The State of Cincinnati Basketball Recruiting
by Matt Opper on Jun 4, 2025 1:47 PM EDT
in Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Recruiting
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PrintWhere do we go from here? For months the name on the tip of the tongue for all Bearcat fans has been Chris Obekpa, the lanky Nigerian defensive specialist who for months, literally months had the UC out in front. But then things took a turn for the weird first with his visit/non visit to Oregon. Then signing day came and went, then the signing period came and went without a decision.
It is now June and while no decision has been made everyone is basically assuming that Obekpa will wind up at St. John's. Apparently Steve Lavin and his lifetime supply of Brylcreem (there's one for the older Bearcats) was able to seal the deal. Losing out on Obekpa raises questions, namely where the hell does Mick Cronin go from here?
UC is officially two scholarships short of the NCAA allowed 13 at this moment. Yancy Gates and Dion Dixon are set to gradute and with Octavius Ellis getting booted from the team for his role in the Play incident. Add incoming JUCO wing Titus Rubles and that puts UC at 11 scholarship players for the 2012-13 season, two short of the 13 man. That's two spots to fill.
One of the back up plans for this class was Montrezel Harrell. When he sought his release from Virginia Tech after firing Seth Greenberg Cincinnati was one of the schools thought to be in pursuit. And they might have been on Harrell's list, but Louisville started near the top and finished there as well securing his commitment today.
Which leads me back to the original query. Where do the Bearcats go from here. Mick has two scholarships in hand, but I don't think he is likely to use either unless he can get a player that tempts him. One player who might tempt him is Corban Collins a 6'3" "PG" who is really more of a combo guard who just reclassified to the class of 2012. Collins is visiting LSU this week and will visit the Bearcats on June 22nd. If Collins doesn't work out I would expect Mick to pocket both scholarships and use them on the class of 2013.
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a thought from the other side
Just because a few people think Obekpa is a done deal to St. John’s doesn’t mean it’s true - especially this late in the recruiting game. Until he declares, I wouldn’t say it’s over. Unless Cincy’s stopped recruiting him.
Why is it taking this long? Why is he still doing AAU events? Is he reclassifying? Are there academic issues? No one thought he’d have big problems getting past the NCAA requirements, as far as I remember.
If he was going to commit - and I thought this when he was a heavy Cincy lean, reportedly - what’s the hold up? The big boys have gone to the checkout and are getting their recruits to campus for summer sessions.
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by picodulce on Jun 4, 2025 1:57 PM EDT reply actions
Whats going on with Obekpa is beyond weird
Like you I haven’t heard about grades being an issue. My basic stance on this is that if Obekpa hasn’t committed by now after so many months.
If he wanted to go to UC he could have done that a month ago. That leads me to conclude that he is gone. If I am wrong great, but I am not expexcting that
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by Matt Opper on Jun 4, 2025 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions
It’s too bad about Obekpa, if he’s gone like people think he is. Either way, I don’t think we’re so bad off this year that we desperately need to hand out those two remaining scholarships. Granted, we’re certainly not in an ideal position as far as big guys go, but we have quite a bit of returning talent, and I think we’ll have a great year again come winter.
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by roar888 on Jun 5, 2025 1:29 AM EDT reply actions
It makes more sense to hold onto those scholarships
I do think that Corban Collins would be a good fit for this team because he is a big physical guard with 25 range. He’s basicially a smaller Kila. And you can never have to many of those
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by Matt Opper on Jun 5, 2025 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions
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