher and be more mobile,’’ he said. “We’ll be even better defensively on the front line. They aren’t as prolific on the low post and may not command the double teams like Gary and Kyle were and that might be the difference.’’
This will be the ultimate test of Cronin’s coaching ability, because they lose a lot. Unlike WSU I think they’ll still be near the top of the league, but it’s hard to see them being top 5-10 good again.
Evans’s early departure didn’t come as a surprise and coach Mick Cronin recruited accordingly, bringing in NJCAA first-team All-America Rashawn Fredericks.The 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard/forward averaged 17.7 points and 10.3 rebounds as a sophomore at Motlow State Community College in Tullahoma, Tenn. He signed with the Bearcats in April, joining a pair of freshman newcomers – 6-7 forward LaQuill Hardnett and 6-2 guard Logan Johnson.
Still, the losses of Clark, Washington and Evans were a statistical gut punch. The trio combined for 50 percent of UC’s scoring and 48 percent of its rebounding last season.
“I think fans are apprehensive about stuff like that,” says Cronin. “I’ve been a head coach 15 years. I’ve lost a lot of really good players. Not that I’m happy about it, but it’s just the way it is. So we’re used to it. We knew it was coming.”
Cronin red-shirted Scott two years ago in anticipation of Clark’s departure and recruited Nysier Brooks and Eliel Nsoseme to fill the void left by Washington. He opted against red-shirting Nsoseme last season in order to give the 6-9 forward/center some experience and continue the practice of promoting from within.
A member of the coaching staff since Mick Cronin was first named head coach at Cincinnati in March 2006, Davis helped Cronin rebuild the Bearcats into a perennial Top-25 program which achieved 268 wins, two American Athletic Conference regular-season titles, an AAC tournament championship and eight consecutive NCAA tournament appearances during his tenure. His recruiting efforts helped secure numerous Bearcats, including current NBA players Gary Clark and Jacob Evans III.
They also open a new stadium and get us last in their schedule i believe. Im excited to walk into our new stadium i’ve stopped looking at the twitter accounts or post so i can be surprised when i walk in. This just makes it more agonizing
They won’t be as good as last year, but i think they’ll easily be top 3-4 in this league. Most everyone in this league will struggle to score on them, especially at UC.
They really missed a window though with last year’s team crashing out in the Round of 32, I don’t think anyone on their team is as good as Jacob Evans and Gary Clark Jr were.