Cincinnati Bearcats

From Hoopedia

The University of Cincinnati is a coeducational public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ranked as one of America’s top 25 public research universities and in the top 50 of all American research universities, UC has an annual enrollment of approximately 35,000 students — thus making it one of the 100 largest universities in the U.S. It offers nearly 600 programs of study, ranging from 2-year Associate's Degrees to Doctoral and post-doctorate education.

Men's Basketball

While Cincinnati's men's basketball squads have been a perennial "bracket team" in the NCAA tournament, the program's record in tournament play has been inconsistent. Arguably, the most prolific era in Bearcats basketball was during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when the Bearcats posted five consecutive Final Four appearances. Unanimous three-time All American guard Oscar Robertson led the nation in scoring during the 1957-58, 1958-59, and 1959-60 seasons and posted a career average of 33.8 points per game, which ranks as the third all-time best in Division I-A.

However, Cincinnati won its only national championships (both against Ohio State) in 1961 and 1962, which were after Robertson's graduation. The 1961 title was won under rookie coach Ed Jucker.

Cincinnati fell out of prominence during the early 1970s. After a brief resurgence in the mid-1970s, the program fell on hard times in the 1980s, but was revitalized under head coach Bob Huggins following his hiring in 1989. Under Huggins, the Bearcats compiled a 399-127 record in sixteen seasons, and posted fourteen straight NCAA tournament appearances. The most notable of the teams from the Huggins era was the 1991-1992 team, which lost to the Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four.

However, the Huggins era at the University of Cincinnati was marred by several off-court incidents, including the May, 1995 arrest of center Art Long, who punched a police horse four times. His teammate, Danny Fortson, was also arrested for disorderly conduct during the same incident. Both Long and Fortson were ultimately acquitted.

Bob Huggins' arrest on June 8, 2004 for driving under the influence of alcohol led to new university president Dr. Nancy Zimpher to state: "People can speculate, but our actions will speak for themselves and we'll do that just as soon as possible. We have a great deal of integrity in this institution, both academic and athletic integrity, and you'll see that over time".

Bob Huggins was suspended. He later resigned and accepted a buyout offer from the university for a reported $3 million. Assistant coach Andy Kennedy took over on an interim basis and coached the Bearcats during the 2005-06 season. However, his 21-13 record was not enough to convince the university to retain him on a non-interim basis, and Kennedy was allowed to go to the University of Mississippi. Murray State coach Mick Cronin, a Cincinnati graduate in 1998 and former Bearcats assistant coach under Bob Huggins, was hired. After Cincinnati's lost to DePaul on February 24th, 2007 they're on a 10 game losing streak.