For University of Cincinnati Bearcats men’s basketball coach Wes Miller, Monday evening can’t come quick enough.
The foe will be Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a team ranked No. 355 of 364 in the KenPom.com ratings. When Miller appears on the court, UAPB could be UCLA based on the 41-year-old coach’s excitement meter.
“I’m always grateful when I walk out of that tunnel that I coach at Cincinnati,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of people that care. Every time I run out of that tunnel, I don’t ever take it for granted. I appreciate the people that are in their seats screaming and cheering for us. We think we have one of the best environments in college basketball. I look forward to our fans going out there and proving that statement.”
Fifth Third Arena from another perspective
Transfer 6-foot-8 forward Dillon Mitchell saw Fifth Third Arena from the visitor’s angle last January as a member of the Texas Longhorns. The junior from Tampa had 10 points and four rebounds in 37 minutes in a game that was won when Max Abmas hit a jumper with eight seconds to go to put Texas up 74-73.
UC athletics NCAA changes Cincinnati Bearcats athletic director John Cunningham responds to a changing landscape
UC football off week West Virginia Cincinnati Bearcats football bye week notes as they await West Virginia Nov. 9
UC athletics media rights University of Cincinnati Bearcats athletics to bring media rights in-house
“We didn’t know what to expect because last year was their first year in the Big 12,” Mitchell said. “I remember by the time we were getting ready for that jump ball, it was frightening a little bit. I’m excited to be able to play in front of these fans. This is the reason we go harder every day, for the name in front of our chest. When they’re out there and they’re loud, it is frightening for the opposing team.”
Cincinnati Bearcats exhibition season ends 1-1
In the CareSource Charity Classic against Ohio State, UC had a demonstrative win, 80-62. Last Saturday, in a “secret” scrimmage played in Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh, they fell back to earth with a 71-62 loss. Sources had the Bearcats playing more players than the Panthers and Day Day Thomas did not play resting his injured foot.
Miller, who had cautioned the Bearcats not to be too “up” over the Ohio State game, was able to bring them down to earth post-Pitt with an exhaustive video review.
“We sat in the film room for three hours,” Mitchell said. “That was the longest film session I’ve ever had. I’m sure he was excited to have that film session. I think we needed it though. Especially, this early in the season. One thing we all try to preach is not to get too comfortable. For a second, we got a little comfortable.”
Mitchell says the loss, although it doesn’t count, humbled the Bearcats and let them know they still had a lot to work on before Monday.
What’s the status of Day Day Thomas?
Thomas started all 35 games he played in last season, but aggravated his foot prior to Big 12 basketball media days in Kansas City. Miller didn’t bring him to the event as a precaution and Thomas did not play vs. Pitt after scoring 11 points with six assists against the Buckeyes.
“We’re not going to rush him back given the time of year,” Miller said. “We don’t want this to be something he’s dealing with all season long. I don’t want to sit here and say he’s not going to play Monday. We haven’t even broached that yet. It’s been a day-to-day, week-to-week thing. We’re just not going to go from zero to 100.”
Miller said Thomas has been shooting and they’ll decide over the weekend his status. Thomas was suited up for the UC team photo, as was freshman Tyler McKinley who is out for the season with a knee injury.
Will Cincinnati Bearcats fans see Jizzle James, Day Day Thomas playing together?
“Yeah, definitely,” James said. “You’ve got two guards that really have the dog mentality. so I think we’re definitely better (with both). It hurts that he’s out right now but everyone knows we have to fill his shoes. He’s a big key to our success, our program. He’s one of our leaders. We know we need him but this gives everybody a chance to step up.”
James started the last two games of the NIT last season when Thomas was out and again started the Ohio State exhibition. In the final two games of 2023-24 he had 25 points against Bradley and 21 against Indiana State.
The OSU exhibition featured a balanced attack and even playing time with James scoring six points with four assists in roughly half of the game. The sophomore was very comfortable distributing the ball.
“Being a point guard, you really want to see everybody shine,” James said. “It’s not all about you. Last year I had to come in with a scorer’s mentality. This year I’m more of a team-oriented player. I really want to see everybody flourish so I try to get everybody open and into their spots.”
Guards that could step up with Thomas out
C.J. Fredrick: “C.J. is so reliable,” Miller said. “You walk in the gym and you know what you’re getting. He’s mature. He understands how to approach this like a professional. It’s just steady every day.”
Connor Hickman: “He’s a knock-down shooter,” James said. “And, he plays the one. We play good off each other. He helps me, we shoot together after practice a lot. He’s really great on off-ball shooting and being in the right spot.”
What brought Jizzle James back to UC?
“It wasn’t even a thought,” James said. “Seeing what I did my freshman year, I knew I could build on it. Just being in the city, the Crosstown Shootout, there’s things you want to come back for. Being a part of it it’s like, ‘Yeah, I want that feeling again,’ I’m a loyal guy. I didn’t really want to leave.”
Dogs played a role in making Mitchell a member of the Cincinnati Bearcats
Mitchell says was impressed by Miller’s passion and says they sat for over four hours in his office talking about his expectations. He liked the Miller was all about basketball.
A relationship was established with the coaches, so much so that Mitchell entrusted the UC coaching staff with his dogs.
“Me and my girlfriend came out here and our dogs got here before we did,” Mitchell said. “I know Coach (Chad) Dollar was terrified. Coach Jake (Thielen) when he was still here he came and picked them up first. They asked Dollar and he was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m picking dogs up.’ That was big for me. My dogs are my little babies, my kids. For them to come out here before me and all the coaches looked after them, that’s cool.”
Cincinnati Bearcats women’s hoops
The UC women’s team coached by former Bearcat Katrina Merriweather starts on the road Tuesday at UIC (Illinois-Chicago) before making their Fifth Third Arena regular season debut Sunday, Nov. 10 against Delaware State at 2 p.m.
In addition to 6-foot-1 fifth-year Big 12 honorable mention Jillian Hayes who averaged 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, the Bearcats return second-leading scorer A’riel Jackson (9.4) and fourth-leading scorer Reagan Jackson (8.4).
Tineya Hylton comes from Texas A&M as the new point guard and speed has been added with freshman guard Chloe Mann and fifth-year guard Daylee Dunn (Fresno State/Loyola Marymount).
“What we were missing was some ballhandling ability and (ability) to get downhill,” Merriweather said. “It’s really just a style difference. I’m a dribble-drive coach so we’ve started to recruit that way. Chloe Mann won a state championship in track and Daylee Dunn is a two-sport athlete who ran track and played basketball and will likely do the same thing here.”
The UC women will play in the Atlantic Slam in Canada against Georgetown and Florida Gulf Coast, allowing Canadians Hylton and Aïcha Dia (Penn State) to play in their homeland Nov. 22-24.
The women’s Crosstown Shootout is at Xavier Dec. 15 and the first Big 12 game is Dec. 22 at Kansas State. The Fifth Third Arena Big 12 opener is on New Year’s Day vs. BYU at 2 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats men’s basketball season opener
