Cincinnati didn’t have to look far for its first new men’s basketball coach in 13 years. Now, as John Brannen brings a new look to a storied program, the Bearcats expect to continue their run of NCAA tournament appearances
by Dick Weiss for TheAmerican.org
Mick Cronin spent virtually his entire life in Cincinnati and was the face of University of Cincinnati basketball for 13 years, leading the Bearcats to 89 wins in the last three years and nine straight NCAA tournament appearances before receiving an offer from UCLA last spring that he couldn’t refuse.
The Bearcats reached across the river into the Blue Grass for his replacement, selecting John Brannen of Northern Kentucky. Brannen, who was born in Alexandria, Kentucky ,and played for Newport Catholic, grew up watching Cincinnati play.
When Brannen was in college playing for Morehead State, and later for Marshall, where he was an All -Southern Conference selection as a senior in 1997, he used to drive 15 miles to Clifton during the summers to test his skills against the Bearcat players in pick- up games at UC’s on campus indoor arena.
“I still remember the 2000 season,” he said. “They had the No. 1 ranked team and the best player in the country, Kenyon Martin, and would have won the national championship if Martin hadn’t suffered a broken leg in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.”
Cincinnati had those kind of expectations every year from 1989 to 2005 under Bob Huggins, which should tell you everything you need to know about this storied program, one that defeated Ohio State and Jerry Lucas two straight years in the 1961 and 1962 NCAA championship games.
Brannen earned his shot by working wonders at Northern Kentucky over the last three years, coaching the Norse to a 72-30 record and three straight postseason appearances, winning two Horizon League tournaments to quality for trips to the NCAA tournament in 2017 and 2019.
Brannen, a 1997 Rhodes Scholar finalist, has close ties to Cincinnati that transcend his personal experiences as a player. They materialized when Northern Kentucky allowed the Bearcats to use its home court during the 2017-18 season while Fifth Third Arena was being renovated. At first, Brannen thought the idea might be a distraction but the schools formed a good working relationship.
When Brannon arrived at Cincinnati, it looked like he might be faced with a major rebuild in The American after five players transferred. But the Bearcats, who have won the last two American tournaments, were selected third in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll, primarily because no one in the league has a force like 6-5 senior guard Jarron Cumberland, the American’s preseason Player of the Year.
“When does he graduate, anyway?” a smiling Memphis coach Penny Hardaway wanted to know at the league’s annual media day.
More importantly, Cumberland is ready to go after the foot injury that nagged him and sidelined him during summer workouts. “I just have to stay healthy. I’ve been staying in the training room and working with the coaches. I’ve back to practicing and everything, getting confident and working.”
Cumberland’s decision to return to school after considering an early jump to the NBA should help Brannen in his transition to a higher-profile, multi-bid league. Cumberland, who averaged 18.8 points, led the Bearcats last season in scoring. field goals, three-point goals, free throws, assists, steals and minutes. He should give the Bearcats a steadying influence as Brannen attempts to fit in eight new players, including Jarron’s cousin, Jaevin Cumberland, a graduate transfer from Oakland.
Brannen is of the opinion that Jarron Cumberland, already a prolific scorer, could be even better once he is unleashed in an up-tempo style that emphasizes sharing the ball and shooting from the perimeter and is in contrast to Cronin’s grind-it-out half-court style of play, which itself was effective. Brannen’s 26-win team at Northern Kentucky last season averaged 78 points.
“I think (Jarron) can take his game to another level if we get him in shape,” Brannen said. “I think he’s capable of getting to another level because we run a ton of ball screens, we run an NBA-type offense, run an NBA-style defense. He’s an unbelievable decision maker. The ball will be in his hands in a multitude of different areas. We’ll have floor spacing and more shooting. If we get our guys into the shape they need to be in, then his game will take off.”
Brannen inherits three starters — Cumberland, forward Tre Scott, who has a chance to be a double figure scorer and rebounder; and guard Keith Williams - from the Cronin era but must find another big man to compliment Scott.
Brannen’s guard line will be in a work in progress after losing both point guards, but Cincinnati will have junior backup Trevor Moore, freshmen Zach Harvey, Mika Adams-Woods and Jeremiah Davenport, and Jaevin Cumberland when the league season starts. Brannen must hope that either athletic, but inexperienced redshirt sophomore Mamoudou Diarra or seven-foot transfer Jay Sorolla can fill the void in the middle.
Brannen will need to find some answers in a hurry. The Bearcats’ 16-game nonleague schedule includes nine opponents who qualified for the postseason last year, including Ohio State, Tennessee, Iowa and crosstown rival Xavier. But it should It should be intriguing to see how this new look turns out.
“Our style of play will invigorate the fan base and capture their hearts,” Brannen said.