Editor's Note: Dick Weiss, a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame, has covered college sports in Philadelphia and New York for more than 40 years. He will be providing regular commentary for the American Athletic Conference during the 2013-14 season.
Sean Kilpatrick did not have Lance Stephenson's reputation when the two close friends entered the University of Cincinnati in 2009.
The 6-6 Stephenson, was a prince of the city when he played for Lincoln High in Brooklyn, was already the prince of the city, a teenage prodigy who was invited to play in Sonny Vaccaro's ABCD All Star camp as an eighth grader and was a McDonald's All American and Mr. Basketball in New York State who was considered the biggest talent to come out of the PSAL since Sebastian Telfair. He only stayed in school for a year before declaring for the NBA draft and has since become an impact player for the Indiana Pacers, who are a legitimate contender for the NBA championship.
Kilpatrick had to wait a little longer to achieve his moment in the sun. The Bearcats' 6-4, 24-year-old redshirt senior guard, who averaged 28.4 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists at White Plains High in Westchester County, enrolled in a postgraduate year at Notre Dame Academy in Fitchburg, Mass., with the hope of attracting a Big East offer because coaches questioned his unusual shooting form and lack of all-around game.
Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin had enough faith in Kilpatrick's potential and ability to make shots to take a risk, offering him a scholarship after sitting through one of his practices at Notre Dame. "When it comes to putting the ball in the basket, you either can or you can't," Cronin said. "A lot was made of the fact he had kind of a push shot, but every time we got film on him or we went and watched him, he'd have 25 or he'd have 32 or he'd have 34. We didn't have to teach him to score. We just had to refine his shot, get him to slow down a bit and teach him how to read defenses."
His gamble has paid off in a huge way.
Kilpatrick has emerged into a prolific scorer and the driving force for the 20-2 Bearcats, who have won 13 consecutive games and are ranked 15th in this week's AP poll. He went off for 29 points as Cincinnati -- playing shorthanded after shot-blocking center Justin Jackson severely sprained an ankle just six minutes into the game -- held off Temple, 80-76, at the Liacouras Center Sunday. He had 28 points, including an 11-for-11 showing at the free throw line, to carry the Bearcats past Louisville, 69-66, at the KCF Yum! Center Thursday.
Kilpatrick has learned how to pick his spots.
Against Temple, he had gone more than 13 minutes without scoring in the second half and the Bearcats had frittered away all of a 19-point second half lead, falling into 76-76 tie with just under 30 seconds to play. But he found a way to get to the finish line. "I was just trying to get fouled," he said. "The time was running down, they switched the pick and roll and the big man was on me. I just drove at him."
Kilpatrick was fouled by Temple's 6-9 Anthony Lee, who picked up his fifth personal by catching Kilpatrick on the arm with 7.2 seconds remaining. Kilpatrick went to the line and promptly knocked on two free throws. Kevin Johnson added two more after Temple's Will Cummings was whistled for an offensive call as he drove baseline just before the final buzzer as the Bearcats survived a dazzling shooting display by Temple's Dalton Pepper, who scored a career high 33 points and made 8 of 13 three pointers.
Ironically, despite their continued success, Cincinnati still struggles for respect in the AP poll despite the fact they have beaten Memphis on the road, Pitt in and Garden and are a perfect 9-0 in a conference that could send five teams to the NCAA tournament. Kilpatrick personally felt the sting when he left off the Wooden Award Top 25 semifinalists.
"Guys really bled and sweated UC and put things in perspective for the program," Kilpatrick said. "We beat teams that were ranked higher than us and played a huge role with going at teams like they predicted to be better than us. Now we are still not getting the same respect that we deserve so next question is what do we need to do in order to do that?"
These Bearcats seem to be on trial every game. They deserve better for their body of work.
Kilpatrick, who leads the American in scoring with a 19.5 point average and will likely finish as UC's second all-time leading scorer behind Oscar Robertson. He merits strong consideration for American Player of the Year, along with senior guard Russ Smith of Louisville and senior guard Shabazz Napier of Connecticut, if the Bearcats-- who are off to their best start since 2001-02-- continue to turn this American race upside down.
Kilpatrick and Stephenson are typical New York success stories. The two have been friends since the end of 11th grade. The two first met in June of 2008 when they played against one another in the Frankie Williams Charity Classic at the Young Community Center in Greenburg, N.Y, sharing MVP honors in a game that also featured 2011 NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player Kemba Walker, All America guard Russ Smith.of Louisville and West Virginia star Kevin Jones. Stephenson finished with 29 points as the Frenji White team defeated defeated the Frenji Black team, 113-109. Kilpatrick scored 31. "We each had a lot of highlight reel plays that night and we wound up becoming best friends,'' Kilpatrick recalled. Stephenson, who played in the Rucker League, invited Kilpatrick to make the pilgrimage to the fabled park at 125th Street in Harlem that summer.
Kilpatrick signed early with the Bearcats.
Stephenson decided on UC that spring after considering Kansas, St. John's and Maryland and the two roomed together as freshman.
Stephenson's decision had an unexpected effect on Kilpatrick's future. When Kilpatrick enrolled, Cronin, concerned that Kilpatrick wouldn't get enough meaningful time playing behind Stephenson and veterans Rashad Bishop and Deonta Vaughn, asked him to redshirt for a year to work on his game. At first, Kilpatrick was upset, but eventually he gave it a shot.
“He asked me to trust him,'' Kilpatrick said of Cronin. Kilpatrick used the year off to tweak his shot by studying films of Ray Allen and working with a personal trainer in the offseason.
He made the Big East All Rookie team as a freshman and within two years, he became Cincinnati's best player. He was selected second team All-Big East the past two years for a rejuvenated program that made three consecutive NCAA appearances and was a preseason all-conference pick this fall. As a sophomore, he scored 32 points with four 3-pointers, six rebounds and two steals against Florida State in an NCAA third-round victory. Last year, he scored a career high 36 points with five 3-pointers against Marquette and was good enough to be selected to play for the U.S. in last summer World University Games.
This may not be Cronin's best team. The Bearcats only have nine scholarship players on their roster, eight if Jackson is out for any length of time. But they have athletic size and are the most invested in Cronin's philsophy, ranking nationally in points allowed, steals and blocked shots.
"Coach says we win because we are willing to do the dirty work,'' Kilpatrick said.
Cronin's players have a history of improving. Kilpatrick, Jackson, Titus Rubles and Shaquille Thomas all fall into that category. But Kilpatrick has been the glue that is holding this particular team together, fitting into the same mold of past UC greats like Nick Van Exel and Steve Logan.
"He's the best leader I've ever coached,'' Cronin said.