Bearcats Future

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Now that i've had a few days to get over the loss to UConn and the end of the season for the Bearcats in the NCAA Tournament here are my thoughts on the 2010-2011 season. If I had to summarize this season for UC in a phrase, or title the season, it would be the end of the rebuilding process. College basketball teams are always rebuilding, but they don't have to consistently rebuild like Mick Cronin did when he first took over this team. Cronin came in with a whopping one player on scholarship at a division one school in the toughest conference in the nation.

No one thought the Bearcats were going to do anything this year except for Cronin. They were picked to finish 12th in the Big East and no way were they going to make the NCAA Tournament according to most. What they did was use that to come together as a team and play winning team basketball.

There were two key improvements and they were Cashmere Wright and Yancy Gates. Gates didn't come on until the end of the season consistently. Wright played well for most of the year and as he went so did the team, especially on offense. Both will be back next year and should be key components to UC being pre season top 25 and a major player in the Big East. Bearcats fans should be excited for next year as Gates coming on strong was similiar to another player who came on strong at the end of his Junior season. Kenyon Martin started to develop into the player he was the last quarter of his Junior year and then came back his Senior year and was the dominant, national player of the year we all remember. Am I saying Gates is going to be as good as Martin? No, but he could be an all big east player and carry this team to a deep run in March next season. Gates was crying at the end of the UConn game while he was sitting on the bench and that's a good sign for UC fans.

The only key player UC is losing for next season is Rashad Bishop and his defense and leadership. They will be returning Gates and Wright, who will be the two key players leading this team next season. Also Sean Kilpatrick will be another year developed and should be a dangerous player next season, especially on the offensive end. He needs to work on his defense to be a complete player though. Dion Dixon will also be back, with him and Kilpatrick in the fold I'd like to see them run more three Guard sets. Especially if Kilpatrick can improve his defense. Guard play is crucial in college basketball and Wright, Dixon, and Kilpatrick would be a deadly three Guard set. Add Gates on the interior and now you're cooking with fire. They do need to add some depth inside though.

That's where this year's recruiting class will come in. This is the best recruiting class Cronin has had since he's been here and should have UC fans excited. Especially when you add them to who is returning. The top rated player is Shaq Thomas who is a 6-6 small forward. He is the 20th ranked forward nationally and is in the ESPN top 100 overall. They also have a shooting guard in Jerimiah Davis who will be deadly from 3 point range, something that the Bearcats could use. Davis will be a good complement to the current Guards in Dixon and Kilpatrick who are more dribble drive and create their own shot Guards. Davis is a catch and shoot 3 point shooter that has deadly accuracy. The Cats also landed a 6-8 power forward who may start inside next to Gates next season if he can beat out Justin Jackson. There is also another 6-8 power forward that is considering UC and is from the same high school as Shaq Thomas and it's looking good for them to land him. With who the Cats are returning they should have a solid season next year and the recruiting classes will get back to where they were when Huggins was the coach.

I wish the Cats could've landed a Center of top notch caliber to give them more depth for next season, but they should be set to have a bigger year next season than they did this year. They are going to be a smaller, quicker, team with one dominant big man and in today's college basketball that's all you need. If Gates can carry his momentum into next year and all the young kids keep developing you are looking at a team that can compete for the Big East Championship next year and a possible Final Four run in the NCAA Tournament in 2012